SLIGO ROVERS HAVE announced another new signing this morning.
The SSE Airtricity League Premier Division outfit confirmed that goalkeeper Mitchell Beeney has joined the club on loan from Chelsea until 30 June.
With the transfer window in the League of Ireland due to close tonight, Beeney is the third new arrival at the Showgrounds in the past 24 hours.
Yesterday, Sligo completed deals for central defender Patrick McClean and left-back Calum Waters. McClean has left Waterford to sign a two-year deal with the Bit O’ Red, while Waters has joined on loan from Kilmarnock until 10 June.
Beeney, whose father Mark played in the Premier League for Leeds United, has been capped by England up to U20 level. The 22-year-old has been on the books at Chelsea since the age of 12 but hasn’t yet made a first-team debut at Stamford Bridge.
However, he has played senior football in the UK during loan spells with Newport County and Crawley Town. Beeney will aim to dislodge Micheal Schlingermann as Sligo’s first-choice goalkeeper.
SIGNING: The #bitored sign @ChelseaFC goalkeeper Mitchell Beeney on loan until 30 June. 🔴⚪️✍🏻
— Sligo Rovers (@sligorovers) February 22, 2018
Read more: https://t.co/hwnL68QMmt pic.twitter.com/Q7TbzWG98p
“Mitchell came over for a few days for the Cabinteely friendly to get a feel of the place and see if he liked it,” said Sligo Rovers manager Gerard Lyttle, whose side will be looking to bounce back from a defeat to Limerick in their opening game of the season when they entertain Derry City tomorrow night.
“I think he really took to Sligo, the players, the people around the club and the chance to show what he can do here. He is probably approaching a crossroads in his career and this move allows him the opportunity to build on his ability and showcase it.
“He has had loans spells in League One and League Two and he comes here with the chance to play more first-team football. I think Schlings [Micheal Schlingermann] needs this competition. He hasn’t had it beforehand with respect to the other goalkeepers and it makes a huge difference.
“Everyone needs it — someone trying to take your place and knowing they will constantly be looking to get in there because of their ability. Micheal is a great pro and both he and Mitchell will have a battle now to be number one.”
Beeney, who is a member of the U23 squad at Chelsea, was part of the side that defeated Fulham to win the FA Youth Cup in 2014. He has also featured on the bench for the Blues’ first-team on several occasions.
He said: “It has been really nice getting to know all the players here. They are a great group and I’m really happy to become part of it. I enjoyed the friendly match and it gave me an insight into the club.
“I’m here to play senior competitive games — that’s what these moves are about. I don’t know a huge amount about the league, only what the manager and staff have told me.
“I have competition in Micheal who has had the shirt but it’s all about that if you want to be successful. I’m keen to get in the team and play as many games as I can here.”
Meanwhile, Derry City have announced the signing of defender Niall Logue on a one-year deal. Logue, who has spent the past two years with Ohio State University, will give the Candystripes an option at left-back after they missed out on the signing of ex-Fulham player Sean Kavanagh, who opted to join Shamrock Rovers earlier this week.
Think it’s worth mentioning that Spain are currently European champions U21, U19, U17 and now the senior champions.
Holyyyyyyyyyy shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh………………..
Speaks of the state of other countries football…massive disaster and fail.
Glad they don’t play hurling
The beautiful game , played beautifully.
Well Done Spain.
Congrats Miguel, a well deserved win for Spain,.
Where are the detractors now? Feel privileged you have seen just one of the greatest teams of all time if not the greatest. .As for the Liverpool team of 88 a good side but not in Spain’s class.
Agree Tom the reds were far higher ☺
What a great game of football, and the refs were good too
The liverpool team of ’88 would have beaten them.
Jesus people really do love Liverpool.
only team i would put with them is Brazil 1970.
delighted the Italians were crazy/brave enough to play that way as it afforded us all the opportunity to see an all time great team with some all time greats do the absolute business. magnificent, all of it, 4 goals in the euro final. we may never see the likes of it again. these guys are why i love football, and it is a beautiful game once more. viva espana!!!
