THE nationality of two notable summer arrivals at Dundee United could give the impression that Craig Levein is on a mission to return the Tannadice team to its Dundee Hibernian roots. The loan deals recently completed for Cardiff City's Warren Feeney and Sunderland's Roy O'Donovan swell the number of Irishmen in the Tayside club ranks to five, a quintet completed by Wilo Flood, Sean Dillon and Jon Daly.
With Paddy McCourt joining Celtic from Derry City in the close season, Connor Samson arriving at Kilmarnock via the same source and Rangers paying Burnley £3.25m to acquire Northern Ireland internationalist Kyle Lafferty, the number of players now b
ased at Scottish Premier League clubs that hail from across the water is second only to native performers. Levein, however, insists opportunity more than intent accounts for him going green.
"It is a market I have had good experiences with in the past, and one I've found comfortable dealing in," he said. "I had Alan Maybury and Steve Kirk at Hearts and both did a good job for me and it was the same when I had Paddy McCarthy at Leicester.
"Players from over there are serious about the game and all seem to have a good attitude, and are hungry to learn and improve. But you have to consider that we have a couple of loan deals. If we were looking to buy Warren Feeney he would cost £750,000 and we couldn't afford that. I do think there is some value to be had from that market, though."
The switch from part-time to full-time football in the Republic's League of Ireland during the past decade is a prime reason players from that country are becoming more attractive to SPL clubs, believes Stephen Kenny. The Derry City manager lost both McCourt and Samson to a set-up he knows well from his time in charge of Dunfermline.
Kenny expects more players to follow them. Not because Irish players could of late have expected greater remuneration in Scotland, as might be assumed, but effectively the reverse. Wage inflation has created problems in the Republic, and this week Cork City appeared to be heading into administration. Kenny believes that could make for bargains. Indeed, if Cork are forced into a firesale, players such as the club's League of Ireland top scorer for the past two seasons Dave Mooney could become available to penny-counting SPL clubs for a relatively small sum.
"Since our clubs went full-time, players moving between Ireland and Scotland won't be asked to make such a great step up, so that makes them more attractive to SPL teams," he said.
"We have a bit to go, but the improvement in quality is shown by the fact that in their UEFA Cup qualifier the other night, St Pat's could draw 2-2 away to Elfsborg. It was only last month the Swedes beat Hibs home and away in the Intertoto.
"Our clubs have been paying salaries that are too high for crowds they attract and as the market adjusts to the levels required, more good young Irish talents could become decent value to Scottish clubs."
The full article contains 531 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
