Dean Delany's story: from Dublin to Glasgow for European glory (Shelbourne → Celtic)

[Vladis]

 

Decided to keep the records in this spreadsheet. Also attached it to the first post.

[Vladis]

Season 2024 Preview

Transfers

In | Out

I believe we have potential to grow with those players we have, so our transfer campaign was not really active. I had some thoughts about Jordan Williams as he was great in our first season in IPL and has a lot of experience, but he was out for overall 14 weeks with injures last season and we needed more pace on this wing.

 Will Fitzgerald - we had to spend some money on this pacey winger but I believe he is worthy of it. Was one of the key players in Waterford. 

 Aidan Keena - our home-grown player who spent majority of his career in Scotland and even had 10 matches in Premiership with Hearts.

 Ryan Nolan - was signed on free. Good defender with really interesting career. In young age he moved to Inter from Spanish lower league team. And after 6 seasons in Italy where he had only 8 matches in Serie C with Arezzo he returned to Spain. But after 1 year with Getafe he moved back to him homeland and 3 seasons was a player of Derry City. 

 Mark Doyle - another free transfer. Was crucial for Drogheda Utd. Want him to retrain to right winger and believe he is capable of it.

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Squad Overview

Goalkeepers

I still have faith in this duet. Ryan was awarded last season as best goalkeeper of IPL and want to maintain this status.

Defenders

Our area of strength. Feely, Alex Kirk, Downing are one of the key players in the team and rotation options are also good enough.

Midfielders

With Fitzgerald our left side looks more solid now. Also I plan to move Charters to central midfield as he has all skills to play there. Hope for another great season of O'Neill.

Strikers

Sam Doyle is natural striker but he learns new position of left midfielder where he played second half of last season. Keena is expected to be our main weapon in attack. And i also want to give some playing time for our last year youth intake product Keogh.

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Friendly matches

I'm glad with how we prepared to the new season. And friendly matches is one of the positive moments. 6 wins with no goals conceded. But more important we avoided any serious injures during this run of games.

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Tittle Odds/Board Expectations

 

Still very comfortable expectations. But I want to fight for the 1st place again though we are not real favorites.

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 I would more like affiliate from playable leagues but it's ok too. Interesting that Cherry Orchard has better facilities than our club despite they are amateurs.

 

[Vladis]

February 2024

Matches against Waterford are usually very tough for us and it's good to start with the win against this team. We totally dominated in the next fixture with St. Pat's but unbelievable luck saved them from losing.

[Vladis]

March 2024

Perfect month with 7 straight wins. Very important 6 points against our main rivals Shamrock and Dundalk. The only thing I'm concerned with is the fact that we conceded in all matches during this period. Our defensive play should be slightly better.

[Vladis]

April 2024

Another unbeatable month. Though in last matches despite pleasant scores I had some concerns about our game but anyway we got the points, that's more important. Looks like we are in the same company again with Dundalk and Shamrock fighting for the tittle.

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My second offered job interview. And I refused it again. 

[Vladis]

May 2024

The first defeat in this season came from where I didn't expect. After losing to Shamrock in Cup game I decided to make some adjustment to the tactic as I noticed some problems: 1. We allow too much space for oppositions to control the ball. 2. We often lose ball in unnecessary situations. So I enabled counter-pressing still playing with a low block. It kept compactness but at the same time we started to apply more pressure on oppositions when losing the ball. And I slightly changed in possession instructions reducing passing length but at the same time increasing tempo to be more unpredictable. So after these tweaks we won 5 matches in a row with notable improvement in overall performance on the pitch. Let see how will it work in a long term.

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Money from last year European campaign.

[Vladis]

June 2024

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Mid-season break

For the first time I have full month of break. And it's good because in last two month we played 16 matches and players need a rest.

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We made a really good exchange in central defense position. Jake Cooper moved to Sunderland for decent fee (125k) and at the same time we have signed for free  Leigh Kavanagh from Walsall, who is younger and has more potential. 

Another deal is loan signing -  Daryl Thorne from Chesterfield, 18 y.o. striker who can also play as winger.

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Not so promising like last intakes. We have a lot of good young central defenders in our system so only hope it will be special one.

