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There’s no Sky Sports News ticker ticking like a time-bomb, no minute-by-minute live blog and no reporters outside grounds around the country: welcome to the League of Ireland transfer window.
While the sight of Carlos Tevez in London can spark frantic rumours that he’s about to sign for Chelsea, the LoI version of The Month of Big Moves is a little more toned down.
Still, there will be some great stories over the next few weeks, like Denis Behan’s rumoured move to Limerick after Cork City boss Tommy Dunne questioned their financial clout when the former City striker confirmed he wouldn’t be returning to Turner’s Cross.
Furthermore, the transfer window is even more important due to the way both divisions are panning out.
Looking at the top tier first and foremost, there’s no need to go into too much detail about the race to be champions (mainly because I’d be here forever; anything could happen between now and the autumn).
Shamrock Rovers are the favourites, regardless of last night’s draw at home to Derry, but they’re not overwhelming certainties either and whichever side can add a couple of quality players will surely be their biggest challenger.
That could be any side out of Sligo, Derry, St Pat’s and the continuously impressive Bray.
At the other end the transfer market becomes even more important, with Drogheda and Galway United in for a long battle for survival. One will get the drop and on current form it looks like the latter, but, once more, whoever strengthens the most this month will be the favourites to stay up.
Already there are rumours (that’s all they are, nothing more) of some ex-Drogheda players returning to Hunky Dorys Park, and if a couple of those moves can go through, then Drogs should just about scrape enough points together to stay up.
Galway, on the hand, look rudderless at the moment and after their miserable run of defeats stretching back two months, it will be a struggle to attract players to Terryland.
It’s a tricky predicament and they can go down two routes. They could stretch their budget to the very maximum to bring in better players, but if they still get relegated that will be disastrous.
The other route, meanwhile, is a bit more conservative: holding on to what they have and doing their best to stay up. If they do drop to the second tier with that approach, they will be in a better position to build the club up from the first division and in the long run perhaps that would be better than breaking the bank in an attempt to stay up now.
In the first division too, there is likely to be plenty of moving and shaking. Four teams look like battling for promotion, with two automatic spots and a third play-off place.
That will leave one team out, so how the teams deal in the transfer window is likely to be very important. While Behan won’t be coming back to Cork, of much more importance for them is to hold on to top scorer Graham Cummins. He is attracting interest from several clubs cross-channel, but if City can hold onto him, they will be second favourites behind Shelbourne.
Shels already have the best squad in the second tier, full of premier division quality players and they are firm favourites to finish top.
Monaghan, despite Roddy Collins playing down their chances, are a big threat, while it’ll be interesting to see how Limerick add to their squad.
It might not have the glitz and glamour of the cross-channel transfer window, but it will be pivotal to deciding how teams approach the second half of the season.
While the sight of Carlos Tevez in London can spark frantic rumours that he’s about to sign for Chelsea, the LoI version of The Month of Big Moves is a little more toned down.
Still, there will be some great stories over the next few weeks, like Denis Behan’s rumoured move to Limerick after Cork City boss Tommy Dunne questioned their financial clout when the former City striker confirmed he wouldn’t be returning to Turner’s Cross.
Furthermore, the transfer window is even more important due to the way both divisions are panning out.
Looking at the top tier first and foremost, there’s no need to go into too much detail about the race to be champions (mainly because I’d be here forever; anything could happen between now and the autumn).
Shamrock Rovers are the favourites, regardless of last night’s draw at home to Derry, but they’re not overwhelming certainties either and whichever side can add a couple of quality players will surely be their biggest challenger.
That could be any side out of Sligo, Derry, St Pat’s and the continuously impressive Bray.
At the other end the transfer market becomes even more important, with Drogheda and Galway United in for a long battle for survival. One will get the drop and on current form it looks like the latter, but, once more, whoever strengthens the most this month will be the favourites to stay up.
Already there are rumours (that’s all they are, nothing more) of some ex-Drogheda players returning to Hunky Dorys Park, and if a couple of those moves can go through, then Drogs should just about scrape enough points together to stay up.
Galway, on the hand, look rudderless at the moment and after their miserable run of defeats stretching back two months, it will be a struggle to attract players to Terryland.
It’s a tricky predicament and they can go down two routes. They could stretch their budget to the very maximum to bring in better players, but if they still get relegated that will be disastrous.
The other route, meanwhile, is a bit more conservative: holding on to what they have and doing their best to stay up. If they do drop to the second tier with that approach, they will be in a better position to build the club up from the first division and in the long run perhaps that would be better than breaking the bank in an attempt to stay up now.
In the first division too, there is likely to be plenty of moving and shaking. Four teams look like battling for promotion, with two automatic spots and a third play-off place.
That will leave one team out, so how the teams deal in the transfer window is likely to be very important. While Behan won’t be coming back to Cork, of much more importance for them is to hold on to top scorer Graham Cummins. He is attracting interest from several clubs cross-channel, but if City can hold onto him, they will be second favourites behind Shelbourne.
Shels already have the best squad in the second tier, full of premier division quality players and they are firm favourites to finish top.
Monaghan, despite Roddy Collins playing down their chances, are a big threat, while it’ll be interesting to see how Limerick add to their squad.
It might not have the glitz and glamour of the cross-channel transfer window, but it will be pivotal to deciding how teams approach the second half of the season.
About Alan Smith
Alan Smith works as a sub-editor for the Guardian newspaper in London. Originally from Cork, he freelances for several other newspapers and websites. Follow him on twitter @alansmith90. View Full Profile