Dean Delany's story: from Dublin to Glasgow for European glory (Shelbourne → Celtic)

[Vladis]

 

Quote

Shelbourne were founded in Dublin in 1895. In 1904 the club joined the Irish Football League, which was then an all Ireland competition, before becoming founding members of the League of Ireland in 1921. Shelbourne have won the league 13 times and are one of three clubs to have won both the IFA Cup and the FAI Cup. They play their home matches at Tolka Park, in the Dublin suburb of Drumcondra. The club colours are primarily red and white, with home jerseys being predominantly red. "Shels" is the club's most common nickname, an abbreviation of Shelbourne.

 

Facilities

 

Career records

Edited April 17, 2022 by Vladis
new chapter

[Vladis]

Meet the Manager

Цитата

Dean Delany (born 15 September 1980) is an Irish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Beginning his career in England with Everton in 1997, three years later he moved on to Port Vale, having never turned out for the first team at Everton despite winning caps for the Republic of Ireland under-21s and lifting the FA Youth Cup. He spent four years with Vale, and did make 39 first team appearances, though was never their first choice keeper. He also spent time on loan at Macclesfield Town, but never made it onto the field. He returned to Ireland in 2004 to sign a contract with Shelbourne, who he helped to the League of Ireland title in 2006. He spent 2007 with Waterford United, though returned to Shelbourne the following year. The "Shels" had been demoted in his absence, and he was the goalkeeper in the 2011 season, as they won promotion back into the top-flight. He joined Bohemians in time for the 2013 season, before returning to Shelbourne again in 2017 and helping the club to win promotion as League of Ireland First Division champions in 2019. He was named on the PFAI First Division Team of the Year for the 2009 and 2018 seasons.

 

 

Edited January 10, 2021 by Vladis

[Vladis]

 Republic of Ireland football league system

*First two tiers are active in FM

 

 SSE Airtricity League Premier Division

Rules   Past winners (last 10 seasons)

🠗

 SSE Airtricity League First Division

Rules   Past winners (last 10 seasons)

 

Also there is U19 National League which is separated in two divisions. 

Edited January 10, 2021 by Vladis

[Vladis]

 

Dean Delany`s career objectives

Short-term:

- gain promotion;

- extend key players` contracts.

Mid-term:

- build strong competitive team (primary with local players);

- improve club facilities (as much as possible);

- improve staff positions (primary with local specialists).

Long-term:

- become the most titled team in Ireland (currently Shamrock Rovers with 18 titles);

- reach group stages of Champions League;

- produce at least one Irish international player;

- build the most successful youth system in Ireland.

 

Recruitment preferences

1. Ireland

2. UK

3. Other countries (slight preference to English speakers)

 

Current season expectations

As you can see our board is far less ambitious as bookmakers. I think we have a chance for promotion but it should be a tough race. 

[Vladis]

Squad overview

*click on the image to increase size

 

This squad is well suited to 4-4-2 formation. We have some very good players for this level but lack quality depth at almost all positions. First of all we need at least one pacey striker to build partnership with tall and good in air Kilduff. Also would like to bring in left winger and central defender.

Key players:

 Gary Deegan

 Mark Byrne

 Karl Sheppard

 

Staff overview

Coaching team

Medical team*

Recruitment team

U19 staff

*Peter Hurley was appointed as sports scientist by me.

We don't have any analytics in the club. Alongside with at least two scouts it's priority task for staff recruitment. Overall our staff quality is very average but ok for current level. 

[Vladis]

January - February 2021

Pre-season 

 

We have tested ourselves against some Premier League sides and it was not as good as i wanted. Despite some improvements in our game near to the end of pre-season i couldn't be happy with our defensive performance but probably we will look more solid in officiam matches.

 

We have made some signings during these two months. It's really tough to recruite players with such limited scouting options. All players signed on loan from Bohemians are real Shels transfers (good option for llm scouting )

 

 Michael Barker - will provide depth in two positions (CD and FB)

 J.J. Lunney - pretty good midfielder who is comfortable with the ball

 Harry Milne - good fullback for this level

 Glen McAuley - should be our main scorer. Good finishing and off the ball movement.

