It's really hard to know what to expect from Bohs next season.
Positives this off season
1. A lot of dead weight out of the squad, still some left to be trimmed imo but a lot of progress made in the last 2 windows trimming a bloated and overpaid squad. We're also moving on from bad players a lot more quickly which is needed
2. Players signed have a lot of LOI experience and some leadership potential which has been missing from the squad since Detser hung up the boots
3. Whelan is the type of goalscorer we missed all last season, if he can hit the ground running and have an injury free season it could be something that moves us up towards the euro places.
4. I think some of the signings in the July window last year will improve this season with LOI experience under their belt. Kavanagh at CB looks a steal but he did have his couple of moments that were very much "welcome to men's football". The last player I remember who started like that for Bohs was Dan Casey and he was a very good player at this level. Smith was very solid at RB for us until he was injured, I think he'll be one of the better full backs in the league this year and lastly Meekison seemed to find his feet playing wide right for us. There were shades of how Coote played that role for us when he was here, if Meekison can continue to grow in that role it could be a really nice front three of him, Whelan and Rooney (although I do think Rooney is a very limited player).
Negatives
1. What does our defence look like? Kavanagh and Smith will likely be starters but I don't trust Cian Byrne as the 2nd CB and Cornwall may not be fit for the start of the season so need something there and there is currently no LB at the club.
2. How many midfielders is too many? Currently there is Bucko, Morahan, Clarke, Devoy, Tierney and James McManus. I don't know what the situation with Flores and McDonnell is. I had assumed they were out of contract at the end of the season but maybe I was mistaken. If they aren't they are likely some of the higher earners on the squad (especially Flores) and may not even see the bench nevermind the starting 11.
3. Oh Captain my Captain! Bucko will be the club captain by default (I don't think he should be, I don't rate his leadership) he may not start every game because he's returning from a serious injury and had been underperforming before that, next in line was likely Cornwall but again may not be fit for the start of the season. But your point above is a positive about leadership potential! Yes it is a potential positive but as I am currently working in a company with a bit of a power struggle between 3 people of a similar level I can tell you that it leads to confusion and an unwelcome distraction. It's why there's only 1 pope, there needs to be a clear leader. If that doesn't happen organically it could become a problem especially in a tight league like I think this year's will be.
4. Coaching. I'm still not sold on Reynolds and Co as the right coaching team to turn this around but they are building the squad the right way imo.
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