not enough lsl players to fill the team so athlone are looking abroad for their equivalents. impressive
Not a player but Shane Keegan has been appointed 'Academy Lead' at Treaty. Quite what that means in practice is anyone's guess.
2 more New Zealanders in the LOI. Sligo have signed the excellently named Max Mata, a striker who was last with Real Monarchs in the USL which is americas 2nd tier effectively. Previously spent time in Europe with Nomme Kalju in Estonia and Groshopper's B team in Switzerland.
shels have signed Adam Thomas, a centre back who’s spent his entire career in New Zealand up until last year when he moved to a lower league Australian team Oakleigh Cannons. Was part of the NZ Olympic team in 2012 and played against Neymar's Brazil in that tournament but is 29 now and has amazingly missed 6 years of his career through injuries
Paaatrick's Agletic
There seems to be an awful lot of these random signings this year - don't really know what to make of any of them and they're presumably all relatively risky. I do think though that it really challenges anyone (and there's a fair few) holding the view that the LoI is maybe League One standard to see players signing from the Swiss fourth tier central or the Australian equivalent of the LSL.
It all has a whiff of desperation about it and brings back memories of Kenny Shiels toward the end of his time at Derry signings seemingly at random.
Also there can surely be absolutely no one holding the view that the LOI is League One standard?
If there is the they must be playing Football Manager and not actually watching games.
It's an interesting life these lads have. Rock up at a new club in a new country every year. "(insert club manager name) has told me a lot about (insert club name) and I've been really impressed. I know the league is of a high standard and I can't wait to get started".
Upwards to the vanguard where the pressure is too high.
Who has signed a player from the Swiss fourth tier?
I've seen signings from Slovakian premier, USL in America, and funnily enough from English League One.
The bitterness shown by some is a bit funny. It's beyond the tried and tested, the same old LOI merry go round. For every Wilfred Zahibo, there's a Joey N'Do, and picking the most negative scenario from every situation must lead to a very pessimistic and bleak day to day.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
Ah Nigel would you stop with the bitterness ****e.
Grasshoppers II are in the Swiss fourth tier, in the post I quoted. (Ok, your man has had one year in the American third tier since, but the point holds)
Joey Ndo went to the World Cup and is in no way comparable with any of the players being talked about here. It's not remotely correct to say that there's an Ndo for every Zahibo - there's been plenty of the latter and Ndo is pretty much a one-off.
You can discuss these signings rationally or you can close your eyes and spout irrelevancies like how they're something different while dismissing views you don't like as bitterness. If you want something different, I'll sign for Harps. Doesn't mean I'm any good
Last edited by pineapple stu; 16/02/2022 at 12:27 PM.
Anyone have a break down of the percentage of players from different countries now playing in the league. I supposes its just a reflection of an international game even for smaller leagues.
I think its great and a reflection on our society. I know that over 75% are Irish, but the UK and others countries have a high representation.
Anywhere for figures?
This is absolute scutter. 😂
On the Shane Keegan to treaty thingy I had been led to believe that Treaty United called themselves Treaty United because they were under the incorrect assumption that Pat O'Sullivan owns the word "Limerick". But it turns out it was actually because Galway United were using the word Galway.
I'm old enough to remember when my local team would be made up of people cork had been through and didn't want. I think the move from Cork to Galway is a downgrade personally.
You tried to make a point about standard versus player signings, using the example that someone signed from the Swiss Fourth tier. No player signed from the Swiss Fourth tier. And even if they did, what of it, can be argued he's taken a step up in standard. Does a player have to sign from a league of equal standard, or can a chance be taken on a player from a lesser league? The argument that signing a player from a perceived certain standard or league equates to the standard of league they arrive in in as much a nonsense as anything else written in this thread you may or may not have dismissed as s***e.
Joey N'Do and Wilfried Zahibo were obviously extreme examples, but Zahibo came from a standard deemed much higher than the LOI, having played in La Liga (albeit a couple of games), and the MLS. He flopped. Doesn't mean I'll be shouting the LOI is a higher standard than MLS. But, had any LOI team this season signed someone who played the majority of their football in the MLS and Spanish second tier without the experience of Zahibo at Dundalk last seasonn, I doubt we'd question whether they had the ability to make it in this league. Perception of league standard isn't everything.
Whether they've 200 LOI appearances, or 50 appearances in the Estonian Premier Division, every signing comes with an element of risk. But some people labelling a signing from a different country as "a whiff of desperation", or somehow the signing of a player from a different league suddenly downgrades the standard of this league, is a bit ridiculous.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
The "no-one signed from the Swiss fourth tier" is semantics - ok, he was there a year before, went on loan to Estonia, and then to the US third tier, where he signed from. Hardly a huge difference, is it?
There's players this year coming in from the Portuguese fourth tier and the relegation zone of the Croatian second tier and (I think) the Turkish regionalised third tier. And these are all journeymen, hopping from club to club every six months without making much of a mark anywhere - someone like Romo Boco who had three solid seasons with Accrington is much less of a gamble. Even if we take Boco as a more reasonable definition of a success (and Romeo Parkes, Wes Charles, Ryan Guy, etc), there's still plenty more players like Damian Dupuy, Yael Haro, Ibrahmia Thian and Ola Tidman. There's just a bias towards remembering the Bocos because they actually made an impact.
The league a player plays in absolutely does tell something about their ability. I don't know how you could argue otherwise. That's not to say they can't jump up a level (though you haven't actually tried to argue they can), but it does seem you just want to close your eyes and pretend they'll all be solid signings (probably because Harps have a lot riding on that in fairness)
I didn't say there was a whiff of desperation about the signings. All I said was that those signings were risky (you seem to agree) and that it undermines suggestions the LoI is League One standard - which you seem to have taken a bit of umbrage by given your reference to a signing from League One "funnily enough". Do you think the LoI is League One standard?
A mate of mine (Man City fan) was trying to argue that exact point to me only a couple of weeks ago, coincidentally enough.Originally Posted by DCWA
Last edited by pineapple stu; 16/02/2022 at 2:35 PM.
So Tribe Athletic not content with having signed almost half the squad from Galway have now added ex Galway manager of questionable football character,sure if anything he will provide a pathway for some more lads from the west.........seriously though what are they at?
David Odumosu left Drogheda,spent the off season on trial at few different English clubs but came to nothing,could see Pats especially being interested….
Irish by birth ,Harps by the grace of god.
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