 Jamie Gray - another striker. Quick enough to be dangerous for slow opponents.

 

Also added some numbers to our staff. Two new scouts  Richie Smith,  Patsy Freyne, recruitment analyst  Martin Waters, new coach  John Dineen, performance analyst  Joe Walsh and physio  Charlotte Skidmore.

 

Other news:

 

[Vladis]

February 2021

 

Great start of the season for us. Though opponents were weeker it's pleasent to begin league campaign with 3 straight clean sheets. Kilduff (3 goals) and Fitzgerald (2 assists) were outstanding for us in this month.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nice but nothing special as it's only first 3 matches of the season.

And some sad news. Barker will miss at least 6 month.

[Vladis]

March 2021

 

Our ubeatable run coninues. I was concerned with our defence during pre-season matches but after 7 league games we conceded only twice from set pieces. Important win over Cork City who are our main rivals for promotion.

 

Edited January 13, 2021 by Vladis

[ToMexico!!]

I had an enjoyable save with UCD a few editions ago. Shame to see them in 2nd place 

[Vladis]

9 часов назад, ToMexico!! сказал:

I had an enjoyable save with UCD a few editions ago. Shame to see them in 2nd place 

hI, @ToMexico!! How far did you go with UCD? I've never managed in Ireland until this year and hardly imagine what to expect in long-term.

[Vladis]

April 2021

 

Our agressive manner of defending played against us in first two matches of April. Straight red cards in the beginning of both games. As the board doesn't treat cups as important in mtach against Waterford i decided to rotate the squad and give playing time to those who lack match sharpness. With the 10 man on the pitch we were hardly outdominated by Premier league side but it's something i'm not worring about. After three games without winning we had returned to the winning run and near to the mid of the season we are keeping the 1st place. Kilduff's head is the main weapon in our arsenal  

It's my fault. I didn't took it seriously when Bohemians manager threatened to recall Glen due to playing him in unagreed role (AF instead of P). McAuley scored 5 goals  for us in 8 games.

[Vladis]

May 2021

 

Very good month for us. Totally outclassed Wexford and took 6 points against tough opponents Cork City and U.C.D. Have finished month with friendly game as we have two weeks break in the league.  

Unfortunately our top goalscoreer Kilduff got injured in match with U.C.D. and will return to training not earlier than July.

Another bad news came from Bohemians. The same story as with McAuley. Now we really lack depth in CM postion.

[ToMexico!!]

9 hours ago, Vladis said:

hI, @ToMexico!! How far did you go with UCD? I've never managed in Ireland until this year and hardly imagine what to expect in long-term.

I documented it on here. Here's the link

Was quite a fun save albeit dominant domestically. 

[Vladis]

2 минуты назад, ToMexico!! сказал:

I documented it on here. Here's the link

Was quite a fun save albeit dominant domestically. 

Thanks. Will check it tonight.

[Vladis]

June 2021

 

Winning friendly matches is ok but i would prefer league games instead. We lost points where we shouldn't and let Wanderers reduce gap between us. 

A lot of news in this month.

Now we can hire another coach. Didn't find right candidates yet but will continue for searching in the future.

Great response from the board and may be we will see benefits in the next intake.

---

And about intake. Preview is rather optimistic but let's see.

---

For me it's two news in one. Now i know that Fernandes has Indian nationality  How have i missed this?

---

Decided to extend contracts with players those future i see in our club. Surprisingly most of them have agreed to reduce wage though if we promote to Premier league it will still be more than they had before reniewing.

