"The Los Angeles Blues are excited to announce the signing of Akeem Priestley for the 2011 USL PRO season, pending USSF and USL approval. The acquisition is considered a steal by many, as Priestley is a Jamaican national team member who once seemed MLS-bound and only recently missed out on signing with Irish powerhouse Shamrock Rovers due to work permit issues. The versatile attacker spent the majority of his college career playing for the University of Connecticut alongside current Blues forward Chukwudi Chijindu...." More: http://www.labluesprosoccer.com/home/518018.html Any thoughts on this? Who knows something about what he brings to the table? Will he play a major role for us this season?
Well you get deeper in the attack and have options are always a good thing. And he's familar with the climate of most of your away games. Hope he produces for you. But not sure how not being able to sign with an Irish club is something to brag about. It's considered one of the weaker leagues in Europe.
I think it adds depth to the team that is really needed with alot of games practically back to back and long periods on the road. Curious to see how he pans out.
Good point about the climate. His move to Ireland fell through due to work permit issues, so they wanted to sign him. And even though the Irish league is not one of the better ones Europe, Shamrock Rovers is by far the most successful club in the country's history. So it could be argued that Shamrock wanting to sign Priestley does say something.
The Irish league has improved a lot over the last few years, Irish clubs have beaten teams from Russia, Scotland, Croatia, Poland, Sweden etc. A number of players from the league are now playing in the English Premiership like Kevin Doyle, Keith Fahy, Stephen Ward, Conor Sammon and David Meyler. While a number of other players have impressed in the English Championship like Wes Hoolahan and Shane Long. The league doesn't get the recognition it deserves, especially from Irish people who choose to watch matches on TV and support English clubs instead of attending matches leaving Irish clubs struggling to survive and many having to revert to semi-professional status or like Sporting Fingal cease to exist. Anyway..... I think Shamrock Rovers fans thought Priestley was more of a luxury player and weren't too bothered about him not being signed, they didnt see a place for him in the team. How is Priestley doing for L.A Blues and whats the standard like in this division?
We are experinceing a similar problem in the United States with MLS. Although we are growing, it is foolishly compared to Man U and Barcelona by idiots in our own country. A number of leagues around the world are having this problem. But I imagine it is much worse with the EPL in your backyard. It seemed like eveyone in Dublin when I was there was a Man U, City, Celtic, or Liverpool fan. I don't think anyone cared about Shamrock Rovers or any other local based team.
Ya sadly most Irish soccer fans are idiots, its easy to support these teams from your armchair or bar stool but they aren't real fans. Most will probably change the channel if the game isn't exciting enough for them. Some people here actually think Celtic are an Irish team, the last time I checked an atlas Glasgow was part of the United Kingdom. Celtic may have been founded by Irish emigrants but so were Hibernian and I'l make a guess that no one supports them because they don't win anything. Nothing can be done about this though, we just have to live with it and support our own clubs.
I think it's like with any level of soccer in the U.S. People generally tend to underestimate it. As a matter of fact, I talked to Akeem a short while ago and he said as much. Having trained with Shamrock and having followed European soccer extensively, he told me that USL PRO is a very good league that is not getting the credit it deserves.
That's such a shame, because the way to one day have a club of Man U or barca caliber in your own backyward is by supporting what's there. I'd much rather see my little local club grow into something huge than support some big brand overseas whose games I'll never be able to attend.
I might check out a game online. Can I watch streams of the games from the USL website in Ireland or do I have to be in the U.S? Any up coming games you'd would recommend watching?
You should be able to watch on USLLive.com no problem. We're definitely streaming the June 26 home game against the Wilmington Hammerheads. Should be a good one too, since Wilmington is 4-2-2, with 14 points from 8 matches. We're 5-2-2 (17 points from 9 games), so it'll be a true clash between top teams.