2024 Season, Arrivals and Departures

[placid casual]

You’d have to laugh at the narrative of Bohs not being able to compete financially for players. You’d Daniel lambert on the radio last week banging on about their 2 million euro annual merchandise sales, 1.5 million off a Matt Doherty transfer not long ago, 250k for Afolabi and reportedly 550k for McManus on the way, on top of any other regular budget the club would have. I’d love to have seen the contract Drogheda offered Frantz Pierrot that Bohs allegedly couldn’t have competed with and would prefer to go less than 3 weeks away from the season with just 1 Estonian striker who’s an unknown quantity in league of Ireland football

boez are forever the Beal Bocht club. More about self promotion of the D7 community than football content. Their fanbase which predates lambert's millennials must be deeply and correctly frustrated with their lack of onfield, football success.
Devine looks out of his depth there,and if there are ructions with Nutsy, there'll only be one winner in that.

[RealJohn91]

I feel like I'm going mad reading the replies here. Nobody on here understands the wider point and is just using it as a excuse to take weird jibes but I shouldn't be surprised really. Even the Bohs lads on here saying we should've signed Leahy who Dundalk didn't want anymore and a giant Pole who couldn't win a header under pressure to save his life. For the last time we have a few bob but we can't rake up the losses and get them written off to chase the handful of players available but some clubs seemed to take pride in this happening to them. God forbid anything bad happens to O'Doherty or Kelleher but I guess we'll find out eventually.

[placid casual]

Rovers ain’t doing anything different to us, we just have added a cultural, and non football aspect to the club.

Rovers are doing one major thing different to boez. We are successful in football and the model built is doing it's upmost to ensure Rovers are either successful or at least competitive in looking to be successful.

[Jolly Red Giant]

I think the older bohs supporters still believe football is more important then anything else but the club has been taken.over by a left wing right on crowd for whom football is only a part of it.

That really is a bit of a trope -

Not arguing that Bohs are any different than other clubs - but, for example, in November the club took control of the Oscar Trainor Centre from the NDSL, the AFL and the FAI and in the process paid off 'substantial debts related to the site'. From the perspective of the club, ensuring the long-term availability of an academy site is probably worth the investment, even if it means they might lose out on a player or two that they targeted in the off-season. Supporter owned clubs do have to operate differently to clubs owned by wealthy individuals or vulture funds - and it is a model that I would definitely support in terms of the future of soccer in this country.

[Jolly Red Giant]

Rovers are doing one major thing different to boez. We are successful in football and the model built is doing it's upmost to ensure Rovers are either successful or at least competitive in looking to be successful.

Rovers is also partly owned by one of the ten Irish billionaires (who, if I am not mistaken, is a tax exile)

[placid casual]

Rovers is also partly owned by one of the ten Irish billionaires (who, if I am not mistaken, is a tax exile)

Correct. A man who put the same amount of money into our academy as boez supposedly made from their merchandising. And what have boez gained from that investment... A nice article on BBC sport website. Forgive me if I'm not overawed by that particular measure of success.

[Nesta99]

As a members owned club the members could change this whole narrative. Stop talking about major income publically, firstly it inflates players demands and supporters/members take their foot off the pedal thinking that the financial work is done. Bohs had done a fantastic job at expanding a fanbase without protracted footballing success, but the football success needs to happen at some point or even the newer natives will become restless. Off field initiatives have embeded the club in a comunity but maybe 'marketing' needs to shift to the primary purpose of football. Im still wary of this surge in LoI interest being robust longterm, hopefully Im wrong and there isnt any need for concern on this but Imo Bohs need a marquee, statemet signing or 2 to be a complete club. If it cant be afforded then quit with the 'how amazing we are at generating revenue eg 2mil in merchandising' etc.