 Jack Brady (GK) -250€ p/w >190€ p/w (+25% promotion rise) until 31/12/22

 Luke Byrne (CD) -500€ p/w >450€ p/w (+25% promotion rise) until 31/12/22

 Daniel Byrne (CD) -350€ p/w >300€ p/w (+25% promotion rise) until 31/12/22

 Lorcan Fitzgerald (LFB) -400€ p/w >300€ p/w (+25% promotion rise) until 31/12/22

 Karl Sheppard (RW) -650€ p/w >875€ p/w (+25% promotion rise) until 31/12/22

 Ciaran Kilduff (ST) -650€ p/w >475€ p/w (+25% promotion rise) until 31/12/22

 Shane Farrell (CM) -300€ p/w >170€ p/w (+25% promotion rise) until 31/12/22

 Joze Kabia (S) -325€ p/w >160€ p/w (+25% promotion rise) until 31/12/22

---

In the end of month we have signed for free CM  Louis Dunne. We are lacking creative players so it should be good addition to the squad.

---

Edited January 14, 2021 by Vladis

[Vladis]

July 2021

 

Match against Bray Wanderers was probably one of the most important in this season. Tough strong-willed victory has allowed us to break away from 2nd position. 7 games left and we have a good chance of straight promotion. We need at least 12 points to secure 1st place.

---

Through summer transfer window we have completed few deals.

 Ethan Boyle - From Linfield (free)

This deal we had arranged earlier in april. Ethan spent last two seasons in Northern Ireland playing for the top local side Linfield. Very solid fullback who is ready for Premier League level.

 Jake Walker - loan from St.Patrick Athletic

Sensational deal because Jake is current Premier league top goalscorer in this season with 12 goals. I don't why he was transfer listed but we couldn't miss this chance and though we don't have enough money for buying out him we have agreed loan deal. By the way Jake scored twicely in his debut match.

Also we managed to loan again J.J. Lunney. He wasn't given a chance in Bohemians and as a result loan listed. This time loan deal has no any options of prefered role.

And one future transfer is arranged. After the end of his contract with Shamrock Rovers  Gary O'Neill will join our team. Solid improve to our midfield for sure.

 

[Vladis]

August 2021

 

4 points...only 4 points we need to secure 1st spot. In last 4 fixtures we will face all teams that are currently in play-off positions so it should be tough run of games. Despite the defeat to Derry City in FAI Cup i was content with our game because we were not in optimal squad and looked overall better than PL side.

---

Kilduff has been injured again and probably will miss all September. Good news is that we have only two fixtures in September though one of them is against Cork City.

 

Edited January 15, 2021 by Vladis

[Vladis]

September 2021

 

Yes, we did it! Win over U.C.D. was enough to become unreachable for opponents. Next goal was unbeatable season but already in the next match against Cork City we have failed to do it.

---

On a positive wave i made some requests to the board. Some of them were rejected but these were accepted. Now we can hire another U19 coach and able to search players in entire Europe.

---

I would describe this intake as 'better than nothing'. Interesting to see Belorusian and German youngsters among academy graduates.  

 Viny MacAnthony - though he is valued as top prospect in this intake i'm not sure about his future due unamitious personality and very low determination.

 Sean McBride - he is already have some good skills for central defender but i'm concerned with his mental attributes except great determination. Though he is only 15.

---

Congratulations to Denzil with his first goal for India.

[Vladis]

October 2021

 

I don't know what had happened in match against Galway Utd but it was our worst performance in this season.  Final two games were not the best too but we took 6 ponts anyway. I think after securing 1st spot we were too complacent. But after all we are the champions (even though of Irish second tier).

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Season review

Overall balance at the end of the season: - 344k€

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Player stats (league games)

Best players:

1. Ciaran Kilduff. 17 goals in 20 games, av. 96 minutes per goal, fantastic performance from our experienced striker. Could score even more but missed 2 months being injured.

2. Lorcan Fitzgerald. 15 assists, 4 goals from direct free kicks. Outstanding stats for fullback.

3. L. Byron - D. Byron partnership. We were sometimes too vulnerable in defence but these two guys made opponents' life as hard as possible.

---

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We are going to holiday now. Board set initial budgets. Significant increase to our wage budget (from 10k to 40k p/w) should help us to strengthen team.

---

P.S. I should say sorry for my poor English, guys, it's not my native language.

 

 

[Vladis]

2022

Season Preview

Part I - Club news

As we don't have any reserve/B teams, affiliated club is important addition to club vertical.

