I'm still yet to be convinced by Deegs if I'm honest. He has a good engine and works hard, but (this may be a tad harsh) he reminds of a younger, slightly improved version of Michael Doyle. Always committed and gives his all, but just lacks that bit of quality. Though saying that, I am not going to write him off, I sincerely hope he proves me wrong and really steps it up a couple of notches this season.
Pretty much agree with that, but remember that Doyle stagnated badly. He
did win player of the year here once. I know he wasn't everyones cup of tea, but he did offer something and was one of the better players under Boothroyd (not hard!).
The other hope is-Deegan came here as one of the top players in the Irish League. He had lots of first team experience, albeit at a relatively low standard. Doyle hadn't played a single first team game. Also Deegan has a certain level of flair and vision (maybe not the skill to pull it off yet!), and makes incredible lung-bursting late runs into the box that Doyler rarely did-neither did Aron. There's some really bad Youtube footage of Deegan the year before, and his speed and movement off the ball in a couple of clips are stunning-if you find them, just watch him go. Given our proposed formation and style, I can see him getting on the end of a lot of moves. He is also a bit more of a beast in the tackle than Doyle. If Doyle was Aggression 17, Deegan is 19-20.
The negative-he hasn't had extensive high-level coaching throughout his youth, and lacks that football education. This sometimes becomes very obvious in matches when he panics, or chooses the wrong option. But hey, O'Halloran had that high-level football education and Hussey didn't. I know which of them I'd prefer. Lets hope Deegan can bridge the gap as well as The Huss has. We
need him to, as we won't be signing anyone else.