Samuel Oji re-signs for Limerick

Limerick FC have confirmed the re-signing of central defender Samuel Oji for the 2014 season, with manager Stuart Taylor pointing to the “massive influence” that the former Arsenal youngster had on his team’s fortunes last term.

Oji arrived at an out-of-form Limerick in late August and played a key role in the club’s best run of the year.

That was a three-game winning streak in September, which included inflicting a damaging defeat on title challengers Dundalk at Oriel Park.

The 28-year-old in total started six games and the instant impact that he made meant that he was towards the top of Taylor’s wish-list for the new campaign.

And, after Oji put pen to paper on a new contract on Friday afternoon, the Superblues boss stated he is “the type of player that will help us progress the club”.

Speaking to LimerickFC.ie, Taylor said: “I’m absolutely delighted to get Sami back on board.
 

“He had a massive influence on us towards the end of last season and played a huge part in our success – we had our best run of the season after he came in.
 

“He solidified things at the back for us and gave players confidence. He’s a tremendous leader in that position and he’s the type of player that will help us progress the club.
 

“Sami’s influence rubbed off on other players and a lot of them improved when he came in. Stephen Folan was one. Stephen is a huge prospect for the football club and they formed a good partnership.
 

“I’m sure that will be the same again and Michael Leahy is there, so there is great competition for places in that position.
 

“Sami also had a good rapport with the supporters and I’m sure it’s one that they’ll be over the moon with.
 

“It gives us a good solid base to build on now. As well as having quality, we also have players that know each other and hopefully that will help us.
 

“Sami settled in really well at the football club because of his personality but also because of the good personalities and characters that we have in the dressing-room. That made the transition easier for him.

“That’s something we have – any newcomers that come into the club, we make them feel welcome.

“We’ve got a good dressing-room and everyone wants to achieve success. When you’ve got a dressing-room where everyone is pulling in the same direction, it makes it easier to settle in.

“Sami straight away gained respect from his fellow pros because they could see the leadership qualities that he has.

“We’re looking for that again, and with a good pre-season under his belt which he didn’t have the last time, Sami will be a big part of our team for the coming season.

“We’ve got quality across the back four. We’ve got Shaun Kelly and Shane Costelloe at right-back, Robbie Williams and Colm Murphy at left-back, and Sami, Stephen, Michael and Tony Whitehead at centre-back. We’re looking strong there.”

Limerick FC Chairman Pat O’Sullivan added his delight at the defender penning a new deal.

“The signing of Samuel Oji last season made a huge difference to the overall team and we welcome him back,” Pat said.

“We hope that his presence in the team in the upcoming campaign will enable us to carry on the good form that we showed in the latter part of the past season.”

Taylor went on to say that he is in talks with a number of players but that he will remain patient in completing his squad.

“We’re actively in talks with players at this moment in time,” he said, with pre-season training set to kick-off on Sunday 12 January. “If they come off before the New Year, we’ll be over the moon.

“But we’ll be patient. We always have been as we want to get the right people in. Hopefully, we’ll have more signings soon but if it’s in the New Year then that’s fine.

“There’s no rush. I’m really happy with the way the squad is shaping up.”