€48k per month , great move for him ; we were blessed to keep him for two seasons so good luck to himOriginally Posted by oriel
A follow of mine on twitter sums up the Cypriot league as full of shady investment and foreign players, why would Jack Byrne not want to play in a nice climate, make plenty of cash and potentially improve his game against players from all over the world, its a no brainer, obviously it could end in 6 months but who knows......
Athlone have signed Kilian Cantwell. They've signed fairly strong this year. Could be an outside bet for the playoff place.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
They should be very disappointed if they don't make the playoffs. Shels the only ones on paper with a better squad.
Disagree there, I think we're stronger than them and will be Shels main rivals next year - we still have 2-3 more important signings to make as well.
Athlone will certainly be in play-off contention next year. Hopefully they're still training in Athlone, but they've signed a lot of Dubs, hope they're not going down the Longford route, training in Dublin etc. Carberry did have them based out of Athlone last season in fairness.
roddy collins you're a flanker you're a flanker!
I'd still have Galway ahead of Athlone FWIW due to John Caulfield and going full-time. Also a lot of new signings at Athlone that will probably take time to gel but no denying they've signed some really good players for FD in Doona, Cantwell and Schlingermann. I also loved Meaney at Drogheda he was the best of our released players.
Definitely. They've made some excellent signings at this level, no doubt about that. They were clearly largely amateur last season, that's obviously not going to be the case next year. They've brought in several players from teams that were chasing promotion last season: Wixted, Daly, Cantwell, Schlings off us, Meaney. They'll be very competitive, they've obviously gone out and supported Carberry with a decent budget.
It's going to be another extremely tight First Division. Remains to be seen, but it looks like UCD could be losing Mahdy, he would be a massive loss to them. But they're always going to be involved. Cork City - nobody knows what they'll be like, probably be contesting the play-offs. Cobh have largely kept most of their squad, but they lost Hurley to us, which I think has gone slightly under the radar, he's a top player. Wexford look weak enough again, they signed a few academy players and some members of last season's squad. Cabinteely haven't really announced much bar a few youths players signing first team deals, they've lost a few decent players too, I think next year will be the season they fall back in the pecking order a bit after two decent seasons of overachievement. Bray have made a few decent signings, but they've lost some big players also, Wilson to Shels, Cantwell to Athlone, Thompson to Longford. Very happy with how our off-season has gone, 14-15 players have left the club, a massive clear out was needed and JC has been ruthless, he's brought in a lot of hungry players, with something to prove. 3-4 signings will finish our squad off nicely, if Caulfield gets the targets we're after, we should be in contention for the title next season.
Last edited by Olander; 28/12/2020 at 5:00 PM.
roddy collins you're a flanker you're a flanker!
Sligo have signed Shane Blaney, former Harps defender last with Doncaster Rovers.
Had very high hopes for this lad when he left Harps for England.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
https://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk...t-towns-485960
The beautiful surroundings might have got to him.
Athlone are putting together a very decent first division team so far. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them make the playoffs
Shels completly caved towards the end of the season , with the squad they had they should have been higher. Morris had them playing awful stuff, i was a shocked he kept his job tbh.
Epitomised by the shameful attitude of their supposed "captain", deegan.
Morris now has a babysitter in situ for next season but I'd wager he'd be a good bet to be the first manager sacked next season. Although super Mario may run him close 😜
Conor Clifford signs for Bray..
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
His career is on a constant downward curve, it’s sad considering the early potential he had at Chelsea.
It seems there aren't that many English Premier and Championship clubs making offers for Jack Byrne after all. Money talks and the EPL is the richest league in the world and Championship is 6th or 7th richest league in the world. If clubs from these leagues were as interested in Byrne the way some Shamrock fans were making out during the season then he'd be heading to England. Good luck to the lad, nicer earner all the same.
Manager: Fergal, have you your boots with ya?
Fergal: Ya, I have them here.
Manager: Ah good stuff, well give them to this man so, he forgot his!
Athlone, Galway & Shels all taking big big gambles IMO.
With us realistically looking at early summer before we get any decent size crowds paying into games and at the very best only two of them will get promoted which could leave one or two possibly even all three facing a big financial pit by this time next year.
54 Crew-Finn Harps FC Supporters Club
Following Harps Home & Away
https://www.facebook.com/54CrewFHFC
I'd change this to 'biggest' not the richest, I remember reading and looked this article up, most if not all made massive losses to the end of 2019 season, and well before Covid. Most in an attempt to get into the PL, the rest trying to stay there. All it will take is for a tv deal to be pulled and the Championship is goosed going on these figures.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...510m-year.html
Now on the quality, I will admit it probably is better than a host of top tier euro leagues, but these figures are frightening.
I think Irish clubs / players need to re-define who they can sell / move to, I would think L1 might soon be the top expectation.
#DundalkFC - First Irish club to win an away game in Europe (1963), first Irish club to win points in a group stage in Europe (2016).
It was fairly widely reported which clubs were interested. Sounds like Mick convinced him early on that Apoel was a place he would play and get exposure. Byrne knows he can operate at that level having played well against Apollon with Rovers so it makes sense as a next step up. Probably thinks he can make a bigger impact there at the moment. 2 CL spots up for grabs there.
I'd say it came down to choosing where he would fit in best with a manager he trusts after the few bad experiences in England already and I don't think Michael O'Neill's Stoke would have been a good fit for example. MON wouldn't be known for the most intricate style of football. The risk of being pushed out to right wing or out of position would have come into his mind. That said, there's a risk of Mick not staying in the job long enough at Apoel as well.
I was looking at the money side too when it was rumoured. Sounds like a nice fat contract and I'm not sure he would have been offered more at a Stoke or Bournemouth after coming from the LOI inn a pandemic. Some players on huge contracts in the Championship but look at a similar age profile and position and you're taking around the same for a player at Apoel i.e. half a million a year- https://footballleaguefc.com/stoke-c...-player-wages/
Adding this - Sean Maguire is on 395K a year. So if the reports are accurate, Jack likely got a better offer from Apoel. Maybe money did talk after all?
Last edited by ontheotherhand; 29/12/2020 at 9:59 PM.
Whatever about jacks options, duffy about to sign back with DFC as cant get a decent offer from uk.
Good news for dfc dissapointing for him
It's the LoI way, but is it a clubs' market where players are taking what they can get without pushing the boat out too far under the circumstances. It does seem that Galway are making a big push with going FT, though FT doesnt always mean daytime split session training with sports catering/nutrition in between!?
With the Jack Byrne speculation, while he would be a loss to any side Rovers are more than capable of filling his boots. Maybe not with like for like but what is freed up in the players budget and if the rumours of what was on the table well there is plenty of scope of going out and recruiting some high calibre player/s.
I dunno whether it is good or bad that things are quiet out of Oriel Park. Imo there is enough retention in the squad for it not to be a complete rebuilding process. I do think that fresh faces are needed, though the likes of Gannon isnt a player that should have been on the exit list. Next season will depend a lot on players like Colovic showing his worth in the 'second season' make or break situation we have gotten used to. Certainly if rumours are to be believed, the money involved would want to see some classy performances. The Albanian keeper talk I took with a pinch or salt but it seems there is somthing to it and is rated. I hope so as we saw how Mannus really was the missing piece for Rovers - more than Byrne imo.
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