I'd be curious to know what the wages are like at this level though. It really depends on your situation and on what you want out of it, but at least being on the bench in MLS would have gotten him a livable wage...assuming he wouldn't have been cut of course, which is no guarantee especially being a supplementary pick. On the other hand, he may be so in tune with his ability/ceiling that he sees it much like you and figures that he might as well actually play than try to stock minimum MLS salary money away since he wouldn't end up with enough to retire on in the end anyway, so this might be a great move from a purely life-enjoyment viewpoint and also to build a resume to go into coaching/writing/tv/whatever. Anyway, must be having the time of his life.
Keegan has his moments. I was going to say he hasn't got going yet, but that's probably not fair. It did take him until May (season runs March-Nov) to score his first league goal, but including that game, he has 6 goals in 7 starts and 2 sub appearances. Doing all right recently. v Rovers - Second half sub. Scored within 5 mins v Harps - Played 90 mins v Cobh - Played 90 mins. Scored twice v Shelbourne - Second half sub. Scored within 15 mins v UCD in the cup (top-tier club) - Played 90 mins. Scored and provided an assist. v Wexford - Played 86 mins. v Longford - Played 90 mins. v Waterford - Played 90 mins. v Rovers - Played 90 mins, scored twice. Galway recently signed an out-of-contract striker, Enda Curran, who played briefly in the Premier Division for Derry this year. He scored 21 goals in around 40 starts in the First Division before that. Galway have an abundance of riches up front, relative to the rest of side, so Keegan will need to keep performing well to stay in the side imo. As for being scouted by Premier Division teams, I doubt it very much. There is a large gap between the two divisions. A striker would usually need to really stand out to be picked up in the mid-season transfer window like that. He is Galway's top scorer in the league, with 6, but the 28 goals scored by Galway so far have been shared out among 10 players. Vinny Faherty is another striker in the side and he has a lot of Premier Division experience. He should have been scoring for fun in the division, but the two he scored on Friday doubled his tally for the season so far. The first game he looked bothered really, but we'll see if he carries that into the rest of the season. Winning the title, which brings automatic promotion is beyond Galway I think, but the 2nd and 3rd place teams enter a playoff series, which can bring promotion. That's where I think Galway will be at the end of the season in November. lol There is no such rule in Ireland.
I'd say he's getting a living wage, but most of the squad are not. Teams from Galway in the past have had a habit of employing mercenaries that aren't even based in the city. The players are pretty much all local or near enough.
Just to expand on my answer, I looked up how many foreign players there are in the league. Just as an example, only 3 foreign players (excluding the UK) have scored in either division. Jake Keegan, Muhanned Bukhatwa (Libya) and Etanda Nkololo (DR Congo born French national). All three in the second tier. The Irish champions last season, St. Patrick's Athletic. didn't field anyone from abroad. Not even from Northern Ireland or the rest of the UK. Sligo Rovers, the champions the year before did have a couple of guys, Joey Ndo (Cameroon), Romy Boco (Benin) and Pascal Millien (Haiti).
Brief mention in a preview: With American striker Jake Keegan top of the club's goal-scoring charts with six strikes, he'll be the one to watch. Not to mention, he also carries a great threat on the assists front, too. http://extratime.ie/newsdesk/articles/12663/
Doesn't sound like it was a very good game. No mention of Keegan on the twitter that I can remember. Next up is Cobh Ramblers at home, a week from tonight. Galway have beaten them 4-0 at home and 5-1 away so far this season. Keegan scored twice in the away win. First goal. Second goal.
From the match report on the Galway FC site. Galway finished the game well however, and Jake Keegan should have stolen the points at the death when he headed a Ryan Connolly cross just over the crossbar with Winn beaten. http://galwayfc.ie/index.php/report-finn-harps-0-0-galway-fc/
Jake dropped to the bench tonight in favour of recent arrival Enda Curran, who is automatic first choice, when match fit. I'm guessing Jake will come in for him after an hour or so. It might be too soon for Curran to play 90 minutes as he hasn't started a match in 2 or 3 months. Wasn't injured, just not match fit.
Jake restored Galway's 3 goal lead and rounded-off the scoring, making it 4-1. 20 minutes after being introduced, from a cross from Ryan Connolly, Keegan took a touch and bang.
By any chance, can this kid ever come back to MLS? I would love for a team to offer him a trial and see where it goes.
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't he also playing in the Irish 2nd division? I think he'd be hard pressed to make an MLS team at this point.
Yeah. I mean he was drafted by the Union in the Supplemental Draft in '13 so it's hard to say exactly where he is in terms of MLS ability but I'd imagine he's close. Though, I've seen many MLS draftees cut within a couple weeks by clubs, including guys who were taken in the Super Draft. If Galway can get promoted this year I'm sure he'll stay with the club as the LOI Premier Division seems a pretty decent level of play. Maybe he'll come back at some point, who knows...but if he keeps scoring at the clip he is he should be able to make a living at the game either way.
Yeah, it is the 2nd level of Irish football. You can only play/score against what is in front of you, but for anyone state-side to really care, he would have to be a stand-out player in the Premier Division. Having said that, a few players who couldn't really get into the team have gone to America. I suspect they are on college scholarships though.
That's a big if. Winning the division is surely beyond them and they must finish in 2nd/3rd, which is by no means guaranteed. After that, they play against the other team that finished 2nd/3rd over two legs. If they were to come through that, then they would have to do the same against the 2nd from bottom team in the Premier. Only after beating them would they be promoted. It is rare for LOI players to have multi-season contracts and certainly none of the Galway players do. Jake will be free to go where he likes in October. I don't know anything about the guy, but if I was him, I wouldn't wait around. He could make a living, yeah, but he probably needs to move away.
No, but he still kept his composure instead of shooting immediately and possibly seeing it blocked. They will have a much sterner test next Friday against Shelbourne who are 2nd in the table. The match is in Galway though.
3rd place Galway are 1-0 down at home to 2nd place Shelbourne. Keegan didn't start, but he is on now for Enda Curran (67') as Galway chase the game.