SAINT SHOPING FOR PLUCK OF THE IRISH
O’ Carroll on mission to unearth hidden gems from game’ s rising talent pool
St Mirren assistant boss Diarmuid O’Carroll is aiming to use his Irish links to unearth the next gem from the Emerald Isle.
The Killarney native played for various clubs in Northern Ireland, including Cliftonville and Crusaders, between 2011 and 2018. And O’Carroll insists the Irish market, which was regularly tapped into by former Saints manager Jim Goodwin, will remain a top hunting ground for the Paisley club this summer.
He feels there are plenty of up-and-coming talents coming through both the League of Ireland and the NIFL Premiership, with Jamie McGrath and Conor McCarthy examples of talented players who made the switch to St Mirren in recent years.
The 34-year-old insists the key is unearthing them before the bigger clubs identify them and snap them up themselves.
O’Carroll told Express Sport: “It’s a fantastic market because it’s a fantastic standard of league, particularly the League of Ireland.
“As is the level in the Northern Ireland Premiership, with the likes of Linfield, Glentoran and clubs like that.”
“It’s a great resource and another avenue to go down. Previously it was the Conference league in England talent-spotters would look to.
“But now people are starting to look more at the Irish market. Where I have a benefit is that I have personal relationships with a lot of the managers, coaches and some of the players that are there.
“From that you can try and find the gems before they maybe get the consistent run of form that alerts other teams to them.
“We’ll look to tap into that market.
“If we can find another Jamie McGrath then I’ll be a very happy man.”
While both O’Carroll and Stephen Robinson both have experience of playing and coaching in Ireland and Northern Ireland, O’Carroll believes the most successful spell of his career has come in Scotland.
Having came through the ranks at Celtic, O’Carroll went on to enjoy playing spells with Ross County and Airdie before returning to work with Robinson at Motherwell.
O’Carroll added: “Scotland is probably where I’ve had most of my success — I was in Glasgow for seven or eight years at Celtic, I had time at Motherwell and Airdrie and Ross County as well. “It’s what we know and it feels like our backyard. “Neither of us are Scottish, but we’re probably as close to it as you can get!”