---

I was sure board will reject my request for the new stadium but they accepted it. However, it's a long process and I have some doubts about capacity. 1700 is too low, i don't know where they are coming from with these numbers.  

---

We have updated our Youth Recruitment to Good level.

 

Part II - Staff upgrade

Thanks to our chairman we have increased the size of coaching and recruitment staff to decent level.

Coaching team

Key additions here:

HoYD  Karl Moore - last season Karl was our regular starter but retired after the end of contract and now he is ready to the new beginning. He already has great attributes for his new role and could develop more.

Coach  Jonathan Walters - well-known ex Stoke and Ipswich player with more than 50 international appearances. Started his coaching career last year in Scottish 4th tier as Stenhousemuir reserves manager.

Recruitment team

Key additions here:

Scout  Dave Johnstone - decent specialist for our level. Scotland is an important market for us so we needed someone with good knowledge of this area.

U19 Coaching team

Key additions here:

Manager  Gary Hogan - spent almost all of his career in lower leagues of Norway. Has experience in working with youngsters there so should be familiar with his role in Dublin.

Assistant  Greg Rogan - another prodigal son who returns home. For four years he worked with Youths in Portugal teams Casa Pia and Dezembro.

 

Part III - Transfers, squad presentation

Transfers In

Спойлер

 

Спойлер

 

 

Very busy winter. 1/3 of these signings are youth players for U19 squad. 150k for Mahon is the new transfer record for Shels though we will pay this fee partially for 3 years.

Transfers Out

Спойлер

 

Спойлер

 

 

This table doesn't include players who were released from the club after the end of contract. 3 players went on loan to Waterford. I will follow Farrell performance as he has potential to be the part of or squad.

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Shelbourne F.C. 2022 Squad 

Goalkeepers

new  Tadhg Ryan - good backup for Brady though assistant thinks he is even better than Jack

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Defenders

new  John Mahon - he has more pressure than anybody else being signed for record transfer fee. Hope he will cope with it

new  Aaron Barry - good backup option for Luke Byron and only 250€ p/w

new  Simon Madden - experienced fullback. This season will be 13th in the Premier league for him.

new Matty Downing - Leeds home-grown. Very quality adiition to our defence. Although i want to give some time for aging Fitzgerald who was impressive last season.

---

Midfielders

new   Gary O'Neill - i've already presented this guy in previous updates. Good creator.

new   Barry McNamee - naturally attacking midfielder who can effectively play on both flanks. One of the best assistants last season in Finn Harps and fans Player of the Year. Plan him to use as left winger in my system.

new   Dara Markey - can be useful in several positions.  Has some potential but right now is more rotation option

new  Keith Ward - another versatile player came from Bohemians. As far as i see he is more successful as inside winger on the left flank.

new  Karl O'Sullivan - very quick runner who is young enough

new  Jordan Williams - probably our main signing. Was bought for less than 20k from Stockport few days before transfer deadline. Very good left-footed winger. Our left flank looks very strong now with him and McNamee

new  Shea Gordon - the only player who is on loan. Decent destroyer as rotation option for our captain Mark Byrne

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Strikers

new   Gary Shaw - experienced striker. Someone who could be a good sub for Kilduff

new   Rob Manley - decent finisher, scored 8 goals last season in Longford.

 

Part IV - Friendly matches. Board expectations. Season odds.

Decent preseason. I don't pay too much attention to results. Good thing is that we have avoided serious injures. The team is fit and ready for the start of the season.

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Board and bookmakers believe that we can finish in top 5. Looking at our squad i agree with them but anything could happen in the season. 

[Vladis]

February 2022

Season calendar is very strange. Firstly we have 5 straight home fixtures and then 7(!) away matches in a row. Anyway i'm happy with the start. 7 points from 9 possible is even better than i expected. And using second XI squad we've passed through fourth round of Leinster Cup.

Seems like a good tradition to start the season with this award.

 

[withnail316]

Well done on promotion, chief. Looks like you jumped the gun with the stadium request, though. 

