The League of Ireland talent drain has left some fans wondering what’s so special about England’s League One?
But not Eoin Doyle, not after a stellar career over the last decade in the Championship, League One itself, League Two and also Scotland’s top flight.
He couldn’t disagree more that players are selling themselves short. But he does agree that it’s hugely frustrating to see many of them leave for a pittance.
For the most part, English clubs are activating small, five-figure release clauses to land their prey.
But ahead of tonight’s European clash with Slovenian side Mura, St Pat’s striker Doyle knows precisely why some of the league’s bright young things have jumped ship.
And while he stresses that it’s not the only motivating factor, ultimately money talks.
Doyle agrees that most of the players to have left recently could easily treble their wages in England’s third tier.
MK Dons snapped up Doyle’s former Saints team-mate Darragh Burns two weeks ago for a decent €200,000 fee.
Then they returned to add Bohs ace Dawson Devoy to their ranks, but for a token amount.
Fleetwood Town, now managed by Celtic legend Scott Brown, will complete the signing of Gypsies forward Promise Omochere this week, also for a low five-figures.
Lincoln City failed to land Stephen Bradley as their manager, but still raided Shamrock Rovers by picking up star turn Danny Mandroiu on the cheap.
Bolton Wanderers have landed Derry City captain Eoin Toal having already signed UCD defender Eric Yoro.
Sligo Rovers goalkeeper Ed McGinty is about to join Oxford United - but again for a low five-figures.
And Championship side Blackpool still have a healthy interest in Rovers star Andy Lyons, having seen a €110,000 bid rejected.
Then there’s James Abankwah (St Pat’s pocketing a minimum €400,000 was good business) and ex-UCD man Liam Kerrigan who joined Udinese and Como respectively.
But Doyle, who was a Bolton regular until his St Pat’s move in January, says League of Ireland fans don’t appreciate the pull of England’s lower leagues.
“They have massive budgets in League One,” explained the 34-year-old.
"Fleetwood would be one of the smaller ones in League One but budget wise they would be bigger than anyone here in the League of Ireland.
“People look at Promise and wonder why he’s going to Fleetwood in League One but the scope he has for moving on, just by playing in League One, is huge, it really is.
"It’s a really strong league. The gap is big, the rewards are huge. Huge. And you are going to play big teams in big stadiums in front of big angry crowds. It's great stuff.
“The closest lads here get to that is playing in the FAI Cup final. I played in the first Aviva final and remember being on the pitch looking up, saying this is amazing.
“But you get that feeling every second or third week over in England and that’s a huge draw. I played in front of 46,000 people in League One. It is a different animal.”
And striker Doyle says it is pointless comparing what’s on offer between Ireland and England.
“It’s a completely different beast,” he explained.
“Sometimes when you watch League One or League Two football, it’s more aggressive whereas the entertainment value is better in Ireland.
“But they have stronger athletes in England and if they played against our lads, they’d probably wipe the floor with us. That’s the way it is. The comparisons have to stop.
“Lads leaving here shows the league is doing very well. It’s a young league and will get stronger in the next few years.
“But we have a unique thing and it’s working in the sense that they want our young lads. Loads of them are going over.”
But Doyle added: “What you’d like to see stop are the buy-out clauses. Players have power and to get them signed up, they get these things in.
“If that was to stop and real money was coming into the league instead of the little flimsy deals, you’d then be happier.”
Meanwhile, Tim Clancy admits St Pat’s are up against it tonight but insists NS Mura will know they are in a game.
The Slovenians reached the Europa Conference League group stages last season and beat Tottenham 2-1 in a shock result.
But that was their only victory and they finished bottom of a group that also included Vitesse Arnhem and Rennes.
Before dropping into that competition, they had been knocked out of the Champions League by Shamrock Rovers’ current opponents Ludogorets, 3-1 on aggregate.
And in the Europa League, they saw off Žalgiris of Lithuania before bowing out to Austria’s Sturm Graz in the playoffs, paving the way for that Conference League run.
Saints technical director Alan Mathews flew to Slovenia last week to watch Mura in action against Moldovan outfit Sfîntul Gheorghe.
Mura won 2-1 - and 4-2 on aggregate - and will benefit from that first round clash, whereas St Pat’s received a bye into this second round.
Boss Clancy said yesterday: “They’re a decent team. They were in the group stages last year and had a win over Spurs.
“Some personnel have changed, but they’ve a good bit of continuity in their squad.
“We’ve watched them in their first qualifying round and in their first league game of the season (lost 2-0 away to Olympia Ljubljana).
“I think they’ll come here hoping to win the game, so it’s up to us to capitalise on that.
“They have good players who are very comfortable on the ball with a lot of energy and a lot of physicality so it’s going to be a tough ask, but one we’re up for.”
Saints hope to have Barry Cotter available tonight after he joined on loan from Shamrock Rovers yesterday.
A versatile defender, he has been snapped up after Jack Scott returned to Wolves following the end of his loan.
Clancy said: “Jack was excellent in some games and a little bit inconsistent in other games. We spoke to Shamrock Rovers about Barry Cotter when he might have been available.
“He's very athletic, an attack-minded full-back and that’s something that we’ve probably missed on the right side.”
Clancy added: “We’ve practically a full squad to pick from bar young Adam Murphy who is still recovering from a hamstring.”
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