Seems to have been fairly well received by the Swindon fans. He's an absolute tank of a man, like a taller Richie Dunne, loves a big diagonal cross field ball and plays it well and is generally pretty comfortable with the ball at his feet. Of the two centre backs for the under 21s I thought he looked to have a higher ceiling than McGuinness, despite the fact McGuinness has more experience at a higher level. O'Brien looked to be a slightly better footballer and his size and strength are very imposing, only worry would be he's a little slow and clumsy on the turn and can dawdle on the ball a bit when he should be getting rid of it under pressure.
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Didn't find a thread for him but RWMD played their last game of the season at the weekend and secured promotion to the top flight for the first time in 21 years. Being linked with Bristol City again but the owner of RWMD is a co-owner of Palace so might see him return to Belgium again next season.
Was included in the Challenger Pro League team of the season: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022%E..._of_the_season
The lack of a confirmed manager in place to plan for 2023/24 at Crystal Palace is complicating things for O'Brien, who is reported here to be keen on a move to the West Country. (Closer to Cork, I suppose :-) )
"....the message has been to all suitors of Palace’s players, particularly the younger element of the squad, is that a final decision will be made by the new manager after he’s been able to assess them across pre-season. Palace’s first friendly is on July 11 against Barnet and the belief is that O’Brien will be among those given close scrutiny over the first two weeks of the summer programme before a conclusion is drawn."
Crystal Palace transfer stance revealed as interest grows in Bristol City target Jake O'Brien - Bristol Live (bristolpost.co.uk)
I've like O'Brien any time I've seen him. He's a good defender, fairly comfortable on the ball and a big physical specimen. I'd put him down as having a fairly high ceiling, maybe not premier league but a few luck breaks and some positive development and I wouldn't rule it out. Maybe not quite quick or agile enough to be properly elite.
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Hopefully himself and Phillips can get their futures sorted out quickly. Both out of contract next year.
could do with obrien getting flogged now, a nice sell on clause would do us no harm with the window coming up
Reports that Jake O'Brien could be his way to Lyon.
Wouldn't be surprised if there's no fee or tiny fee since the owner of Lyon owns 40% of Crystal Palace and also owns the club he was on loan with in Belgium.
Only one year left on his contract as well so the fee will be buttons if anything.
I was thinking this earlier - owning multiple clubs is a good way to get around paying out sell on fees alright.
In this case though I'm surprised the fee is even €1m, that means Cork get €150k. Given he's in the last year of his contract and he hasn't really played at a particularly high level, I'm surprised they didn't just agree a nominal fee of €100k and then they'd only have to give Cork €15k.
Maybe they felt they couldn't given the earlier higher bid from Troyes?
Last edited by Eirambler; 10/08/2023 at 11:43 PM.
On the bench this evening for the first time.....
Irish by birth ,Harps by the grace of god.
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