THE IRELAND CLEARANCES
SHIELS: Premiership clubs will get great value by plundering best talents from across the sea... top sides in Irish league would finish top six in Scotland
as no surprise to former Kilmarnock boss Kenny Shiels, who spent three years with Derry City before becoming manager of the Northern Ireland women’s team that has reached this year’s Euros in England.
Shiels has watched plenty of Celtic on TV this term and has been impressed with the manner in which Postecoglou has set about building a team full of attacking intent.
And he believes there are plenty of gems playing on both sides of the Irish border capable of adding to the already impressive list of players who have made the journey and adapted with ease to the Scottish game.
Shiels, whose own son Dean had a good career in Scotland with Hibs, Kilmarnock, Rangers and Dunfermline, said: “It’s a worthwhile market to look at.
“When I was managing in that league with Derry City from 2015 to ’18, the football was really good.
“Celtic or Rangers would win the League of Ireland but the football being played in Ireland is a much more modern type of game than any of the other Scottish clubs play.
“Liam has done well in the games he’s had at Celtic but Aaron McEneff at Hearts, for instance, could walk into that Celtic team and not feel out of place. But he’d struggle to play for the likes of Ross County.
“I had Aaron at Derry City. He receives it off the back four and is very inventive. He’s a boy who, like
Liam, should be playing for one of the big clubs.
“He could play alongside him quite easily because he’s a footballer.
“I know a lot of clubs are now looking over here and I’m not surprised because these players can come in and play. Celtic and Rangers should be looking there and thinking, ‘He can fit in with the way we play’.
“There are players there, because of the quality of their own league, who would represent great value for money for Scottish clubs in terms of transfer fees and wages. I’m not going to name names because that wouldn’t be fair on their clubs but they are out there playing really good football every week.
“Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk would finish in the top half of the Premiership. I have no doubt about that whatsoever. Their methodology about the game is probably more advanced than most, if you take the Old Firm out of it.
“I watch the Old Firm on TV most weeks and I like watching Celtic. I like the way they try to break teams down and they have to do that in every game they play.
“The opposition is camped in and it is taking away from the entertainment value, which is zero.
“Ange Postecoglou looks to have a good way of playing but everybody else is just trying to stop them from playing rather than trying to impose their own style on Celtic.
“They look for a counter-attack and a narrow defeat will make them feel good, which I can’t understand.
“But he has good players and his style would suit many of the players over here.”
Shiels’ assessment that Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk would be topsix Premiership material may raise eyebrows in Scotland but where there would be agreement is in his conviction good players are to be found across the water. No fewer than 22 players currently on the books here have featured in first-team football for top-flight clubs with most of them playing crucial roles. Managers are recognising in terms of value, few markets represent more bang for their buck. St Mirren have led the charge in recent seasons, with
Waterford-born boss Jim Goodwin making a raft of signings from the League of Ireland.
Goodwin recently told Record Sport: “The Irish market has definitely served us well and the boys who have come in have had a great impact.
“Connor Ronan, Jake Doyle-Hayes, Jamie McGrath, Joe Shaughnessy, Alan Power. I’m biased and I do have a soft spot for the Irish boys.
“In the main I know what I am going to get from them. They are low maintenance and the majority of the ones here are a laid-back bunch.
“They get stuck in and work hard. I’m lucky with the contacts I have back home. A close family friend, Alan Reynolds, works within the FAI and he is quick to tip me off with the guys he thinks are good enough. Much as I’d like to take all the credit, it’s never just about the manager.”
Under Goodwin, midfielder McGrath has become a Republic of Ireland international and the manager reckons that will be a major selling point when trying to lure other Irish players to Paisley – and for Scottish clubs in general.
He added: “I sold it to Connor Ronan and his agent, ‘Have a look at what Jamie is achieving here. He was at Dundalk two years ago and is now an Irish senior international’.
“That had a big factor to play with me trying to sell it to Connor. They saw St Mirren as a good opportunity to come and showcase his talent.”
Don’t be surprised if the Celtic connection gets even stronger in 2022.