Which team has strengthened the best in the off-season?
Paul Dollery: Shamrock Rovers and Sligo Rovers both appear to have recruited quite well. Ronan Finn was a big acquisition for Dundalk but they haven’t adequately replaced Patrick Hoban, which is a concern for the champions. Cork City look to have had the best off-season in terms of bringing in new faces. Alan Bennett and Liam Miller are big additions to a young squad that lacked experience last season, while Gavin Holohan and Kieran Djilali both look very promising.
Niall Kelly: On paper, Cork have made the most eye-catching signings but both Stephen Kenny and Liam Buckley will be very happy with their off-season wheelings and dealings having only lost one — admittedly key — man apiece. If Dundalk can replace Hoban’s goals (no pressure, Dave McMillan), then last season’s squad plus Rogers and Finn looks very promising. Similarly, losing Fahey will have stung Pat’s but getting Jason McGuinness and Ciaran Kilduff in return make it look like a quite good deal.
Eoin O’Callaghan: It’s hard not to be extremely excited by what Cork City have done since the end of last term. They moved quickly to secure a couple of names and then added some high-profile players like Liam Miller and the resolute and commanding figure of Alan Bennett too. There’s plenty of depth to the squad now and it shows how keen they are to make up for such a heartbreaking finale to last season.
Paul Fennessy: Shamrock Rovers have done very well in terms of recruitment. Keith Fahey and Danny North are two excellent signings. Similarly, Dundalk’s acquisition of Ronan Finn and Gary Rogers should help offset the loss of Patrick Hoban, while they’ve also done really well to keep hold of Richie Towell.
Ben Blake: They may have lost Keith Fahey and Ken Oman but St Patrick’s Athletic have added two players with bags of experience in Jason McGuinness and Ciaran Kilduff. Both arrive on the back of a disappointing season at Shamrock Rovers but McGuinness will slot into the backline while ‘Killer’ should add more firepower to the already impressive frontline of Christy Fagan, Chris Forrester and Conan Byrne.
Who is the one player you’re most looking forward to watching?
PD: It will be interesting to see what impact Liam Miller can have in Cork, and the same can be said for Keith Fahey in Tallaght. But Ronan Finn will be worth keeping an eye on, as usual. He’s vastly experienced at this level but still probably has his best years ahead. If Dundalk are to retain the title, they’ll need a big contribution from him. I’d also expect John Kavanagh to be the latest Cork City player to flourish and attract plenty of interest from the UK.
NK: I’ll go a little bit left-field and say Dundalk’s Sean Gannon. I’ve been impressed with him since his early days at Rovers, and he’s gone on to stand out as one of the top young players in the league. It’s no surprise that there was a bit of interest from England and like Brian Lenihan last year, we should enjoy watching him while he’s here.
EOC: At Drogheda last season, central midfielder Gavan Holohan really caught my eye. Sturdy and intelligent, he also had the ability to take off on purposeful and powerful runs from deep and racked up a few goals as a result. Still in his early twenties, he’s a bit of a throwback and Cork City moved incredibly fast to bring him to Leeside last November. He was obviously closely monitored for a while and he’s featured prominently in the club’s pre-season action. Might be an unusual choice but where Liam Miller will get all the attention, Holohan has what it takes to overshadow his more illustrious team-mate.
PF: I’m going to cheat a little and pick two. Keith Fahey and Chris Forrester are the type of intelligent, technically gifted players that the league can never have too many of. At 32, Fahey still has much to offer at this level, while Forrester is still only 22 and improving all the time. Sean Thornton at Drogheda will also be an interesting one for people who remember the talented youngster who represented Sunderland in the Premier League not so long ago. Whether he can recapture anything like this form, however, remains to be seen.
BB: I’m interested to see how Mikey Drennan gets on at Shamrock Rovers after returning home from Aston Villa. The Ireland U21 international was a prolific goalscorer for Villa’s U19s two seasons ago and the Kilkenny native will be eager to prove himself in senior football. Fellow recent arrival Danny North is the Hoops’ first choice striker but, with Eamon Zayed, Ciaran Kilduff, Karl Sheppard and Dean Kelly all leaving the club recently and Pat Fenlon highlighting his lack of strikers, Drennan is bound to be given chances.
Which of the new managers faces the toughest test?
PD: Keith Long has a big challenge on his hands at Dalymount Park. Last season wasn’t good enough by Bohemians’ standards. There’s always a level of expectation at a big club like that, but whether they have the squad to succeed remains to be seen.
NK: Owen Heary. The Ian Baraclough era whet the appetite for success out west and the speed with which the Sligo board moved to get Heary shows just how much faith they are placing in him to improve on last season’s damp squib. The squad is nowhere near as strong as the title-winning team but don’t expect that to temper expectations.
