Rivals set to swoop for Bohemians players

AIRTRICITY LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION: AS THE long-running dispute at Bohemians edged ever closer to a resolution yesterday, two of the more obvious would-be employers for the players set to leave Dalymount ran into each other at Carton House.

As their squads for the new campaign continue to take shape, Shamrock Rovers boss Michael O’Neill and his Sligo Rover counterpart Paul Cook were at the launch of a Champion Sports-sponsored FC Barcelona coaching clinic where they acknowledged they would each be interested in particular Bohemians players but said they would wait until confirmation that a deal had been struck before making their moves.

“We’re hoping to bring in another three or four players but it’s taking a bit more time than we would have liked,” said O’Neill in what might be taken as a reference to the extended dispute over in Phibsborough before adding, when pressed about the Bohemians situation; “there are a lot of good players there and we’ll assess whether some of them would be good for us but you can only sign a player when he’s a free agent”.

Still, O’Neill has been linked with a couple. Brian Shelley, for one, is rumoured to be moving across the city in the event he does not relocate the other side of the world. Rafaelle Cretaro, meanwhile, may be on course to return if Cook can agree terms with the striker whose time in Dublin has been hampered by injury.

Cook suggested, though, that having had to settle for a fraction of the money they would have been due under the terms of their contracts at Bohemians, the affected players will now find themselves in a weak negotiating position with clubs that have already signed up the majority of their panels for the coming season.

“If they get clubs after all that’s sorted out, it’ll probably be on the club’s terms rather than theirs, I think they’ll have to accept that,” said Cook, who defended the terms on which Séamus Coleman was sold to Everton.

“The reality is that clubs here are permanently in a weak position financially and while that’s the case it’s always going to be difficult when someone comes in with an offer but we got £60,000 (€69,450) for him and we’re in line to get a few add-ons so that by the end of it we should get something like a quarter of a million euro which is a reasonable deal.”

There are, in fact, reported to be four bonus payments allowed for in the deal with Sligo getting £25,000 (€29,000) when the player made his first, 10th and 50th club appearances as well as a similar figure on his international debut. “Yeah, we all expected him to come on against Norway and at the end the texts were all going: “That twat Trapattoni,” he laughed.

Sligo, meanwhile, completed the signing of Jason McGuinness yesterday and hope to tie up a new deal with Romuald Boco who is back training at the club while O’Neill confirmed Northern Ireland international goalkeeper Alan Mannus will be staying at the club.

“Players are entitled to look around, I don’t have a problem with that and Alan wanted to look but he gave me assurances that if he was staying in Ireland there was only one club he’d sign for and he has honoured that.”

O’Neill added, however, that James Chambers is on the verge of joining Hamilton despite the league champions’ attempt to keep him in Tallaght next year.

The two cup finalists are thought by many to be favourites for this year’s title but the managers expect other contenders with Cook mentioning Derry City who signed Eamon Zayed this week and O’Neill suggesting Bohemians might yet manage to field a fairly competitive side.

Elsewhere yesterday, Dundalk appointed former Drogheda United Youth development coach and senior team manager Darius Kierans as assistant to Ian Foster while David Breen has rejoined Waterford after spells at Wexford Youths and Athlone Town.

• Details of how clubs can win places at the Barcelona training camp on February 5th and 6th are at facebook.com/championsportsireland.