Club-By-Club Guide

BohemiansManager: Joe McGrath (1st season).

In: Raffaele Gregorio (Western Suburbs, NZ), Dean Dodds (Ellerslise, NZ) Jason Batty and Harry Ngata (North Shore United, NZ), Fergal Harkin (Leicester City), Graham O'Hanlon (Bray Wanderers), Robbie Brunton (Derry City), Brendan Place (Home Farm/Everton).

Out: David Fairclough (Millwall), John Ryan (Bray Wanderers), Joe Hanrahan (Monaghan Utd), James Coll and Dave Henderson (released).

Prospects: With so many players having come in and a few more still expected to leave, it will be difficult to judge where Bohemians stand for a few weeks yet. De Gregorio certainly looked the part in the pre-season and Joe McGrath is confident that the other four major singings can make a similar impact. If he's right, and Derek Swan continues to reproduce his best form then they should be right up there.

Bray Wanderers

Manager: Pat Devlin (5th season).

In: Barry O'Connor (Cliftonville), Colm Tresson (Portadown), John Ryan (Bohemians), Graeme Cassin (Blackburn Rovers), Alan Kane (TEK), Jason Byrne (St Colmcilles), Stephen Fox (Fairley Dickinson University, USA), Stuart Connolly (Tranmere Rovers).

Out: Graham O'Hanlon (Bohemians), Colm Kelly (TEK).

Prospects: Pat Devlin knows better than most the difficulties involved in keeping a side up after promotion having failed to keep Wanderers from dropping straight back down two seasons ago. Since then Bray have made huge progress and are certainly better placed to succeed this time but the step-up is still considerable and they cannot show the weaknesses that cost them so many late goals last time.

Cork City

Manager: Dave Barry (3rd season).

In: Gerald Dobbs (Dover), Greg O'Halloran (Hull City).

Out: Philip Long (Cobh Ramblers), John Glynn (has taken up new post with Connacht rugby union).

Prospects: Having picked up the cup at the end of a season when they were constantly afflicted by injuries, there is considerable confidence around the City camp that they can take the next step and challenge for the title this year. The absence of a prolific goalscorer looks set to dog them again, however. When Stephen Napier returns they will be formidable at the back and strong through midfield but they still lack the depth that the bigger Dublin clubs possess.

Derry City

Manager: Felix Healy (5th season).

In: Michael Kelly and Michael McHugh (Omagh Town), Greg O'Dowd (Drogheda Utd), Stuart Gauld (Finn Harps).

Out: Gavin Dykes and Tom Mohan (Finn Harps), James Keddy (Shelbourne), Ryan Semple (Linfield), Robbie Brunton (Bohemians), Craig Taggart (Clydebank), Robert Bell (Stranraer).

Prospects: For Felix Healy last year's derailed attempt to defend the championship title was down almost entirely to tiredness caused by the lack of a decent summer break. That's been remedied this year but the squad has continued to lose quality players with the departures of Dykes, Keddy and Taggart. Gary Beckett has taken to his new role in central midfield, though, and Floyd Gilmore gave an idea of what the youngsters are capable of by scoring five against Fanad.

Dundalk

Manager: Jim McLaughlin (2nd season).

In: Lee Thew (Sligo Rovers), Chris Hammon (Swindon Town). OUT: None.

Prospects: They could certainly have used a little stability at Oriel Park after a couple of fairly hectic summers. Hanging on to Brian Byrne, albeit for one year, in the face of stiff opposition will be a major help. Raymond Campbell will hopefully contribute a lot more than in last year's injury-ridden campaign but the team still look like occupying the wrong half of the table.

Finn Harps

Manager: Charlie McGeever (3rd season).

In: Gavin Dykes and Tom Mohan (Derry City), Stephen Henderson (Ards), Eamonn Kavanagh (Omagh Town).

Out: Jody Byrne (Waterford), Tom Callaghan (Partick Thistle), Conor Frawley (Crusaders), Stuart Gauld (Derry City).

Prospects: Dykes and Mohan look like good additions for the Donegal outfit but they still look a couple of pieces short of the complete jigsaw with central midfield the biggest problem. If somebody can be brought in to solve that problem then the team should, at least, be able to avoid their somewhat erratic swings of form. Better away form would certainly mean a good shot at Europe and there may a cup in them.