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Good  news that now we have 3 teams starting qualification in ECL from the 2nd round. 

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We are still too low in European hierarchy but with regular participation in Euro cups we should move further and faster. 

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We start with matches against Moldavian side.

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First major tournament for our young goalkeeper. Hope he will get chances to show himself.

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Another one offer and second from Scottish Premiership.

[Vladis]

July 2024

Matches against Petrocub were not so easy as I expected but we were more clinical in attack which allowed us to go through 1 QF round. But our next round first leg is a real sensation. Strong AEK side was beaten with crazy 4-0 score and our task for 2nd leg is more easier now. In the league we had 3 draws in a row and two of them against Shamrock and Dundalk which is good but we were very lucky in these games. 

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Very strange deal. Owen is average youngster with a doubtful potential. I don't know what was there motive for doing that but 325k is too much even for good IPL players.

Also we let Jordan Williams go to Shrewsbury for 50k. Jordan was on loan at Leyton Orient at the first half of the season.

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On the last day of the transfer window we signed on loan decent young winger  Darren Connor. If he performs well for us we would think about permanent transfer.

[Vladis]

August 2024

And we did it again !!! So proud of my boys...what a Team! Total destroy of AEK with 8-0 in two matches and incredible performance of O'Sullivan in second leg. After that win I was confident that we can go through last two QF rounds and it happened. Second Euro autumn in a row. Group stage draw is not so bad, I think we have chances if we will play like in QF matches.

In the league our position looks solid. if we could grab points in games with Shamrock and Dundalk our chances to finish at the top greatly rise. 

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And you know what I did with this money

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Yes, our Euro campaign is great but...look what Dundalk has done 

They are in CL group stages! Fantastic rise of Irish football.

[Vladis]

September 2024

We are very close to the tittle. What we need is just to keep our excellent form. Good start of ECL group stage. We looked better than Slovan but draw is god result too.

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I'm really excited with Macedonian defender  / Boby Terziev. I see him as perfect fullback in my system so already started to retrain him for this position.  Anthony Conway and  Peter Brown are another decent youngsters from this intake.

[Vladis]

October 2024

Perfect month and we are the champions!...again. If we win last match against Cork City we will break our record for the points set two years ago. Also we look great in Europe and have all chances to qualify from the group.

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And our u19 team won their league for the second time in a row. Keogh and O'Donovan are very close to the senior team. Probably they should expect chances in the next season.

[Vladis]

 

November - December 2024. Season review.

Perfect end of the season. 85 points is the new record for the club. In the second half of the season we were especially great. And I couldn't even imagine such a good European campaign. We are still unbeatable in ECL and look what we did with Slovan.

Player stats (overall)

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[Vladis]

 

[Vladis]

Season 2025 Preview

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New stadium

Ridiculously low capacity but ok for league matches. In continental games we play at 52000 seated Aviva Stadium. Good moments that we have undersoil heating now and also our corporate facilities upgraded to Top status.

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Transfers

In | Out

A lot of players going out, most of them on loan though. Most notable departure is Brian Keogh, our young academy graduate. Every player has a price and the offer was too good (500k +50% from the next transfer) to decline. Also we got some good fee for players I didn't see in the squad anymore: Mahon, MacDonald, Randell, Boyle.

Only 4 players we have signed in this transfer window and only one them for the first team role.

 Dylan Watts is the main transfer. I wonder why Dundalk decided not to extend his contract but he was really good for them in last seasons. See him as winger in our system but he also can play perfectly as CM and AMC.

 Joe Duffy - bought from Cliftonville. Only 18 y.o. but is already good enough for senior football. Great passing and decisions alongside with decent physical attributes.

/ Yassine En-Neyah - deal that was arranged last summer with his contract expiring in 6 months. Superbly determined person. Very good striker for rotation or even more. Last season scored 17 goals for Shamrock Rovers (10 of them in the league).

 Darragh Leahy - decent fullback, new backup option for Downing after releasing Paddy Kirk.

Loans extended:  Darren Connor,  Daryl Thorne - we are lucky that this amazing young players will continue to play for us for at least one season.

Promoted from the youth squad: / Boby Terziev

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Squad overview

Goalkeepers

I didn't even think about changes in this line. Ryan is  deservedly the most valuable goalkeeper in the league and Brady is still good backup.

