Roy O'Donavan

[RedX]

£525,000 is a huge amount of money for a side that averages attendances around the 3,000 mark. That's got to be nearly as much if not more than Cork would get in gate receipts in a whole season (depending on how much they charge for tickets, obviously). In money terms it's the equivalent of a League Two side turning down a bid that big which you hardly ever see.

Unless Cork could make more money than that by keeping him which would basically mean winning the League of Ireland title and going on a run to at least the Champions' League third qualifying round, from a business point of view you'd have to say rejecting it doesn't make much sense.

City IMO will accept the best offer they can get in July...the Hull bid at the end of the last window came very late for the club to even consider and also was not as much as being reported...but i agree with most of what you are saying...500k sterling is massive money for eircom league clubs...

[Cymro]

City IMO will accept the best offer they can get in July...the Hull bid at the end of the last window came very late for the club to even consider and also was not as much as being reported...but i agree with most of what you are saying...500k sterling is massive money for eircom league clubs...

The problem now for Cork having rejected those bids is that if they aren't in contention for a Champions' League place near the business end of the season buying clubs will start to take note of this and the value of O'Donovan will probably go down. Champions' League cash is about 3 times higher than UEFA Cup cash.

Say Cork won the league or were in a commanding position near the end of the season they would probably be able to hold out for very big money since holding on to O'Donovan would give them a better chance of winning the league, which means potentially £1m+ if Cork were to have a good European run the following year.

If the best they're in contention for is third place and Intertoto football, don't be surprised if he goes for less than £200,000 as the Intertot is spare change compared to the rewards of the Champions' League.

In short, they should have done their haggling in the summer before the league season started.

[superfrank]

People thinking O'Donovan will fetch upwards of half a million euros are being unrealistic.

His contracts up at the end of our season, so time is a key factor in any deal.

If O'Donovan wants to leave, as it appears so, he won't sign a new contract when he knows there's interest abroad (I doubt very much he'd join any other Irish club). He'll be tempted away by money, international prospects, etc., so on that front any deal will already be done.

Next, Cork will want to get as much as possible from the sale before he goes for free.

Ideally clubs would want him in time for the start of their season but if Cork ask for too much, any club who want him that badly and rate him that highly will wait til his contracts up and get him for free. What harm will three or four months do? Relegation/promotion isn't decided til April/May and as we've seen with Sunderland a bad start doesn't mean the end of the season.

So, imo, any bid over 100,000 or so should be accepted by Cork. That way they get money in July and can buy in new players, spend on club, etc. Otherwise he'll go for free. I'm not sure how old O'Donovan is but if it were to go to a tribunal, you know the monetary compensation goes by how much players were earning at previous club, etc. which I imagine is no more than €3k a week at Cork so the compensation would be a lot less than €100k.

[RedX]

In short, they should have done their haggling in the summer before the league season started.

In a way yes but then that would have meant losing him then, on top of the fact we had lost Georgie/Danny Murphy and Fenn in that time...i do think the loss of these players played a part in the club trying to hold on to him...there would have been outrage from the supporters if we had lost him also..but all will be revealed in July...i think there are going to be many clubs interested in him and i am fairly confident City will get a decent price for him still...there could be at least three if not four clubs bidding and that will be good news for City...

[RedX]

People thinking O'Donovan will fetch upwards of half a million euros are being unrealistic.

His contracts up at the end of our season, so time is a key factor in any deal.

If O'Donovan wants to leave, as it appears so, he won't sign a new contract when he knows there's interest abroad (I doubt very much he'd join any other Irish club). He'll be tempted away by money, international prospects, etc., so on that front any deal will already be done.

Next, Cork will want to get as much as possible from the sale before he goes for free.

Ideally clubs would want him in time for the start of their season but if Cork ask for too much, any club who want him that badly and rate him that highly will wait til his contracts up and get him for free. What harm will three or four months do? Relegation/promotion isn't decided til April/May and as we've seen with Sunderland a bad start doesn't mean the end of the season.

So, imo, any bid over 100,000 or so should be accepted by Cork. That way they get money in July and can buy in new players, spend on club, etc. Otherwise he'll go for free. I'm not sure how old O'Donovan is but if it were to go to a tribunal, you know the monetary compensation goes by how much players were earning at previous club, etc. which I imagine is no more than €3k a week at Cork so the compensation would be a lot less than €100k.

Sorry but i dont agree with any of your post...

500k is realistic if a bidding war starts..why should it not be?...yes he is out of contract in November but clubs will still pay to get him in for pre-season..it all depends on the clubs interested really...

Compensation..i must check this out properly and get back to you but i THINK i heard if it went down this line we would get 180k...

100k should be accepted....not a chance there...i and i hope the club feels the same would prefer him to stay until the end of his contract and use him to win a trophy and to have a good season so the fans will come through the gates so therefore we would make that up..to say 100k for Roy Frank is an insult...

And just to touch on the point again clubs would wait until November to sign him does not sound right...Top championship clubs would be willing to spend bigger and take a chance to get someone like Roy early...a good start is everything...not many clubs do a Sunderland...some clubs will take the risk and well you know that...