[Vladis]

20 минут назад, withnail316 сказал:

Well done on promotion, chief. Looks like you jumped the gun with the stadium request, though. 

Thanks, mate. About stadium i think so, but i believe the board could refine stadium plan if we will show good attendance in near 1-2 seasons.

[Vladis]

March 2022

I still can't understand - are we overachieving or it's our level? But it's only 9 games, let see how we can perform on the distance. Despite the close score in a match against Rovers we were totally outclassed. We are still learning how to play against quality teams that don't sit deep and smash balls forward. Game with last season champions Dundalk was a real thriller. In 3 minutes after we conceded 2nd goal, we did impressive comeback and even had great chance to score again. 

---

 

Awful news, Manley isn't our first choice in attack but we lost depth in this line.

---

---

Made another successful request to the board

Edited January 21, 2021 by Vladis

[Vladis]

April 2022

Great month except last match against Galway. I should mark this result  I think it was our best game so far. Shamrock is very interesting team who tries to paly tiki-taka style unlike the majority of other Irish teams with simple direct football. But we perfectly adopted our plan for this match, letting them to keep the ball but nothing more and waiting for the right moment then smashing them on counter attacks. We are near the mid of the season and it looks like we can achieve even more than top-half finishing.

[Vladis]

May 2022

Not the best month. Lost to outsider Waterford and struggling in this season Bohemians. And as a result let Dundalk rock the table. 

[Vladis]

June 2022

After some bad matches i decided to change formation and at the first time we've come from 4-4-2. With the new shape 4-4-1-1 with two DMs we predictably became more solid at the back and as far as i can judge still dangerous in attack.

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I don't believe in golden generation but it's interesting.

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With the transfer window opened in last week of the month we have done two deals for players coming in:

 Tommy Robson - Sunderland academy graduate has experience playing in Ireland (1 season for Limerick FC in 2016). Last two seasons was in Queen's Park in Scotland. Good fullback who should replace aging Fitzgerald.

 Craig Moore - we needed some more pace in attack and our scouts found Craig. Decent pressing forward for our level.

---

 

 

 

[Vladis]

July 2022

Our winning run continues. Two very important wins in this month over Rovers and Dundalk. 

 

[Vladis]

August 2022

Despite the loss to Sligo Rovers it was very good month again. We are closer and closer to winning the league. And also we have reached the final of League Cup where we will face Shamrock.

 

[Vladis]

September 2022

What could i say? It's unbelievable achievment for me and for the club - from second tier to Premier League champions in two years! Interesting that the most important matches of September were against Shamrock Rovers. One win brought us the League Cup title and another one made us unreachable for Dundalk. 

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On the paper it looks like we got some great prospects but some words about most rated ones.

 Stephen Byrne - he could be real top but he has fickle personality and awful off the ball movement which is crucial for striker

 Ricky McKee - looks good but i have some concerns with his one-on-ones, concentration and anticipation

 Sam Doyle - too low finishing, composure and anticipation but good potential. With our poor facilities there are no too many chances he could progress in these skills.

 

 

 

Edited January 28, 2021 by Vladis

[Sheriff7]

You are the new Rehagel (won Bundesliga with new promoted Kaiserslautern in 97/98) now you just have to win an Euro with a small nation like Greece in 2004..

Edited January 28, 2021 by Sheriff7

[Deego619]

Great stuff. The difference in quality isn't much between the two tiers in Ireland (in FM at least). Surprised to see Rovers relatively struggle, them and Jack Byrne usually dominate the domestic game for a while.

[Vladis]

9 часов назад, Sheriff7 сказал:

You are the new Rehagel (won Bundesliga with new promoted Kaiserslautern in 97/98) now you just have to win an Euro with a small nation like Greece in 2004..

Thank you, mate! I tried to remember similar achievements and forgot about Kaiser 97-98.  But my task was a bit easier as IPL is not so competitive as Bundesliga). May be it could be interesting to manage Ireland national team in the future and try two win something but not for now)

[Vladis]

4 часа назад, Deego619 сказал:

Great stuff. The difference in quality isn't much between the two tiers in Ireland (in FM at least). Surprised to see Rovers relatively struggle, them and Jack Byrne usually dominate the domestic game for a while.