St Patrick's Athletic

Manager: Pat Dolan (3rd season).

In: Martin Russell (Portadown), Stuart Keegan (Belvedere).

Out: Tommy Gaynor.

Prospects: You have to go back to the days when most of today's managers were long-haired players in illfitting gear to find the last time a team successfully defended the league here. But, needless to say, St Patrick's reckon they're the ones to break the run. They certainly have depth in a squad which has improved over the summer by the arrival of Russell and if Ian Gilzean continues to bag the goals they should certainly be right there in the hunt again.

Shamrock Rovers

Manager: Mick Byrne (2nd season).

In: Terry Palmer and Jason Sherlock (both UCD), Brendan Markey (Millwall), Matt Proctor (USA), Billy Woods (Portadown).

Out: Aaron Lynch, Ray Carolan and Sean Kavanagh (released).

Prospects: Another side greatly improved over the summer with players arriving to provide manager Mick Byrne with options in almost every area of the pitch. Last year Rovers relied far too heavily on the goalscoring of Tony Cousins but with more balance in the side and the addition of a couple of players capable of scoring, a place in Europe certainly seems a realistic target.

Shelbourne

Manager: Dermot Keely (1st season).

In: Richard Baker and Davy Byrne (Stella Maris), Graham Doyle, Stephen Gifford and Owen Heary (Home Farm Everton), James Keddy (Derry City), Rory Ginty (Blackburn Rovers).

Out: Paul Brady (Monaghan Utd), Stephen O'Brien (Longford Town), Mark Benson (Home Farm Everton).

Prospects: If there was a particular problem at Shelbourne last season it was probably the absence of sufficient cover to launch assaults on all three domestic trophies after competing in Europe and on the face of it Dermot Keely would appear to have remedied that. It's not clear if the players who have arrived are any better than those already at the club. But Keely has the experience to guide the team through and it's difficult to imagine Shels doing much worse in the league than last year.

Sligo Rovers

Manager: Nicky Reid (2nd season).

In: Matt Boswell (Port Vale), Tony Callaghan (Manchester City), Matt Hare (Exeter City).

Out: Peter Cubbesson, Chris Curran and Brian Southworth and Paul Morgan and Aled Rowlands (released), Lee Thew (Dundalk).

Prospects: Unable to field a settled side last year, player-manager Nicky Reid will be looking for much better things this time around, especially if he can carve an effective partnership up front from his three main strikers. Otherwise his main advantage this time will be the fact that, for the first time in recent Sligo history, the players will know each other by name through the opening games of the season. They should be a little more predictable this year although the overall mid-table outcome may be pretty much the same.

UCD

Manager: Theo Dunne (4th season).

In: Ciaran McEvoy and Peter Murphy (Home Farm), Simon Beirne (St Kevin's Boys), Stuart Beattie (Lourdes Celtic), Glen Fitzpatrick (Cherry Orchard), Ciaran Tighe (Celbridge Town).

Out: Jason Sherlock and Terry Palmer (both Shamrock Rovers), Seamus Kelly (Cardiff City), Damien Bolger (released), Evan Creedon (Longford Town), Robert Griffin (Waterford Utd).

Prospects: It hasn't been the best of summers for the students who have lost four of last term's regulars and have decided not to replace them with experienced players. The loss of Sherlock and Griffin, their top goalscorers last season, means they will need a big season from Mick O'Byrne if they are to avoid trouble. They have plenty of talented players to call on but if they do not adapt quickly the students will be the primary target for the two newly promoted sides.

Waterford

Manager: Tommy Lynch (3rd season).

In: Jody Byrne (Finn Harps), Dean Cannonville (Millwall), Robert Griffin (UCD), Tim McGrath (Celtic), Barry Wood (Whitehill Welfare, Scotland).

Out: Colin Fanning and Colin Delahunty (Kilkenny City).

Prospects: Like Pat Devlin, Lynch admits that the onus is on his side to defy the odds this year and avoid going straight back down. Though still very young, Tim McGrath could turn out to be the best of the summer signings which should also include a central midfielder within the next couple of weeks. Like Bray, Waterford may just have enough to stay up now and then start to build for the longer term and for the moment Lynch might settle for that.