Defenders

Not so many changes in defense. Kirk and Nolan play amazingly in pair. Big hopes for Terziev who is our youngest senior squad player ever.

Midfielders

Right wing is our point of strength with Connor who was incredible in the second half of last season and Watts who is more experienced and possibly more consistent. O'Neill is the team leader and expected to have another great season. Sam Doyle has grown in very sloid winger and looks very good on the training ground.

Strikers

Keena seemed like a crucial for us but with Thorne arriving I'm not sure he could expect the same amount of playing time as he had earlier. And besides we have En-Neyah now who also is going to prove himself in the team.

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Friendly matches

Darren Connor scored 7(!) goals in 45(!) minutes against amateurs Sheriff Y.C.

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Tittle Odds/Board Expectations

Expectations for ECL should be changed after KO draw I think. Bookmakers suppose it should be close race for the tittle between three teams.

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Interesting but anyway I didn't see any financial help from him except small amount of money in the first season.

Edited March 3, 2021 by Vladis

[Vladis]

February 2025

Perfect start with adding another President's Cup to our collection and spectacular wins over Dundalk and Corck City. Interesting that our newbies En-Neyah and Watts made a doubles against their former clubs. Thorne started season in perfect form with 6 goals in three games.

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Our fans are lucky to watch Arsenal in Dublin. We had Chelsea here and now another top club from London.

[Vladis]

March 2025

Yes, we have knocked out from UCL but...those win at Aviva Stadium is unforgettable moment for thousands of our fans. Probably one of the biggest win in club history.

In the league we are still unbeatable though we were close to first defeat in match against Shamrock but made comeback with two goals by Thorne.

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First time we have so many call-ups. And some pleasant performance from our prospects. Bad news is Thorne injury in match against Montenegro and he will be out for whole April.

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New contract for 4 years.

[Sheriff7]

Amazing result against Arsenal mate!Your club is growing so fast!

[Vladis]

13 часов назад, Sheriff7 сказал:

Amazing result against Arsenal mate!Your club is growing so fast!

Thank you, mate   Yes, very fast. What we've done in 4 seasons was my program for at least 10 years) 

[Vladis]

April 2025

Our winning run in the league continues. Even without injured Thorne. Dundalk is surprisingly underachieving this season.

[Vladis]

May 2025

We are leading with 21 points over 2nd place! Two tough draws with our rivals Shamrock and Dundalk and defeat in Leinster Cup. Interesting match where we down 0-3 to 80 minute but almost made comeback, Keena was unlucky with header straight in woodwork at extra time.

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Money from ECL. Napoli is a winner in this season.

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Interesting information. We are the worst in producing players for Premier Division. It's something that I really want to improve with investments in facilities and coaching staff.

[Vladis]

June 2025

Such needed break. Our bench is not so long as in previous seasons and players really tied with regular two matches per week. 

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With transfer window opened we finished some deals. We get very good offer for Danny Kane from Northern Ireland. I like this player but 450k is massive funds for him so I let him go to Larne. Another player left the club - Suengchitthawon went to French Ligue 2 side Rodez. He was one of the highest paid in our club but his performance in this season was below required standards. And another reason is player we have found in his position. Also we sold MacKinnon who was out on loans all the time to Dundee for 55k.

Transfers in:

 Phil Armstrong - top replace for Suengchitthawon. Excellent playmaker who is only 19 y.o. with great potential.

/ Nico Gross - after selling Kane we needed someone who can help team to defend and found this guy. Nico is Cobh Ramblers academy graduate spending last years in Fortuna 2nd team. Very good hard-working defensive minded midfielder.

 Aaron Moran - exciting 5-star prospect signed for free. Could become good investment or key player for the years.

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Guess what 16 y.o. boy feels when he makes debut for National team.

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330 places up 

Edited March 9, 2021 by Vladis

[Sheriff7]

Huge step up in coeff!Of course now it will be more difficult to gain more places but the road to group stage rounds will be much easier.

[Vladis]

19 минут назад, Sheriff7 сказал:

Huge step up in coeff!Of course now it will be more difficult to gain more places but the road to group stage rounds will be much easier.

