2024 Season, Arrivals and Departures

[joey B]

I think Jake Keegan is the only striker since Fagan to hit 10. Others honourable mentions include Bisto Flood who did it while Fagan was at the club, Conan Byrne and Matty Smith also did but they were both wingers (although Smith did fill in up front when Ronan Coughlan was out injured), Forrester last year from midfield. Really is a bit of a cursed position for the club and not for want of trying as they have brought big names in too but none have worked as a long term solution under any of the different managers in that time

Eoin Doyle got 14 in 2022 if Flashscore is right….

[2 Year Contract]

Eoin Doyle got 14 in 2022 if Flashscore is right….

Correct, bit of short term memory loss from me there! He was good in 2022 but again wasn’t a long term solution up front as his legs went in the off season after that

[Jd2793]

Keating had a really poor spell at Pats, I think only 4 goals, its clear as day it wasn't working out and he was out of their plans under two different managers, odd one this as there was a lot of noise made about his arrival, then very little return.

He seems more than happy to return to Cork City, sometimes moves just don't work out and for various reasons.

posted at the time he moved but i was pretty skeptical it would work out. he wasnt great for us in 22 in the FD, got more joy when we got promoted as we had less of the ball and more spoace on the counter. hes quite poor with his back to goal. you need to be good at that to be effective no.9 imo. we wont get by next season with just him up top either, hope those in charge know that. it says a lot about the player pool in the country atm that there was a lot of noise around keating to pats. anyway happy to have him back but lots of work to do for us.

[oriel]

Keena to Pats is a done deal according to local press over the water.

Seems to be nailed on Keena to Pats ok, good signing, but its still highly unlikely Pats will be in europe next season, and not sure that was the expectation from Kelleher when hiring.

Keena is a good player though, will def improve Pats. That said 'he hasn't exactly pulled up trees' (sky sports news fav line), 7 goals in 60 games, but still a good potential'

[sbgawa]

"I had a couple of options closer to home but everyone at Kerry was brilliant with me last season and I really enjoyed my time here. So I felt if I was going out to the first division to get games I wanted to show them the same loyalty they showed me." - Cian Barrett on rejoining Kerry on loan from Shamrock Rovers for the remainder of the season.

What was he like when he was with you last year. Only came on 3 or 4 times for rovers and the manager started midfielders at CB rather than play him when we were down to bare bones at times. When he dis come on he was poor.

[oriel]

Double Post

[sbgawa]

Seems to be nailed on Keena to Pats ok, good signing, but its still highly unlikely Pats will be in europe next season, and not sure that was the expectation from Kelleher when hiring.

Keena is a good player though, will def improve Pats. That said 'he hasn't exactly pulled up trees' (sky sports news fav line), 7 goals in 60 games, but still a good potential'

Kelliher would 100% have expected to be in Europe next year when he signed kenny. Results have been poor since he took over and the signings now might be to late to turn it around. I'd expect kelliher will view it as a one year delay rather than a crises

[D24Saint]

Keena confirmed. The Cheltenham fans online seemed torn they recognised his ability but seemed to get tired of waiting for him to hit form.

[Jack B]

Obviously the results have been far, far from ideal thus far but ultimately Kenny was given a 5 year deal with the view being a longer term one. Europe would have been the aim but realistically I think he'll only get properly judged from next year, barring us ending up in serious relegation danger this season.

Keena seemed to have an encouraging start over at Cheltenham and had a record of more or less a goal/assist every other game, was only last season he really struggled but League One is a better standard than this league anyway so don't think it's necessarily reflective of how he'll perform. Not getting carried away because we're making more and more of a habit of having "big" signings flatter to deceive, but on paper it's a great move.

[Acornvilla]

Pat's on paper now looking considerably stronger than they did a month ago, few lads back from injury included. Could yet come 8th or 4th and reach the Conference League playoff. Would definitely only really start judging Kenny from now on now that he's had a handful of signings, waiting until next season is probably a bit too charitable

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Keating had a really poor spell at Pats, I think only 4 goals, its clear as day it wasn't working out and he was out of their plans under two different managers, odd one this as there was a lot of noise made about his arrival, then very little return.

He seems more than happy to return to Cork City, sometimes moves just don't work out and for various reasons.

He wasn’t out of Dalys plans

[TonyD]

Pat's on paper now looking considerably stronger than they did a month ago, few lads back from injury included. Could yet come 8th or 4th and reach the Conference League playoff. Would definitely only really start judging Kenny from now on now that he's had a handful of signings, waiting until next season is probably a bit too charitable

We have a squad that’s easily good enough for top 3/4 in my view, possibly pushing for even higher. For some reason the performances this season (with a couple of exceptions) haven’t really reflected that. Upfront is probably where we are weakest. It’s too much to ask Mason Melia to lead the line on his own. Keena for Keating looks like an upgrade in that regard, but we’ll see. I think we are capable of going on a run, but we need to show the same sort of commitment we showed the other night. Any repeats of the second half performance and we could still end up in trouble. It’s a frustrating season all round.