Specifically on Sheppard, Bohs could get lucky there if they are willing to play some brinkmanship. The impasse on his signing for Dundalk was a €0 release clause if someone showed interest in July or any transfer window on a contract longer than 1 season. If he hasnt a club by the close of the UK transfer window then his agent would have to bin the unreasonable clauses - it'd be a gamble for Bohs but such clauses might be ok with Bohs if Talbot is expected back and there would be a decent chance for that to happen come July.

I also like the observation that the larger crowds reduces isbehaviour of troublesome fans. Bigger crowds obviously means more policing, issuing group bans isnt causing a damaging hole in finances, but Im not sure if that is what was meant or just there is physically less room. Its an interesting side benefit to bigger crowds if it does reduce the arasholes from acting up but Ive never heard of crowd profiling as better behaved due to larger nunbers - unless the troublemakers are being squeezed out financially due to the heavy demand on tickets among members (some of whom would be well capable of embaressing a club),

in November the club took control of the Oscar Trainor Centre from the NDSL, the AFL and the FAI and in the process paid off 'substantial debts related to the site'.

If this was was the major focus of reporting on Bohs this close season rather than Lamberst patting himself on the back on income streams, it would gain a whole lot more positiveness among fellow LoI supporters and significant kudos in national media and been a real boon for Bohs and for the entire senior game, being an example of where LoI can be more than a Friday night event.

[ontheotherhand]

Thanks for the 101 of the transfer market - but the same circumstances exist for all clubs. It is actually a throw back to a time when clubs had to dig hard to unearth gems rather than scanning a database, that a team may need to be built from the youths up rather than buy a side. The way Derry and Rovers just threw kitchen sinks at league winning players to base their title challanges on is not new in LoI, prior to the 2000s there was an equally small pool of quality players and the merry go round was alsmost as bad with players as it was with managers. How well a team is being coached is now as significant as the quality of players brought in in relation to being successful. Its just a new phase of the old cycle that clubs and coaches are facing.

Narrator: "Of the side that won the 2020 league title with Shamrock Rovers, only Finn, Bolger and Mannus had previously won the league".

You like to make this point fairly regularly Nesta but it's not really accurate. The core group that has us winning leagues weren't league winners before e.g. Pico, Grace, O'Neill, Watts, Byrne, Burke, Gaffney, Farrugia, Clarke, Greene, Scales/Lyons etc etc. We've sprinkled in key players like Cleary and Towell over the years but the league winning team was built before their arrival.

Won't comment on Derry but it's not a huge surprise that some ex-Dundalk lads went there, particularly the local lads. I don't know if kitchen sinks were required.

[Shinkicker]

I think the older bohs supporters still believe football is more important then anything else but the club has been taken.over by a left wing right on crowd for whom football is only a part of it.

I'm an older Bohs Supporter and I do believe it should be football first. However I appreciate the work which has been done in recent years to ensure the future of the club, managing the debt, increasing the crowds and tapping into the local community. I don't do anything political (including correctness) and I will not buy any merch supporting political views, eg the Palestine away shirt, the new scarf with the Palestine flag etc. It's not difficult to separate yourself from the politics and still support the club. Im sure some of the sugar daddies would love a Lambert to change the fortunes of their club.

[Nesta99]

Narrator: "Of the side that won the 2020 league title with Shamrock Rovers, only Finn, Bolger and Mannus had previously won the league".

You like to make this point fairly regularly Nesta but it's not really accurate. The core group that has us winning leagues weren't league winners before e.g. Pico, Grace, O'Neill, Watts, Byrne, Burke, Gaffney, Farrugia, Clarke, Greene, Scales/Lyons etc etc. We've sprinkled in key players like Cleary and Towell over the years but the league winning team was built before their arrival.

Won't comment on Derry but it's not a huge surprise that some ex-Dundalk lads went there, particularly the local lads. I don't know if kitchen sinks were required.

There is no need to be bothered by it OTH or anything, it is what it is. The last 4 in a row was built on the Jim McLoughlin/Dermot Keeley former Dundalk FC axis, Rovers ended up losing Miltown buying that league winning formula. The current one got over the line with the leadership of other former Dundalk FC league winners. Derry are carrying on the trend and if they win the league it will also be on the back of having former battle hardened Dundalk players getting them over the line. Its not an slight on either side but a privilage to have such players on the books.