Looking at current coefficient table I see it possible to reach top 15 in the near future, so Ireland could have two teams in CL. But of course it will depend on how successful we are and other Irish teams. Dundalk participated in CL group stages last season and help enormously in gaining points.

[Vladis]

July 2025

Excellent start in CL with two rounds already passed. Next opponent is Dinamo Zagreb. Tough opposition but we will do our best. In the league we are close to securing 1st spot, only 7 points are needed in last 11 matches but our ambitious goal for now is unbeatable season (something that I have never experienced in my fm history).

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Another one signing. Young defender   Derek Garrity joined the club for free from Rochdale. And immediately went on loan to another League Two side Fylde.

 

[Vladis]

August 2025

Securing tittle - done!   CL group stages - done!!!

Seems like we are living in a dream. We went through all QF rounds and deserved to test ourselves at the highest possible football level. Moment to remember is our comeback in Basel.

Our unbeatable run in the league finally ended at the point of 47 matches but I can't complain. It's still unreal achievement.

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Fantastic money for the club of our level. And i like the draw. It's going to be excellent experience for us.

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With the money for reaching CL group stages we made investments in facilities upgrade and also agreed to expend stadium for almost 500 seats.

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5 clubs activated release clause for Kavanagh and I'm happy with his decision to stay with us.

Edited March 11, 2021 by Vladis

[Vladis]

September 2025

I'm pleased with our performance in first CL match with Lyon. We were better by xG and had more shots on target but difference in class was crucial. In the league we have already broke the record of most points in a season (current record - 87 points by Dundalk).

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Youth intake

Not the best intake as expected but we should keen an eye on  Joe Hick who looks like excellent prospect.

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Two international debuts in a month. Proud of these guys.

[Vladis]

October 2025

We doesn't look like whipping boys in Champions League. Had good moments against Chelsea, were close to comeback in match with Juve, so very pleasant picture so far. Played 3 tough games against Bohemians in 3 weeks and one of the wins sent us to the FAI Cup final where will face Shamrock Rovers.

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Funny achievement 

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Another record is broken. But we could update it again in December in the match with Chelsea.

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New affiliate club. Limerick is out of playable leagues but have good facilities and decent reputation.

Edited March 12, 2021 by Vladis

[Vladis]

November - December 2025. Season review.

Slightly disappointed with two defeats from Shamrock in a league and FAI Cup final but happy with sensational draw in France though we conceded 3d goal on 90+4 minute. Also another Champions Cup trophy in our collection. 

We were in fantastic form all the season in the league and in Europe, CL group stages is amazing achievement as well as 96 points in domestic league. 

Player stats (overall)

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[Vladis]

Career overview

After some time of thinking I decided that it's a right time to finish my adventures in Ireland. I should be proud of club achievements. In 5 seasons we've won all major domestic competitions, were in group stages of all European tournaments, built new stadium, significantly improve facilities etc. Ireland has greatly progressed in continental rankings and from the next season should have 2 teams in CL.

I love long-term squad development, creating dynasties but I'm not sure that Ireland is perfected place for this. Anyway it was glorious hunt. Thanks everyone who followed my updates and...see you soon 

Edited March 14, 2021 by Vladis

[Vladis]

!!!

Dean Delany is back and ready to continue our exciting journey

Stay tuned...

#Let`s go Shels!

 

 

[Vladis]

 

So it`s December 2025. Five incredible seasons are behind us and hopefully more exciting ones lie ahead.

I don't plan to deviate from goals I set down at the beginning of my career at Tolka Park:

- raising the profile of Irish football;

- developing young players;

- building a squad with a priority on local talent;

- ongoing infrastructure improvements.

 

We will continue to develop each of the club's areas of activity:

- we will strengthen the coaching and administrative staff with qualified professionals. Irish specialists will be a priority;

- сontinue to improve training facilities for both the main team and youngsters;

- gradually increase the capacity of the stadium. The main goal is to build a new stadium, but I am not sure it is even a question of the next 10 years;

- we already have probably the strongest academy in the country, but we will not stop there. I hope that even those players who have not been able to make it into the main team will continue their careers at a high level.

 

We'll see how far we can go with all these plans, but at the moment we have more immediate tasks to perform, such as preparing the team for the new 2026 season.