It’s actually worrying there is 1 team in Europe that is so much above anybody else.
I very much like in football spirit of competition and head to head rivalry. This final was just one team show and brutal execution on Italians. No matter how much I can admire Spanish football master class this game was IMHO boring, boring because of lack of real connection between teams, bit of spark, the competition, emotions..
Also 4:0 in the final where two equal teams should meet is a lot, that should make all of them think what they’re doing playing football, England, France, Germany, Italy… those teams look like last decade amateurs next to today’s Spain. Hopefully this can change as I have no problem watching one team winning spree, but really can’t enjoy watching one team outclassing everyone else.
But in the long run it is a good thing. It forces other F.A to look at the way they run themselves, their methods and ways in which they nuture their young players.Therefore in the end football wins.
We can only dream our FA will implement a proper player and management development system
It’s a Barcelona thing , they might be the best ever if they had Messi.
I really expected a closer match, switched off after Italy went to 10 men
Very disappointing final contest to an overall excellent tournament
Not a football fan obviously…
It’s not even midnight yet and this already happened last night? Did I lost a day? ;)
I’m going to guess that he was at the game and with the time difference, he made the mistake.
I was indeed at the game, aye! To really stretch my defence it is intended for people reading after 12am… I suppose, ha! It’s 3am here. Spanish team just all left stadium. Sergio Ramos came through with the trophy at the end.
Thanks for the updates Miguel, I’d say you will have a sore ceann in the morning
last night history was made, great team, hopefully they can continue from last night, have I stressed enough yet that it was last night.
Without doubt da best team ever, even without their captain and their first choice striker they still walked it, world class players on bench didn’t even get a game
Why can’t TV pundits not admit that sometimes, just sometimes, teams come alone that are better than the past greats. It’s as if they feel admitting it, results in driving Pele and company a kick in the rox. Personally, this is the best all round team I have had the pleasure of witnessing past/present. New things CAN be better……..well except hangovers and monster munch!
That headline is way off the mark if you’ve been watching it on bbc or ITV.
He’s a bad writer is Mr. Miguel.
Had the privilege of watching almost every tournament match this Spanish team have played since Euro 2008 in the actual stadiums, including tonight. As such, wasn’t watching BBC or ITV and they’re way off the mark for me!
You can only argue that they are the greatest European team of all time. They have after all only won one World Cup. Only beating the best that South America has to offer only the once is not nearly enough to justify your claim as best of all time.
Also, the European Championship only started in 1960, so previous European teams that won the World Cup never had the opportunity to win something else in between them.
In short, it’s a ridiculous claim.
By all measurable criteria, they’re the greatest. That’s certainly fair to say.
I wouldn’t call it a ridiculous claim Anthony,
take a look back at their results from 2008 to today, what’s ridiculous is their record in competitive games:
33 wins
3 draws
1 defeat
http://www.soccerway.com/teams/spain/spain
And if you still want to filter that down to the bigger occasion competitive games, well that’s 3 tournaments in a row (10 matches) where they’ve not even conceded a goal in the knock-out stages.
As for the Euro Championships only starting in 1960, well the only European team to win the World Cup in the previous two decades to that was West Germany in 1954, a shock result against the best team in Europe at the time, Puskas’ Hungary.
I think the only valid debate would be the Brazil team of 1970 but they didn’t do much in any of the years either side of that tournament. This Spanish team certainly have either side of their World Cup in 2010
If there was no such thing as time there would be ppl out there who’d say Ronnie Delaney was the greatest miler or Carl Lewis the greatest 100mtrs of all time. The greatest is the one who holds the present record. When it comes to football the Brazil of ’70 wouldn’t be in the same class as that Spanish team we’ve witnessed today. At that pace they’d be lucky to last 60 mins, and comparing the’88 Liverpool, they would be mid table Spanish premier, and I follow the Pool. How many times a country won the W/C is irrelevant as to who is the greatest team to walk on a football pitch. Barca are going to dominate Europe for at least the next 5years.
