The League of Ireland thread

Well his name is actually Barry but for some reason it became Bobby over the years… we were soldiers back in the old hood! Last time i really spoke to him was the day we were robbed by two travellers coming home from school, poor Bobby had a brand new watch stolen! fine footballer tho.

Barry Ryan (ginger) is a goalkeeper from Clare, Bobby Ryan (Shergar) is the winger from Limerick.

From the Herald:
Ex-Shels pair train at Bohs

By Aidan Fitzmaurice
Monday January 19 2009

Bohemians will invite former Shelbourne stars Richie Baker and Alan Cawley to train with the Gypsies this week, as the Dalymount club edge closer to a deal which will allow them add to their squad for the 2009 season.

The Bohs board will meet tonight to try and agree a budget for the new season and it’s believed that a deal which would see current players and staff accept a pay cut will be agreed, though that deal has yet to be finalised.

Financial constraints at Dalymount Park mean that the 2008 double winners have been unable to sign new players and when the squad reported back for pre-season training last Wednesday, boss Pat Fenlon had only 12 contracted, senior players to pick from, though Bohs did have a number of out-of-contract players at their training sessions like former Drogheda United men Stuart Byrne and Paul Keegan along with ex-Bray striker Ger Rowe.

Five players from last season’s squad - Mindaugas Kalonas, John Paul Kelly, Harpal Singh, Thomas Heary and Brendan McGill have already left the club while two more, Stephen O’Donnell and Liam Burns, could also be on the way out as they were offered new contracts by Bohs but on lower terms, as the new regime at Bohs has reportedly imposed a wage cap of 1000 a week. Boss Fenlon fears that defender Burns will not accept the offer of a new deal and Burns is expected in the next 24 hours to join former Bohs team-mates Thomas Heary, Harpal Singh and Darren Mansaram at Sean Connor’s Dundalk.

“We had some players training with us last week and I will ask Richie Baker to come and train this week, but none of them have been signed as we’re not yet in a position to sign anyone yet, we still have some things to sort out behind the scenes,” said Fenlon, who has also been tracking Bray Wanderers man Alan Cawley.

“Richie Baker would be a great signing as he’s experienced, he was supposed to go to some clubs in the Irish League but that didn’t work out so hopefully he will train this week and we’ll see how he gets on.”

Ireland U23 team captain Paul Keegan, who was at Drogheda United last season, is a target for Bohs but he headed off to England this morning, along with ex-Bohs man John Paul Kelly, for a trial at Millwall which will see them play in a reserve game tomorrow night.

Stephen O’Donnell, a key figure in the Gypsies’ double triumph last season, has been offered a new contract by Bohs but he spent time last week on trial at Gillingham and is awaiting news of a contract offer from the League Two side.

Former Shelbourne and UCD midfielder Cawley had been heavily linked with a move to his hometown club Sligo Rovers and he held advanced talks with the club, but it appears those talks have ground to a halt due to the terms offered to Cawley and he is now expected to link up with his old Shels boss Fenlon at Bohs this week to try and win a contract.

word on the street is Jim Roddy has resigned as bohs CEO.

hope his contract wasnt written on a beermat.

[quote=“josepi73”]word on the street is Jim Roddy has resigned as bohs CEO.

hope his contract wasnt written on a beermat.[/quote]

already? how long has he been in there?

the soap opera over there gets better & better

He’s obviously a sly cunt. He has resigned to take up a job with the Derry City Council on some regeneration scheme or other. I would imagine the selection process for this type of thing takes a while. I wasn’t keen on the appointment in the first place anyway, neither were most people I know.

How are Bohs managing to hold onto Brian Murphy on the above terms. He is a few levels above any other 'keeper in the league. Thought he would head accross the water.

He is still under contract and we haven’t received an offer, I guess there is nothing more to it than that. Impossible to overestimate the loss he would be if we did end up losing him in the next couple of months.

…but he will hardly agree to a wage cut, and the imposition of one would invalidate his conract and make him a free agent.

I know him from back in the day and he pals around with a few mates of mine, but havent met him since after the cup final and lets just say he thought it might have been his last hurrah for the Gypsies. I reckon he is certainly up to championship standard accross the water, or SPL standard.

Yeah you are probably right, I would have thought it would be his last game for us alright. I just have a sneaking suspicion that he will take the wage cut knowing that he will be a free agent in the summer anyway, and he will still be good then to get a proper move with a proper signing on fee. Of course if someone comes in for him in the meantime, he’ll be fully entitled to move on and better himself, but I just think that it would have happened by now if it were going to happen. I’ll be sad when he does leave, but make no mistake, the bigger picture is more important than the pain. 100% of Bohs members and fans would agree that the wage cut is necessary and overdue.

they agree that now when they have no choice about it - where was the call for prudence before though?

League of Ireland just got a new sponsor-Newstalk 106

Good synergy, Newstalk is in a bit of financial difficulty and has recently changed to a part-time set up

Moved to a new home too recently Georgy

I was under the impression that Limerick were now one of the best run clubs in the league but it seems they are still struggling for cash:

LIMERICK FC board member Andrew Mawhinney believes that the League of Ireland club has arrived at a critical crossroads in its 72-year history.
“As it stands the club is simply not sustainable and we’ll have serious cash flow problems come July,” admitted Mr. Mawhinney last night.
The club hosted a screening of a 24-minute documentary, Till I Die, at the Strand Hotel on Monday night, but the buoyant mood inspired by the news that Limerick FC had drawn St. Patrick’s Athletic at home in the third round of the FAI Ford Cup was tempered somewhat by Andrew Mawhinney’s comments.
Mawhinney said that it was imperative that Limerick returned to the Market’s Field and that the club also required a cash injection this season.
“Jackman Park cannot cater for senior soccer and everything leads us to the Market’s Field,” Andrew Mawhinney said.
"We’re using this evening to highlight our desire to return to the Market’s Field. I don’t want to be a prophet of doom, but this is a make or break season for Limerick FC.
“The Market’s Field is the only show in town for us. Going forward I can’t see the club getting through the summer if we don’t have a high-profile friendly that would bring significant revenue into the club.”

Pat’s will most certainly not bring a massive away support anyway, so I wouldn’t be relying on that for a bit of income.

No but it should attract a slightly bigger home support than usual. Limerick are always fooked for cash though so it’s nothing new here.

Yeah but at least they’re not living massively beyond their means - I mean, I wouldn’t imagine they’re paying a whole lot out in wages relative to some other clubs.

No they wouldn’t be, I remember reading last year how they had restructured the whole club and were now pretty much self sustainable. Obviously this didn’t work out as planned. There biggest problem is the strenght of Junior soccer in the city. Nobody has any interest in the LOI team.

I’ve been told that by a few people alright - the move to summer football has hardly improved relations between senior and junior soccer all over the country though. It’s like everything else, people are too short-sighted and stupid and motivated only by self-interest.