Football Season Guide

Derry are coming from a decent season, which saw them win over a lot of neutrals with their positive football. It was the second consecutive year in which the Candystripes lost one of their players, as their skipper Ryan McBride passed away early in the season, with his team mates, who won their opening five games, struggling to cope with the loss early on and going on a lengthy unbeaten run before recovering and finishing high up the table. The Candystripes were victims of their own success in a way as they lost three of their standout performers in Barry McNamee, Aaron Barry and Dean Jarvis, who joined the league's twp top clubs in Dundalk and Cork. Kenny Shiels is known for liking to make puts on unproven signings and it is therefore hardly a surprise that the list of players who joined is composed of unproven Premier League players and men who never played in the top flight, with Gavin Peers and Armin Aganovic being notable exceptions, with the latter being a former Galway player returning to Ireland after a year in Norway. Derry have definitely lost some of their best players, but have made a number of interesting signings and, in Shiels, they have a manager who knows how to get the best out of what he has at his disposal.