Thanks! Yes, i agree about difference in quality. At least bottom 5 teams of IPL is almost on the same level as top 5 teams in second tier. Shamrock is playing under his abilities but I'm also surprised with Bohemians as there squad is strong enough. 

[Vladis]

October - November 2022

Excellent end of the season! Won main National Cup and International Champions cup. Proud of my guys - it was outstanding campaign.

Player Stats

Overall balance at the end of the season: - 450k€

 

[Vladis]

Season 2023 preview

Board expectations

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 Transfers

Out

+16 players released

One of the tasks for this pre-season was optimizing squad size both for senior and u19 team that's why so many outgoing deals. Our first season star Kilduff has moved to sunny Miami, seven players went on loan.

In

/ Danny Mandroiu - good player from local market. Should be first choice for AMC position.

 Rory Feely - quality improvement to our defensive line. Was our main target in this window.

 Paddy Kirk - decent backup option from Bohemians

 Adam Randell - young and creative midfielder who could be useful in supporting attacks but needs to develop some defensive skills.

 Taylor Charters - Another young player from England. Very versatile and could develop into really good player for IPL.

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 Squad overview

Attributes depend on roles/duties. AVG is a mean for Role/Duty key attributes *5 (excluding Det and Nat). Dark green are excellent attributes (12>), Light green - good (10-11), Yellow - average (8-9), Red - poor (<7).

Goalkeepers (GK-D)

Central defenders (CD-D)

Fullbacks (FB-Au)

Defensive midfielders (DM-S)

Wingers (W-A)

Attacking midfielders (AM-S)

Strikers (PF-A)

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Tittle odds

Edited February 9, 2021 by Vladis

[Vladis]

February 2023

We started the season with the win over Dundalk in President`s cup and added another trophy to our collection. Our 20 games unbeatable run in the league ended at Tallaght Stadium in a very spectacular match despite only one goal. Last match in this month was the benefit of Jamie Gray with 4 goals. 

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Thanks but no.

[Vladis]

March 2023

Not a good month. 3 draws in a row against weaker teams. Though in the game with Sligo Rovers we made comeback after 0-2 in the first half and were close to the win but conceded late goal. Leinster Senior Cup is still the only cup in Ireland we can't win for 3 years.

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First international call for our young GK.

Edited February 12, 2021 by Vladis

[Vladis]

April 2023

Overall better month. We didn't cope with Dundalk who is in excellent form this season but won against strong Rovers side. And lost to Bohemians in cup match again... and again on penalties. Should also mention about perfect debut of or 16 years old striker Stephen Byrne in match again U.C.D. He is youngest ever goalscorer for the club.

 

 

[Vladis]

May 2023

I'm upset with the draw against Sligo Rovers, we need to win matches like this if we want to fight for top places. Match against Dundalk was very spectacular, we made a comeback from 0-2 but opponents scored another winning goal in last minutes of the game. Though it's the only half of the season but it looks like it would be hard to secure the tittle as Dundalk is very good this year.

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First youngster poached by another club.

[Vladis]

June 2023

Inconsistency is our main problem this season especially in attacking performance. It seems like opponents have adopted how to play against us and possibly we need to adjust our tactic.

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I don't know how strong is Macedonian side so can't say at this moment if it is good draw for us or not

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Sadly there are no good wingers again but interesting to see this top prospect midfielder

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Another poached youngster

Edited February 15, 2021 by Vladis

[Vladis]

July 2023

Excellent performance in Champions League so far. After beating Shkendija in the first round we sensationally beat Polish champions Lech on their ground. Though we are still underdogs in the second game but we definitely have a chance.

In the league we are still struggling to make some good winning run to get closer to Shamrock and Dundalk.

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Summer transfer window

In

 Alex Kirk - 20 y.o. defender from Arsenal academy who is already top for IPL. Great addition to our defensive line.

