AN INTERESTING OBSERVATION was made to The Beat by someone working on different moves that are likely to be made during the winter transfer window for League of Ireland clubs.

Of no surprise to hear was that the Premier Division is looking in a much stronger place when it comes to top players being under contract.

The days of 40-week contracts and some needing to find extra work or even go on the dole in the build up to Christmas are long gone.

A cause for concern for some looking to strengthen was that the general sense when it came to the calibre of players available was that the standard was low.

It is why we are likely to see the start of what would actually be a break from tradition in the League of Ireland and the introduction of something almost revolutionary: transfer fees for players.

Yes, believe it or not, for all of you bemoaning your club wasting money they don’t actually tend to do it on paying up front for your scapegoat of choice. It’s just the monthly wage that the cash is thrown down the drain.

Of course there are a handful of exceptions, when a fee has been required, but across the board paying transfer fees is almost taboo.

This need to splurge on players will be something to look out for over the coming months. Before all that we have a Premier Division title race to see out, and the last week has brought mixed feelings as the three managers involved, Stephen Bradley, Alan Reynolds and Stephen Kenny, all went public

The Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians bosses went hell for leather in their own personal spat, while the St Patrick’s Athletic man took aim at those faceless overlords who set the fixture schedule in Abbotstown.

In an age when technical directors and directors of football now tend to oversee much of the squad building and transfer dealings, it’s a shame that we might not hear more about Bradley, Reynolds and Kenny potentially taking their respective beefs into negotiations for players.

Ronan Finn has that responsibility at Rovers, Pat Fenlon is charged with it at Bohs, while Ger O’Brien is a conduit of sorts between Kenny and St Pat’s owner Garrett Kelleher.

The nature of this league is that all three will still yield considerable influence, but the prospect of Bradley now ringing Reynolds up to try and perhaps thrash out a deal for someone like Dawson Devoy seems remote in the extreme.

The Bohs captain is a player admired at Tallaght Stadium but after receiving a red card for his part in the post-match brawl between the sides on Monday surely such a contentious move would be out of the question.

“There seems to be a pattern. Every time there seems to be a row on the pitch, it’s the same people involved in it. When it’s different clubs, even. Shels, Pat’s, it’s the same people involved in it. It needs to be looked at,” Bradley said in the aftermath.

“We’re playing to win a league. They’re not.”

That line, or a variation of it, at least, was something Bradley said to both television, broadcast and written media in separate interviews.

If he was still playing, it would have been the equivalent of a two footer just to rubber stamp your point.

Bohs and Reynolds didn’t respond until Thursday, and when they did it was a lengthy riposte as part of their generic team news bulletin emailed out to the media.

“It’s not the first time we’ve seen Stephen Bradley decide to run his mouth off and insult the opposition to distract from the carry-on of his own club,” Reynolds said.

“We’re not the first team that has had that lack of respect from Stephen Bradley or his players. I’ve been involved in this league for a long time, and Stephen always appeared to get on well with me, but something seems to have changed this year, maybe because he finally saw Bohs as a threat.”

But is such a prospect too late? It seems so this season as Rovers are six points clear with three games to go and look nailed on for back-to-back titles and a sixth in seven years.

Between that domestic dominance and three group/league phase campaigns in Europe it’s no wonder Bradley, who only turns 42 next month, is attracting attentions elsewhere.

He turned down the opportunity to become the Hibernian manager at the end of last month and may well take a stronger look at what comes his way over the winter once this season has concluded.

Could you blame him?

He said after those Hibs links that he couldn’t walk away with another title on the line and it may well be secured by Monday night if results involving St Pat’s and Galway go their way.

The reason Bohs only responded in that email on Thursday is because a media boycott is still in place over the decision to move Rovers’ game with Drogheda United forward 24 hours so it could be shown by Virgin Media on Thursday of last week.

Kenny didn’t take similar action over his own anger at St Pat’s not playing a game for the last 27 days only to face three fixtures over the next seven days at a defining time.

“They’re treated as an afterthought and with a lack of empathy, a lack of respect,” he said of the scheduling.

Let’s hope some of this anger is not diluted over the winter, when there might just be an arms race in the transfer market to provide even more ammunition.