The name Jack Byrne won’t mean much to many but he has today signed a deal with Shamrock Rovers to come home from the Scottish Premiership side Kilmarnock after a short spell with them following on from spells with Oldham , Blackburn Rovers , Cambuur in Holland and of course his time with Manchester City.
He has also a number of caps at Under 21 level with Ireland and has spent time with the senior squad. But things just haven’t worked out for Jack in recent times so one feels the decision to come home and spend a season with Shamrock Rovers isn’t the worst move. It will bring much needed media coverage to the League of Ireland, will strengthen the Rovers squad that will next year hope to challenge champions Dundalk for the title.
It is shot in the arm for a league that is crying out for more investment and better facilities for certain clubs. Also a full season where one team or another doesn’t get into financial difficulty would not hurt either. The prize money on offer to the winner of the league is very poor and will really need to be looked at in the next few months before the new season kicks off next March.
While most people will immediately say the league is poor and I wouldn’t go and watch the teams involved , let’s just give the league a chance and hopefully the move from Jack Byrne to come home and start again at the age of 22 is a shrewd move on his part. While at home he can try and stamp his authority on a side for more than a few games and see can he put all this promise to good use !!
With Mick Mc Carthy now in charge of the National side to be followed by Stephen Kenny, the league needs to put its best foot forward while Mick is in charge to make it next to impossible for him to ignore the league like the last two men who were in charge of the National side.
Could Jack Byrne be in a position if he puts his head down to get into the senior national side with consistent performances for Rovers and be the first League Of Ireland based player since Glen Crowe to get capped at senior level.
Time now for Jack Byrne and more like him to step up and make the League Of Ireland great again…..