Great performance from Spain this afternoon now for a walk before dinner.
Undeniably accurate headline miguel. The greatest team of all time. This victory proves that reaching the top like Brazil In 1970 is one thing sustaining it like Spain have shows that they are the greatest VAMOS TOTAL FOOTBALL!!
Rodger your dead right Vamos Las Rojas
I actually agree that this makes football that bit more boring. Although its unbelievable to watch, one teams utter dominance takes away the attraction of football. The Scottish league next year will not be worth watching, they should give Celtic the trophy now. And F1 ratings a few years back struggled because schumacher was unbeatable. I’d prefer to see a tight, end to end game between two very good teams, than see one outstanding team dominate their opponents. Eg Man United 4:3 Man City, or Liverpool 4:3 Newcastle, unbelievable football games because they were so tight. 4:0 win against the second best team in Europe makes a bit of a mockery of the competition, even though it was good overall. The only sport were outright dominance is enjoyable is horse racing.
If Spain played hurling they would be Kilkenny in a class of their own if Irish team played hurling they would be ..think better leave that blank.
They have beaten Germany, holland and Italy in last 3 finals, do they not count as great footballing teams/countries. Who are these great south American teams? Brazil and Argentina are no world beaters these days.
The whole ‘of all time’ tag is bit sensationalist and simplistic. There’s no way to verify it, so why even put it on the table? Okay, for the sake of the debate maybe, but then sticking ‘undeniably’ in there is just dictatorial.
Football has evolved, like anything else, over time. Things improve. Undoubtedly, most international teams’ fitness, mentality, strategy, youth development, technical application etc, have improved since the 70s, because of the resources invested into improving these elements, so naturally, the reliance on natural talent and physicality has lessened.
To compare Spain 2012 and Brazil 1970 is to compare Messi and Richard Dunne. Different environments, different methods, different level of hype.
Niall, you can’t compare teams across different eras. But the key point I’ve always made in this debate is that you can compare the extent of dominance a team enjoyed across their cycle.
For example, Hungary had an 85% win record between 1951 and 1955. They didn’t however win every trophy they came across. They lost when it mattered. That is a mark against them.
Over four years, Spain have produced the longest winning run in international history, the longest unbeaten run in international history, have won 90% of all games, have produced the best defence in any tournament and, in two of three tournaments, been the most prolific scorers.
Most importantly of all, they’ve won all three major trophies they’ve entered.
No team has ever matched that level of utter domination.
I just think too much emphasis is placed on their domination of Europe. They’re kicking major European butt and it’s teams like ourselves that make up the vast majority of their stats. How many times have they played the other great nations of the world?
Honestly, how can a team be called the best after only beating the best of South America once? They’ve demolished everyone in Europe for 3 tournaments, so they’re arguably the best ever here. But, for me, they have to win the next World Cup to “undeniably” claim best ever.
Italy and Brazil have both won the World Cup twice in a row. Surely that’s a better achievement than one World Cup and two continental cups?
Probably because the (usual) best of South America wasn’t good enough to reach as far as Spain did in the last World Cup:
- Germany beat Argentina 4-0 in the quarters (who then got beaten by Spain in the semis)
- Holland beat Germany 2-1 in the quarters ( who then got beaten by Spain in the final)
Italy 34-38 isn’t even worth considering when only a small number of nations competed in the qualifiers to the finals
Huh? Please re-read my comment. You’ve obviously misunderstood it. All I’m saying is that you can’t say they’re undeniably the best, when they’ve only won one World Cup.
The South Americans have only had one crack at them (even if they didn’t meet) . Hardly enough to run around claiming to be the best ever.
No Ireland team 88-94 the Jackie chartlon years