 Danny Kane - this signing we had arranged earlier. Naturally he is CD but I plan him to replace aging M.Byrne in DM position.

 Jake Cooper - another good free signing. Former Rotherham defender with good physical and mental attributes. 

/ Thanawat Suengchitthawon - Former France U-16 and U-18 international joins us for record wage (2k p/w). This Thai born playmaker looks excellent for our level. Hope he can help us to improve attacking play.

/ Rouel Sotiriou - i'm not pleased with our strikers Moore and Gray in this season and believe that Rouel could give some more quality in opposition penalty area.

 Kyle MacDonald - pretty average player but his amazing versatility could be useful.

Out

It's very very hard to find new clubs for players you don't plan in the squad...even on loan. MacDonald is going on loan to Cork to have some playing time and adapt to the new league for him. Brennan is going out as we have signed Thanawat.

Edited February 16, 2021 by Vladis

[Sheriff7]

Great start in CL!

[Vladis]

11 часов назад, Sheriff7 сказал:

Great start in CL!

Thanks) Yeah, unexpected great.

[Vladis]

August 2023

Wow...just wow! We are in EL group stages! Who could predict that? 2nd leg game against Lech was a real drama. We conceded two goals in the first half but from the start of the second half and to the end of extra time it was fantastic performance from our guys - 4 goals in extra 30 minutes and 2 of them are from my 17 y.o. academy graduate Sam Doyle. Basel is absolutely next level for us but we gave it all and had some chances to make another sensation. After Lech and Basel it looked like we should cope with Appolon who is weaker on the paper than last opponents. But it was tough fight ended with the terrific denouement. O'Sullivan goal in the last seconds of the second game is one of the most memorable moment for the club so far. 

I'm very happy with the draw because our fans could see at Talka Park top European clubs especially Chelsea. Even 1 point in this group would be massive achievment.

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Money we really need. We've covered the loss in 2M and have some extra funds in the bank.

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And the first thing i made is a request for improving our facilities.

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After those prize money new sponsorship deal looks laughable.

Edited February 17, 2021 by Vladis

[Vladis]

September 2023

We started EL group stage with the match against Athletic and we worked as hard as we can to keep those level of football. Muniain and Co with not surprise were better on the pitch but we didn't look like whipping boys.

I'm really concerned with our performance in the league as we continue to lose points not only with top local teams but with more weaker sides too. European football next year is not guaranteed yet.

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I don't know is this bug or no. But Stadium capacity is 10000 with only 6000 seated.

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I'm really excited with this intake. Especially with good personalities of top prospects.

 Brian Keogh - very brave striker who could be great pressing forward in the future. 

 Nathan O'Donovan - those top prospect mentioned in Intake preview. With some good work on the training ground he could be senior squad member in 1-2 years.

 Mark McGlynn - may be he is not so talented as youngsters above but he has already some decent skills for 16 y.o. Would probably retrain him for left winger.

[Vladis]

October 2023

Month with two EL matches and very important comeback in game against Dundalk. We have secured 3d spot and knowing how this season going it's a good news. 

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Not every day managers of Pellegrini caliber praise you 

[Carambau]

When I read the title it reminded me of this:

 

Good luck with your career!

[Vladis]

11 часов назад, Carambau сказал:

When I read the title it reminded me of this:

 

Good luck with your career!

I'm so far from Ireland and may be this video has some background i don't know but... it's fantastic  I need those sandwich right now!

Thanks for kind words. Luck is definitely important in fm  

[Vladis]

November - December 2023

We should take a lot of positives from these EL matches. It was fantastic opportunity for our players to test themselves  against superior teams and we even scored 3 goals.

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Season review

Mixed emotions about this season. Fantastic European campaign and not the best performance in the league and local cups, though i don't treat these cups as really important. We were solid defensively but lacked in chances created and goals as result. I plan to go with standard 4-4-1-1 in league matches next season rather then with 2DMs variant, though last one we can still use in tough away matches or in Europe.

Player stats (all competitions) 

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Totally agree with this best XI.

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