Gallagher looking to finalise squad
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Finn Harps manager James Gallagher is nearing ever closer to finalising his squad for the 2011 League of Ireland campaign, which kicks-off exactly six weeks tonight against Cork City at Turners Cross.
Harps returned to pre-season training last Saturday as they began what will be a helter-skelter month and a half of fine tuning.
And the mood coming back would have been elevated by the news that last season’s skipper, Packie Mailey, was pledging his allegiance to Harps, despite strong speculation that he was about to sign for northwest rivals Derry City.
It had been rumoured in several quarters that Mailey’s departure to the Brandywell was more or less a formality.
The big centre-half, however, quashed that nonsense last weekend when it was announced the 22-year-old re-signed for Harps, giving everybody involved with the club a massive lift, none more so than his affable manager.
“Everybody was wrapped up with the idea that I didn’t want to lose him to Derry but the fact of the matter is I didn’t want to lose him to anybody. For us to have lost a player like Packie would’ve been a big blow, he would’ve been a massive player to try and replace,” James Gallagher said this week.
The Harps boss admitted Derry’s offer was incredibly sound but praised Mailey’s loyalty and commitment to stay with the Ballybofey side.
He added: “Thankfully, we’ve persuaded him to stay and it’s a big boost that he’s decided to remain with Finn Harps because he had a really good offer on the table from Derry. He had the chance to play at a higher standard in the Premier Division, to receive a financially more rewarding contract with a great club like Derry who have a terrific set-up in there, but fair play to him.
“He’s a very hungry individual and really wants to push on and improve this year. He was down with the ‘flu for a few days there and was a bit under the weather but he was back at training on Tuesday night and still looked in fabulous shape.”
Gallagher acknowledged several factors that contributed to Mailey ultimately deciding to stay and ply his football by the Finn, while adding just how highly he holds him.
“He mentioned it himself that he is a big Finn Harps fan, as is his family. The Chairman though, played a big role. He got fairly involved in the whole thing. He gave him an idea of the whole package and what we are trying to put together here.
“I told him the players I wanted to try and bring in and he liked what he heard. But like I said, he has that hunger about him to really have a big year and if he went into Derry with that hunger and perhaps not get the game-time it could have had a negative effect on him.
“I feel at this moment in time he needs to play and, although I would say nobody is ever guaranteed their place, as long as he is fully fit and well, then nine times out of ten he will be starting for us,” said the Harps manager.
Meanwhile, on other fronts, there is continuing progression to try and nail down more and more players from last season’s squad, something Gallagher hopes will be done very soon.
He also revealed that a number of new faces have joined up with the squad for their pre-season schedule, as he tries to identify a number of additions that will help bring his squad on to that next level.
He said: “We’re very close on a couple of things. As is the norm with these sorts of dealings, it can sometimes be quite hard to just get over the finishing line. But like I said before, we’ve been talking away to players from last year’s squad and it will just be a matter of getting five minutes here or there with them to get it tidied up.
“I’d be fairly confident that we can do that over the weekend and that we can have at least one new face on board in the next week or so. Kieran Gorman of Letterkenny Rovers has been training with us, as has Neil Harkin of Killea, while Garvan Friel of Cockhill Celtic joined up with us on Tuesday night.
“Kieran is a very good central defender and has looked impressive since joining up. Neil is a midfielder and is looking for the opportunity to a make a way back into senior football, and Garvan is a young striker with tremendous ability. So we’ll look at them for a few weeks and see what happens.”
Harps returned to pre-season training last Saturday as they began what will be a helter-skelter month and a half of fine tuning.
And the mood coming back would have been elevated by the news that last season’s skipper, Packie Mailey, was pledging his allegiance to Harps, despite strong speculation that he was about to sign for northwest rivals Derry City.
It had been rumoured in several quarters that Mailey’s departure to the Brandywell was more or less a formality.
The big centre-half, however, quashed that nonsense last weekend when it was announced the 22-year-old re-signed for Harps, giving everybody involved with the club a massive lift, none more so than his affable manager.
“Everybody was wrapped up with the idea that I didn’t want to lose him to Derry but the fact of the matter is I didn’t want to lose him to anybody. For us to have lost a player like Packie would’ve been a big blow, he would’ve been a massive player to try and replace,” James Gallagher said this week.
The Harps boss admitted Derry’s offer was incredibly sound but praised Mailey’s loyalty and commitment to stay with the Ballybofey side.
He added: “Thankfully, we’ve persuaded him to stay and it’s a big boost that he’s decided to remain with Finn Harps because he had a really good offer on the table from Derry. He had the chance to play at a higher standard in the Premier Division, to receive a financially more rewarding contract with a great club like Derry who have a terrific set-up in there, but fair play to him.
“He’s a very hungry individual and really wants to push on and improve this year. He was down with the ‘flu for a few days there and was a bit under the weather but he was back at training on Tuesday night and still looked in fabulous shape.”
Gallagher acknowledged several factors that contributed to Mailey ultimately deciding to stay and ply his football by the Finn, while adding just how highly he holds him.
“He mentioned it himself that he is a big Finn Harps fan, as is his family. The Chairman though, played a big role. He got fairly involved in the whole thing. He gave him an idea of the whole package and what we are trying to put together here.
“I told him the players I wanted to try and bring in and he liked what he heard. But like I said, he has that hunger about him to really have a big year and if he went into Derry with that hunger and perhaps not get the game-time it could have had a negative effect on him.
“I feel at this moment in time he needs to play and, although I would say nobody is ever guaranteed their place, as long as he is fully fit and well, then nine times out of ten he will be starting for us,” said the Harps manager.
Meanwhile, on other fronts, there is continuing progression to try and nail down more and more players from last season’s squad, something Gallagher hopes will be done very soon.
He also revealed that a number of new faces have joined up with the squad for their pre-season schedule, as he tries to identify a number of additions that will help bring his squad on to that next level.
He said: “We’re very close on a couple of things. As is the norm with these sorts of dealings, it can sometimes be quite hard to just get over the finishing line. But like I said before, we’ve been talking away to players from last year’s squad and it will just be a matter of getting five minutes here or there with them to get it tidied up.
“I’d be fairly confident that we can do that over the weekend and that we can have at least one new face on board in the next week or so. Kieran Gorman of Letterkenny Rovers has been training with us, as has Neil Harkin of Killea, while Garvan Friel of Cockhill Celtic joined up with us on Tuesday night.
“Kieran is a very good central defender and has looked impressive since joining up. Neil is a midfielder and is looking for the opportunity to a make a way back into senior football, and Garvan is a young striker with tremendous ability. So we’ll look at them for a few weeks and see what happens.”