[Vladis]

Shelbourne FC Squad Review and Analysis (Senior Team + U19)

 

Goalkeepers

Ryan seems irreplaceable due his fantastic performance for the last four seasons, but we have the extremely talented McKee coming through, who I plan to make second choice gk for the coming few seasons.

 

Defenders

Senior Team

Very solid line with a good depth. Terziev has already debuted in the national team of North Macedonia at his 17. That says a lot.

U19 Team

Joe Hick looks like an incredible talent but his fickle personality could be an obstacle to a great career.

Out on loan

Garrity is very promising youngster but another one year on loan should be helpful for him.

 

Midfielders

Senior Team

Line of quality and great potential. Home-grown Doyle is progressing really well becoming one of the key players for us. O`Neill is still the most important player and captain. 

U19 Team

Brown and O`Donovan have all the qualities to become first team members in next 1-2 years. But they should train hard  of course to earn a chance.

Out on loan

 

Strikers

Senior Team

I am fully confident with our forwards. Thorne was outstanding in this season and it looks like we are near to extending his loan.

U19 Team and Out on loan

Byrne has enormous talent but he is fickle and too weak in moving without the ball. So i think next few years he will be out of the club on loan and then we will decide on him. 

 

Some facts about our squad:

- 48 home-grown players at the club system: currently in the first team - 3, in U19 squad - 29, out on loan - 19

- 3 players with international caps: Terziev (17 y.o.) - 1 cap for North Macedonia, Armstrong (19 y.o.) - 5 caps for Northern Ireland, Thorne (19 y.o.) - 1 cap for The Republic of Ireland.

- 23.6 - average age of our senior team. Lowest in the league.

[Vladis]

Shelbourne FC Staff Review

 

When selecting staff, I pay attention to 'universal' characteristics regardless of the role. All other things being equal, my ideal candidate is an Irishman under the age of 60 with a high determination skill and "good" personality.

Coaching team

Board allows up to fifteen coaches to be appointed. I am generally happy with the staff, but I don't mind bringing in a few qualified specialists. And we could hire another fitness coach and performance analyst.

Medical team

One more physio in priority.

Scouting team

I`m generally content with recruitment team. It`s not so easy to attract good scouts in our club but I'm satisficed. Our scout work only in UK&Ireland area so I don't think we need more numbers. But one more good recruitment analyst I wouldn't mind.

U19 Staff

[Vladis]

Awards

Irish Player of the Year 2025

Irish U21 Player of the Year 2025

Irish Young Player of the Year 2025

Edited March 28, 2022 by Vladis

[Vladis]

Season 2026 Preview

 

Facilities upgrade

Training Facilities ↑

Youth Facilities ↑

 

Transfers

Players IN

 Neil Farrugia - 650k from Shamrock Rovers

One of the key Rovers player for the last 5 years with excellent personality and and good experience. 

Players OUT

 

Shelbourne F.C. Team Roster - season 2026

Promoted from U19 to the main team :

 Nathan O`Donovan

 Eoin Byrne

/ Ricky McKee

 

Friendly matches

 

Tittle Odds/Board Expectations

Edited March 30, 2022 by Vladis

[Vladis]

February 2026

Victory in the President's Cup and a perfect start in the league. It was a great February.

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It was not my request. Anyway in near future our scouts will work only in UK region.

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Just before the start of the season we purchased another player, a very talented playmaker from Northern Ireland  Koos van Burik. He cost us a very modest price - only 25k. Immediately after the transfer Koos went on loan to Cork to gain experience.

[Vladis]

March 2026

A busy month with two comebacks over the main league rivals and a draw against  doing well this season Derry City, who successfully defended with ten players in their own half.

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Terziev continues to surprise

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and traditionally... 

[Vladis]

April 2026

Our undefeated run continues. Even without Thorne we break goalscoring records. En-Neyah scored 11 (!) goals in 3 matches in a row, 5 of them were in the net of Galway Utd. Keena supported his teammate smashing Shamrock's B Team in the cup match.

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Third in a row.

 

[Vladis]

May 2026

Two unnecessary draws at the end of the month were a bit frustrating but overall we are still comfortably sitting at the top of the table and there is a feeling that we are not playing to 100% potential.

