What happened to him? Is he fond of the gargle? His career has gone downhill so quickly
What happened to him? Is he fond of the gargle? His career has gone downhill so quickly
Mental health issues, though not clear exactly what that means (and it's private stuff anyway)
On sleeping pills, maybe depression - just not in the frame of mind it seems. Could easily imagine that compounding itself in a short but high-profile career like his - a sense of a wasted talent and lost money.. Bit of a sad story all told
Josh Thomas has signed for Derry City on Loan on an initial 6month deal.
Another big addition to the Derry team.
It’s private stuff that he made public a couple of years ago in an interview with Gary Neville. He had an incredibly difficult upbringing including being sexually abused, dangled off a bridge, selling drugs from the age of 8, fast forward to adult life including an addiction to sleeping pills and a host of mental health issues. https://www.theguardian.com/football...-rehab-evertonOriginally Posted by pineapple stu
I watched the interview at the time it came out and it’s a tough watch. If I recall correctly a journalist discovered that he was in rehab and was going to run that story so Dele felt he was better off just opening up on his life by doing that interview instead
Last edited by 2 Year Contract; 19/01/2026 at 1:53 PM.
Paaatrick's Agletic
Derry are building a serious squad for the upcoming season. Can they finally end their title hoodoo.
They are indeed, looking at the squad though I still feel they need more quality and depth at centre half though if they’re to beat rovers to the title
Likely a right back and a centre half would be the additions we most likely need now at this stage. Every other base is well covered.
"Three or four" on the way, according to the Derry Journal. Includes a right back, a centre half and a Portuguese lad who plays on the wing/up front.
Shels signed a striker from the third division in Portugal. I guess we'll see if this data recruitment works here like it has elsewhere now.
Have these kind of signings ever worked?
Have you a back-up keeper?
Emre Topcu has left Longford and signed for Iskenderunspor in the Turkish 3rd tier
Paaatrick's Agletic
Which type? There's a few different kinds floating around!
We've got:
1. Aging international coming back for their last rodeo (On paper McLean is a great signing)
2. Troubled/Declining superstar tumbling down the leagues and needing a reset (Dele Alli would be an utterly bizarre signing)
3. Data driven signings from leagues we don't usually target (TBD but I'm keen to see how if pans out)
And that's just in the past 24 hours.
I think the Jamestown Analytics stuff is being proven fairly useful at Hearts isn't it?
22 leagues and 26 cups and....well....none of you will ever catch up if we're being honest.
It was tough stuff indeed, recall being impressed by his candour and also that he got near the heightis in football that he did. Did know at the time his troubles were being outed but he did the right thing. A right dirtbag thing to do by the journalist, sports journo or a soap gossip columist...
I thought that footage of the American player on trial at Harps and commenting on the different intensity levels even in training gave a different perspective on my own thinking that there has to be somewhere to tap in to. If this chap was saying the level he was playing at (Spanish third tier), training a couple of times a week + a game then thats why we dont get too many hail mary signings to solve the lack of clinical strikers in the league. But find one and everyone will have a go even in a scattergun way.
Listening to certain people at Dundalk the last decade rattle on about analytics had me scoffing at the model. Brentford had a good scouting system and top youth development, less of the analytics and more just old fashioned good work that was well managed and built upon year on year, a Charlton of their EPL vintage that were the model club before it went bad. Hearts seems a better example of quick success without breaking any bank in realtive terms but Old Frim have been pretty bad too so not totally convinced yet on moneyball bar it being a good film. Midtjylland gets a mention but they were playoff materiel in Europe and top 3 dometically already before the whole Brentford analytics connection so which came first, money, success, better staff and prep and then the stats...
I think McClean i a goo igning and its a homecoming rather than a last payday, he obviously loves his hometown club. There are no shortages of last chance saloon players turning up in LoI, not too many of this calibre, usually kids that 'fell out of love with the game'. A few forged a career here or Irish League, Sean Murray, Will Patching 2 players that could and should have torn up LoI and kicked on. Doubt there is much in the rumour. If some chap is scoring 25+ goals in senior full time or semi pro they are all the stats needed to have a look imo. Though maybe Northenr and Central European signings might adapt better.
Fair - there's a bit of a bingo card going lately.
The random signing from lower tier foreign football. I think they've almost without exception been flops. If there's data behind it, I guess my cynical view would be why hasn't someone better signed him?
Agree on the other two alright.
Fair questions, but you could have said similar about Claudio Braga before he signed for Hearts.
Not that I'm saying this will be a guaranteed success or anything, the jury will very much be out until he can show he can get goals at this level.
Yeah I've no idea how it works tbf. I do think it's worth trying though. We don't have real scouting networks here, so teams are relying on Wyscout for the most part I think. Shel's are trying to go a level deeper so we'll see how it pans out. We do need to find a new way to find and attract talent here. It's a strange league we have, with relatively low wages given versus a relatively high cost of living.
Most of Rovers best signings have been from two buckets really:
1. Lads needing a reset/coming home after England/Scotland (Burke, Byrne, Gaffney)
2. Prospects from within the LoI (Grace, Pico, Honohan, O'Neill, Farrugia, Noonan etc.)
There's only so many to go after, and if we want to get to another level in Europe, we need to find some other markets imop. Kudos to Shels for giving something new a try. Will be interesting.
22 leagues and 26 cups and....well....none of you will ever catch up if we're being honest.
Chorazka was playing 2nd Division football before signing for Bohs.
They do mostly seem to fade into obscurity though, with relatively short lived and forgettable stints here. Often a name you forget until you see an old photo/match report or something like that.
No. There were rumours a month ago, but no word.
Now this is exactly the kind of signing I was hoping we'd see in the LOI after Shels got access to Jamestown Analytics. I wouldn't be hopeful of your man being any good only for the fact that it was this software that identified him.
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