[ontheotherhand]

There is no need to be bothered by it OTH or anything, it is what it is. The last 4 in a row was built on the Jim McLoughlin/Dermot Keeley former Dundalk FC axis, Rovers ended up losing Miltown buying that league winning formula. The current one got over the line with the leadership of other former Dundalk FC league winners. Derry are carrying on the trend and if they win the league it will also be on the back of having former battle hardened Dundalk players getting them over the line. Its not an slight on either side but a privilage to have such players on the books.

Ah. Sorry, I took your posts to be serious. You disguise it well sometimes.

[Calcio Jack]

There is no need to be bothered by it OTH or anything, it is what it is. The last 4 in a row was built on the Jim McLoughlin/Dermot Keeley former Dundalk FC axis, Rovers ended up losing Miltown buying that league winning formula. The current one got over the line with the leadership of other former Dundalk FC league winners. Derry are carrying on the trend and if they win the league it will also be on the back of having former battle hardened Dundalk players getting them over the line. Its not an slight on either side but a privilage to have such players on the books.

Correction - Rovers didn’t lose Milltown because they “ bought “ the league . Milltown was sold to property developers by the Kilcoyne brothers in cahoots with the Jesuits* who made a measly £100k from their deal with the KC bros who then flipped the property for almost £1m

*they bleated that they wouldn’t of sold to the KC bros if they’d known that they intended flipping it rather than redevelop the stadium …. The Jesuits of course have always conveniently forgotten to mention that the sale of the lease on Milltown could have included a clause saying it had to remain as a football stadium in perpetuity ….. they were nightly p***ed off as to how the KC bros scammed them….. then again when your own accountant is acting as a ‘consultant’ for the purchaser things get messy.

[Glen Of Aherlow]

Anyone hear anything about Tom Grivosti being injured again ?

[D24Saint]

Anyone hear anything about Tom Grivosti being injured again ?

I hope its not true. He has had an terrible run of injuries.

[Nesta99]

Ah. Sorry, I took your posts to be serious. You disguise it well sometimes.

Well I was being a tad serious but more along the point that commentary on a small number of players available in the transfer market is not new. It was very common for past eras of success having a bunch of players and managers in common. Jim McLoughlin brought unprecedented success to both Dundalk (3 Leagues, 3 Cups, famous European nights), Shamrock Rovers (3 leagues in a row as part of the 4?, couple of cups) and his native Derry (the lauded if flawed domestic treble), and a final league with Shels bankrolled by the Donnellys, a native Dundalk family, influenced by Jim. Dermot Keeley is another player/manager that has won silverware with 3 of the 4 clubs mentoned. The backbone of the Dundalk '88 double winning side had no shortage of infludence of Rovers players. In a small league eras come and go, in LoI often by selling off the family silver and signing previous champions' players. Mannus was a final piece of the puzzle for SRFC, Finn was a key signing and the final main piece of the puzzle that got Rovers over the line in the end was the involvement of Bill Hulsizer.

For whatever reason the league is going through an almost settled spell where there isnt much movement of players within the upper ends of the league. It shows how much we could over rely on agents trying to flog their players from the UK, Estonia etc that tvh have a pretty low hit ratio. How Bohs could do with a Kevin Hunt type transfer, Dundalk will have a few too many unproven players for my liking, Derry and Rovers will have too many proven players for my liking. Imo the real benefit to a LoI club linking to a UK club is access to their scouting network rather than a bunch of loanees (I though Statsports could have made use of international contacts for Dundalk).

It was wrong to link the cost of a 4 in a row side to how Milltown ended up, that was pure mischief on my behalf and a step over the line as it was a low point for the league not just Rovers and while I wasnt old enough to really understand the whole mess back then I can only imagine what a sickener it was for fans - I near imploded when Gerry Matthews was making a play for the Casey leasehold and held the lease to ransom so yeah a tad below the belt.

