It begins...

[Maz]

I'm guessing around the 36/7 mark, dono exactly

[spaceghost]

i would welcome him back, but i thought him and alan didnt get on.

[Rocky77]

37 next July according to wikipedia.

If the wages were reasonable he might be a useful playmaker in the Dwight Yorke role. Goalscoring days are behind him and he's not gonna have too many 90-minutes games in him, but beside Deego next season he may have something to offer.

[Maz]

His goalscoring days were over about 2 seasons before he left. He and Alan dont get on and thats down to Eric in my opinion.
I dont think he would really be any addition

[Dillo]

Eric will always be welcome back to the Flansiro. How many times did the man hit the onion bag for us? Who'll ever forget his goal up in Ballybofey that night?!

Is Deego staying with us next season? I'd love to see Shay Kelly stay on too.

[Rocky77]

Is Deego staying with us next season?

Haven't heard, just wishful thinking on my part.

[RockofGibraltar]

was lavine not like sacked by the club for violating the terms of his contract?? i doubt very much that he wud be allowed to set foot in flancare again after that...as much as i love the guy

[Maz]

That was Ballybofey, if we are trying to rebuild a squad then you have to be looking for guys who can do all that he used to do now

[higgins]

Shels seem to be going with a smaller squad this season so they can still pay more than the average First Division wage to attract better players.

You tell me the average First Division wage and I'll tell you if you're right or wrong

Shels are NOT spending more than they did last season so read into that what you like.

[Rocky77]

That was Ballybofey, if we are trying to rebuild a squad then you have to be looking for guys who can do all that he used to do now

Fair points, but why did you bring him up in the first place?

[Maz]

Because I could and because I thought it was funny that he still thinks we are hanging out for him to come back and funny because I got said phonecall about 4/5 hours after we lost the cup final.

If you think he would be an addition, fair enough. I just gave my opinion on it

[town73]

heard on the grapevine today that if a certain chairman goes then matthews will stay!

Not quite the case Marty. It's ultimately down to the assurances he receives. We'll know more towards the end of the week. I think if he stays, we'll have a great chance, as he'll be able to convince players to stay and attract the right ones in. (thanks for your help yesterday, BTW!)

[Maz]

I personally thought it was bad form that many of our committee members didnt turn up in PVS on Sunday night. Surely not the way to go about convincing players and officials to stay on

[Martinho II]

Got it right! I had told you anyways I think....

you did indeed maz!

[Martinho II]

I personally thought it was bad form that many of our committee members didnt turn up in PVS on Sunday night. Surely not the way to go about convincing players and officials to stay on

hence the reason why I think matthews will go!

[Martinho II]

Not quite the case Marty. It's ultimately down to the assurances he receives. We'll know more towards the end of the week. I think if he stays, we'll have a great chance, as he'll be able to convince players to stay and attract the right ones in. (thanks for your help yesterday, BTW!)

no probs town 73 anytime!!

[Rocky77]

The Galway lads are saying on their forum that Dessie has turned them down to sign for Rovers. Haven't seen it officially anywhere yet though.

[Sonic]

its a load of cr@p that the players havent been speaking to other clubs. Dessie to shams, Doherty to bray and now damien to shels. For goodness sake was he not better off or at least the same stayin with us as with shels. Think its disgraceful he has essentially goine to a rival and to a club with less money then us Very disappointed after all the good feeling about him and the team and he does this, Expect the rest to follow captains example

[RonnieB]

Are the lads all out of contract?

[Macy]

It's a bit early to be jumping to conclusions about who has more money than us.

tbh, this is all a symptom of the timing of the Cup final rather than an issue of player commitment. What are they supposed do, wait and take a chance to see whether other clubs have signed people for their positions? We don't know who the manager will be, the financial situation is still crap, they've gone down because of the administration side, who can blame the players for sorting themselves out?

The reality of the league of Ireland situation is that talks have been going on for months amongst players and clubs across the league - it's tap up central. Transfers are not sorted just since the end of the season.