[Acornvilla]

We have a squad that’s easily good enough for top 3/4 in my view, possibly pushing for even higher. For some reason the performances this season (with a couple of exceptions) haven’t really reflected that. Upfront is probably where we are weakest. It’s too much to ask Mason Melia to lead the line on his own. Keena for Keating looks like an upgrade in that regard, but we’ll see. I think we are capable of going on a run, but we need to show the same sort of commitment we showed the other night. Any repeats of the second half performance and we could still end up in trouble. It’s a frustrating season all round.

Definitely could end up winning a bunch of games on the bounce, Derry was so poor, Vaduz so good, I'd expect more of the latter for the rest of the season but who knows

A run in Europe is probably just what the group needs but would likely kill any chance of Europe next year, I feel much the same of Rovers if they make it to the Conference league proper.

[Jack B]

Pat's on paper now looking considerably stronger than they did a month ago, few lads back from injury included. Could yet come 8th or 4th and reach the Conference League playoff. Would definitely only really start judging Kenny from now on now that he's had a handful of signings, waiting until next season is probably a bit too charitable

I meant more so in terms of how Kelleher may approach it and his job being under any kind of scrutiny as was being discussed above. I feel like if we have a relatively tepid finish to the season and end up in 6th/7th it's not going to be seen as some kind of disaster and more that the real judgment will be from the start of next year with a full pre-season, squad build etc behind him. Obviously performances until then will be scrutinised more generally regardless, as they already have been to varying degrees so far.

[Acornvilla]

Ah yeah, I think the season would have to be an unmitigated disaster from this point onwards for him to be in any actual danger, would be relatively confident they'll do much better over the next series and look strong leading in to next season.

[Kiki Balboa]

I am guessing the amount of money spent by the two teams just above the relegation places is probably the most ever in the league during the mid-season break.

It might be a good sign for the league (?) that teams can do this planning for next year.

Rumours abound that Pats paid Keating off with a decent fee, while also paying a fee for Keena. Although, thats just what I read on Twitter.

I said it a year back that with this Rovers team nearing an end, it would have been the time to 'go-all in'. With a relatively weak Shels team or a Derry team with no guts, winning the league, I feel this is what we are now seeing from Bohs and Pats.

[2 Year Contract]

I am guessing the amount of money spent by the two teams just above the relegation places is probably the most ever in the league during the mid-season break.

It might be a good sign for the league (?) that teams can do this planning for next year.

Rumours abound that Pats paid Keating off with a decent fee, while also paying a fee for Keena. Although, thats just what I read on Twitter.

I said it a year back that with this Rovers team nearing an end, it would have been the time to 'go-all in'. With a relatively weak Shels team or a Derry team with no guts, winning the league, I feel this is what we are now seeing from Bohs and Pats.

No fee was paid for Keena according to a local Cheltenham journalist

[oriel]

I meant more so in terms of how Kelleher may approach it and his job being under any kind of scrutiny as was being discussed above. I feel like if we have a relatively tepid finish to the season and end up in 6th/7th it's not going to be seen as some kind of disaster and more that the real judgment will be from the start of next year with a full pre-season, squad build etc behind him. Obviously performances until then will be scrutinised more generally regardless, as they already have been to varying degrees so far.

I still think a lot more was expected of SK in this season, granted he only joined mid way, but this is the ex and very recent Ireland manager, out of the cup already (very tough draw granted, but the manner of the defeat was poor), and I would think very little chance, probably none of making 4th (which only gets europe if a top 3 wins cup).

I`m sure he will do a decent job in time, just seems to be a lot are happy to give him a pass and not expect too much in year 1, which i find a little odd.

His big strength is on identifying and getting players in, Keena and Zak El two good examples.

[Acornvilla]

I still think a lot more was expected of SK in this season, granted he only joined mid way, but this is the ex and very recent Ireland manager, out of the cup already (very tough draw granted, but the manner of the defeat was poor), and I would think very little chance, probably none of making 4th (which only gets europe if a top 3 wins cup).

I`m sure he will do a decent job in time, just seems to be a lot are happy to give him a pass and not expect too much in year 1, which i find a little odd.

His big strength is on identifying and getting players in, Keena and Zak El two good examples.

His track record of getting results if given time and power is probably why fans are chill enough about the situation

[oriel]

He didn't get too many results at Ireland, however his job at the u21 role was just outstanding, he dragged them up to a very good and consistent standard.