[sbgawa]

Correction - Rovers didn’t lose Milltown because they “ bought “ the league . Milltown was sold to property developers by the Kilcoyne brothers in cahoots with the Jesuits* who made a measly £100k from their deal with the KC bros who then flipped the property for almost £1m

*they bleated that they wouldn’t of sold to the KC bros if they’d known that they intended flipping it rather than redevelop the stadium …. The Jesuits of course have always conveniently forgotten to mention that the sale of the lease on Milltown could have included a clause saying it had to remain as a football stadium in perpetuity ….. they were nightly p***ed off as to how the KC bros scammed them….. then again when your own accountant is acting as a ‘consultant’ for the purchaser things get messy.

Bit harsh to blame the jessuits , given they sold the land for 100 k that was worth a million id say it was more a case of they were genuinely duped and didnt expect it to be flipped.
Lets keep all our hatred where it deserves the KC bros.

[Nesta99]

The Jesuits being duped out of money ... thats a story in itself!

[ontheotherhand]

Well I was being a tad serious but more along the point that commentary on a small number of players available in the transfer market is not new. It was very common for past eras of success having a bunch of players and managers in common. Jim McLoughlin brought unprecedented success to both Dundalk (3 Leagues, 3 Cups, famous European nights), Shamrock Rovers (3 leagues in a row as part of the 4?, couple of cups) and his native Derry (the lauded if flawed domestic treble), and a final league with Shels bankrolled by the Donnellys, a native Dundalk family, influenced by Jim. Dermot Keeley is another player/manager that has won silverware with 3 of the 4 clubs mentoned. The backbone of the Dundalk '88 double winning side had no shortage of infludence of Rovers players. In a small league eras come and go, in LoI often by selling off the family silver and signing previous champions' players. Mannus was a final piece of the puzzle for SRFC, Finn was a key signing and the final main piece of the puzzle that got Rovers over the line in the end was the involvement of Bill Hulsizer.

For whatever reason the league is going through an almost settled spell where there isnt much movement of players within the upper ends of the league. It shows how much we could over rely on agents trying to flog their players from the UK, Estonia etc that tvh have a pretty low hit ratio. How Bohs could do with a Kevin Hunt type transfer, Dundalk will have a few too many unproven players for my liking, Derry and Rovers will have too many proven players for my liking. Imo the real benefit to a LoI club linking to a UK club is access to their scouting network rather than a bunch of loanees (I though Statsports could have made use of international contacts for Dundalk).

It was wrong to link the cost of a 4 in a row side to how Milltown ended up, that was pure mischief on my behalf and a step over the line as it was a low point for the league not just Rovers and while I wasnt old enough to really understand the whole mess back then I can only imagine what a sickener it was for fans - I near imploded when Gerry Matthews was making a play for the Casey leasehold and held the lease to ransom so yeah a tad below the belt.

Fair enough. I still think its a stretch to say the Rovers side that started winning titles was built from the Dundalk side via the kitchen sink. It's only Finn in that 2020 team and of course he had his first league wins with Rovers. Gannon and Hoare have been good squad players. Cleary is key now but arrived after we were already winning. Joey O'Brien was more important. My da would take about the previous 4 in a row side as being basically the best players cherry picked from around the league in a way this current side hasn't been when you look at the core group. Finn the exception there as he moved from a great team and was one of it's best players.

Thanks for taking back the Milltown piece. I was too young to know what was happening at the time but I felt all the pain of the wandering years that followed.

[sbgawa]

The Jesuits being duped out of money ... thats a stort in itself!

Its only because i know how good they are with money that i find it hard to believe they wouldnt have added in a sell on clause so they got a chunk of the 1 million if it was subsequently sold.
I reckon they were conned like the supporteres by LC

[placid casual]

It was boez we robbed to compile the 4inarow,and they've never got over it.