[superfrank]

RESPONSE TO REDX:

I wasn't suggesting he isn't worth a penny over €100,000. I was suggesting if Cork were to receive that they should accept.

A bidding war could happen but undoubtedly clubs would drop off if they are priced out, which is something I believe Cork will do. In that case the bidding clubs would be in a better position as they know Cork can't push a price and they know his contracts up in a few months.

I really do think that if these clubs are that interested in O'Donovan, they will happily wait until the end of our season to snap him up. Yes, he'd be tired but they could bring him in lightly, as an impact sub if you will. And a player who can come on for twenty minutes and score a goal or two is much better than a player who plays ninety minutes and scores a goal or two. I have no doubt surrounding his ability. On the footballing front, that would suit Cork as they'd get the benefit of having him til the end of the season and pushing for European places and cups. But then again maybe his head and heart would be elsewhere if he knew he already leaving.

Like I said, time is a key factor. Your challenges to my post make sense but I feel my points also make sense.

[Dr.Nightdub]

I know he's been scoring plenty elsewhere, but in the two Setanta games against us (i.e. when he was up against a proper defence rather than, say, Portadown), O'Donovan was fairly anonymous.

One thing that'll count against him, in terms of commanding a big fee (so it'll count against Cork as well) is that he's stuck with that stocking Behan as a strike partner. I'd say an O'Flynn / O'Donovan strike force would look far more impressive to an English scout, andf by extension, bump up ROD's transfer value.

[RedX]

RESPONSE TO REDX:

I wasn't suggesting he isn't worth a penny over €100,000. I was suggesting if Cork were to receive that they should accept.

I know you never said he was worth only 100k...when i said its an insult to get 100k for him i meant it in a way that he is a lot better than that price...but yes i do understand the where you are coming from on that point...

One thing that'll count against him, in terms of commanding a big fee (so it'll count against Cork as well) is that he's stuck with that stocking Behan as a strike partner. I'd say an O'Flynn / O'Donovan strike force would look far more impressive to an English scout, andf by extension, bump up ROD's transfer value.

Behan is a very hard working player...he is not the best in the world and there are many arguments even on the Cork City forum about his ability...i think he has improved a lot this year..he is looking a lot fitter and sharper..he does well for us but i too would prefer if we brought in one or two strikers in July...

If Roy was playing with a better all round player he probably would look and do better also...but i am sure you dont need fantastic players around you for a good professional scout to see what you have got...these guys spot things we dont see and that is based just on that players ability...

[adamcarr]

IIRC the compo is 150k if he goes to a category B league(SPL & Championship) and 200k if he goes to a category A league(Premiership)

[soccerc]

.do not forget Roy Keane and McCarthy both travelled over to see him play...

True, keane and McCarthy did travel over as did reps of a number of other clubs.

If you are talking of the Setanta Cup tie in Richmond then I have to pour cold water on your assumption. It was not to run the rule over your golden child but two other non cork players.

[pete]

So, imo, any bid over 100,000 or so should be accepted by Cork. That way they get money in July and can buy in new players, spend on club, etc. Otherwise he'll go for free. I'm not sure how old O'Donovan is but if it were to go to a tribunal, you know the monetary compensation goes by how much players were earning at previous club, etc. which I imagine is no more than €3k a week at Cork so the compensation would be a lot less than €100k.

Compensation starts at 180k for SPL or Championship & I think 240k for Premiership club so your figure of 100k makes no sense.

The only advantage to selling him in the summer is that can get interested clubs to bid against each other whereas at the end of the season the player gets to choose the club.

O'Donovan is good player but not as good as he thinks he is himself. Give me an O'Flynn is his prime or Doyle before he left any day. I have no doubt O'Donovan can improve but he needs to mature before that can happen.

[superfrank]

Compensation starts at 180k for SPL or Championship & I think 240k for Premiership club so your figure of 100k makes no sense.

I didn't know what the compensation figure was. I was guessing.

[GavinZac]

I didn't know what the compensation figure was. I was guessing.

Well, don't.

[Pablo]

Missed an open net against us. From what I've seen and heard I think he can be dodgy enough and is almost like a form player.

Isnt just about every striker?

[Row Z]

SoccerC which players are you talking about??
Think Cork will be lucky to get 500k in the summer, thats assuming teams come back in for him. they do need a bidding war to be started if they are to get 300k.
As for Behan, good lad is Denis. whatever he lacks in ability he makes up for with effort. and has one of the hardest smacks of a ball ever!!

[paudie]

I think City were right not to sell Roy pre season. For PR reasons if he had left after Bennett, Murphy, George and Fenn it would have been a disaster.

I don't think the figures being offered were huge anyway. Hopefully if he continues to score a few clubs will be in for him in the summer and push up the price.

Would be delighted if we got €500K.

[pete]

I think City were right not to sell Roy pre season. For PR reasons if he had left after Bennett, Murphy, George and Fenn it would have been a disaster.

Would be delighted if we got €500K.

I agree. Keeping him was largely a moral thing.

If we can get more than Bennet most people will be happy as keeps raising the bar.