EOC: As much as Limerick seem set to struggle due to various issues, sometimes lesser-known, young players are hungry to do well and with expectations so low to begin with, maybe the Shannonsiders could punch above their weight. I’m tipping Johnny McDonnell to have some teething problems at Drogheda. 9th place last season and they’ve lost a couple of key personnel while the jury is out on the players brought in. It’s always difficult for any team to go from tasting success to losing their way and despite the presence of experienced hands like Pete Mahon, they could find it tough this term.
PF: Limerick could struggle amid financial issues during what was a difficult off season, so it certainly looks like Martin Russell faces an uphill task in his new role.
BB: In the First Division, Eddie Gormley, manager of newcomers Cabinteely, has a significant job on his hands to mould together a team that is competitive in the second tier from scratch.
Christy Fagan, Danny North or David McMillan?
PD: I couldn’t see the option for Mark O’Sullivan anywhere so I’m writing it here instead.
NK: No contest here. This time last year, we were wondering if Fagan could thrive as the out-and-out striker in Pat’s system and he answered that emphatically with 20 goals in the league — nearly three times that of North and McMillan who had seven apiece. Rovers have taken a committee approach to goalscoring since the departure of Gary Twigg and they desperately need North to be their leader up front, while McMillan has it all to prove if he’s to graduate from supersub to star man.
EOC: Fagan, for me. The name has Oliver Twist connotations and his poaching skills are certainly akin to those of The Artful Dodger. A ruthless figure in the area, he also fits seamlessly with those around him and effortlessly dovetails with the likes of Byrne and Brennan.
PF: Christy Fagan. The deserving recipient of the PFAI Player of the Year Award last year after scoring 20 league goals, I expect more of the same from Fagan this campaign.
BB: There is a noticeable absence of top quality strikers in their prime at present but Christy Fagan is the exception. That said, David McMillan, the man hoping to fill Pat Hoban’s shoes at Dundalk, scored 15 goals last season despite being afforded limited opportunities. The Lilywhites do create bags of chances so you would expect him to improve on that return this time around.
Elsewhere, Dinny Corcoran appears to have settled into life at Sligo Rovers with nine goals (including two hat-tricks) in pre-season. The 26-year-old showed vast improvements for Bohemians last season, helping himself to 20 goals (13 in the league) and manager Owen Heary knows how to get the best out of him.
Who’s coming up and who’s going down?
PD: Limerick have lost some very good players so they might struggle, along with Galway. Shelbourne to come up as champions.
NK: The first round of games will tell us everything we need to know about Galway, Drogheda and Limerick, all of whom look to be facing into long, hard seasons. UCD did enough to keep their heads above water for so many years, you’d imagine that they can comfortably sustain a promotion push if not a title challenge.
EOC: By process of elimination, there seems only a handful of likely candidates for the drop. I expect Longford to keep their heads above water but Galway could be dragged into a dogfight that Drogheda and Limerick may feature in too. Alan Matthews is probably scarred after last season’s scrap though he’s a smart enough coach to improve things at Bray. In the First Division, Wexford weren’t far off the promotion play-off last season while I felt Athlone, and this is going to sound very strange, were unfortunate to suffer automatic relegation from the top-flight so I’m expecting an immediate response. Shels are strong enough to go again this season but I’m not sure if UCD can make an instant return to the top tier.
PF: After going close last year, I feel Shels could finally return to the top flight, while I also expect UCD to push them close in the First Division. In the Premier Division, the aforementioned financial problems are bound to affect Limerick, while Bray and Drogheda will also struggle.
BB: Newly-promoted Galway United could find it difficult on their return to the top flight, and Bray Wanderers, who have only narrowly avoided the drop on a couple of occasions in recent years, may well find themselves down there again despite being boosted by the arrival of new owners the McGettigan Group. Shelbourne and UCD to come up.
And, finally, who’ll win the Premier Division?
PD: They’ll miss Patrick Hoban’s goals but I still see Dundalk as the team to beat.
NK: There’s not a huge amount to choose between Pat’s and Dundalk and man for man, I think the Saints have the best XI in the league… then again, I would have said the same thing this time last year. They’re the ones to beat for me.
EOC: Despite bigging up Cork City’s signings, a couple of other teams look pretty solid too. At Rovers, it’s hard to see a perennial winner like Pat Fenlon accepting anything less than a title challenge and they’ve recruited excellently as well. But an insider has told me of his admiration for St Pat’s and how he thinks they’ll be very strong. It’s hard to disagree with such an exciting front-line and the wily skills of Conan Byrne and Killian Brennan coupled with the attributes of Chris Forrester. My heart says City but my head says the Saints.
PF: I think Dundalk are the team to beat again. If David McMillan can step up and replace Patrick Hoban’s goals, I see no reason why they can’t secure back-to-back titles. Cork and Shamrock Rovers will contend — they’ve both strengthened significantly in the off season — while I also expect Pat’s to be there or thereabouts.
BB: It’s set to be another intriguing title race with reigning champions Dundalk, last year’s runners-up Cork City, FAI Cup champions St Pat’s and the improving Shamrock Rovers all in with a shout. I’ll go Pat’s, Dundalk, Cork, Rovers… in that order.
Originally published at 00.01