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Last year's success in the CL continues to pay dividends

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It would be cool if Daryl could make the final national team squad

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[Vladis]

June 2026

Only two matches in June and one of them is the cup final, which has not yet been won under Deeny's management. It's certainly funny, considering we've conquered all the other more high-profile tournaments.

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Great news for Irish football.

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Sounds really promising.

 

 

[Vladis]

2026 FIFA World Cup (Canada, Mexico, USA)

Group Stages

The only surprise in the group stage was Argentina's drop from the group with Jamaica and Slovakia

Ireland was in a tough group but looked very solid and comfortably finished first.

 

Second round

Uruguay surprised by beating the Spanish national team with a smashing score.

Ireland surprised by how solidly they beat a tough Uruguayan team

 

Third round

Without any surprises here.

Ireland beat another South American team on their way to the quarter-finals.

 

Quarter Final

All the favorites went through. 

Yes, Brazil was too much. But anyway It was a great campaign for Ireland. They repeat their best result in WC history - quater-finals in 1990.

Semi Final

 

Third Place Playoff

 

Final

Impressive performance from England team. With 41% possession they only allowed three shots on goal

 

Awards

[Vladis]

July 2026

Two notable moments of this month: first defeat in this season and great start in CL qualification. Next opponent in the Third round will be Osjiek, who defeated strong Olympiakos side.

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Few transfer news:

1. Signed 20 y.o.  Adrian Armstrong on free transfer from Bristol Rovers. Good mental and physical skills but he needs some more time to develop further. So the next 6 month he will gain experience in Morecambe.

2. We were close to sell our home-grown Sam Doyle to Bundesliga side Freiburg. Good financial terms: 2M +50% of the profit from the next transfer. But after some thought I decided to keep Sam at the club as I didn`t find any decent replacement for him and next thing is that we could have more interesting offers in the future as he is only 20 y.o. and could progress enormously.

[Vladis]

And a question for those few lurkers who sometimes come here:

Why the transfer values of all players in the league declined in one day? It was in the start of the June.

Here is the values on the 1st of March

And It`s for now

As you can see huge drop for players who are not on loan. 

 

[Vladis]

August 2026

UEFA Champions League

 

Seems like It`s a new arrival in my collection of great comebacks. What a fantastic performance firstly against tough Croatian side and then against stable member of CL group stages of last years RB.

I like the draw. Few years ago we were fighting for promotion to the top tier of Irish football and now we play at Santiago Bernabeu in CL!

And money...of course! 15M are already in our bank.

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We keep on going towards all possible trophies in this season.

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I know what to do with the money from UEFA))

[Vladis]

September 2026

Another trophy won - League of Ireland Cup, Dundalk looked surprisingly terrible. In Champions League we started with two away matches. I`m satisfied how we looked against so strong opponents, especially in Rotterdam.

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I'm frustrated with this intake. Majority of academy graduates are unambitious. I don`t know why, our HoYD is good enough, but for now may be we should look for another one.

 Ross Carey

 Michael Flynn

 Tommy O`Neill

 Michael Conway

 Niall Gannon

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Another upgrade is completed. Now our training facilities described as good.

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Edited April 11, 2022 by Vladis

[Vladis]

October 2026

 

Absolutely crazy schedule with twenty matches in the month, first and last weeks were especially hard. This month's most memorable moment is a draw in CL against Tottenham (perhaps with some luck but with amazing teamwork). 

In the league we had already secured first place after the match with Galway. So the season is near to an end, we have the Cup Final and the last 3 games of the champions league group stage ahead of us. And All-Irish Champions Cup of course.

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Finally we move back to the Shelbourne stadium. 

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[Vladis]

November - December 2026. Season Review.

Perfect end of the season. Two trophies and historical win in CL group. Match against Feyenoord was a a real art of counter attacking football.

This is the most successful season so far in the history of the club and Dean Delany in particular. 6(!) trophies in a year.

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Player stats (overall)

[Vladis]

Career overview update

 

[Vladis]

Awards

Irish Player of the Year 2026

Irish U21 Player of the Year 2026

Irish Young Player of the Year 2026

[Vladis]

*reserved*