Bradley looks to Scandinavia and UK for Hoops striking options

Stephen Bradley is seeking the signing of a new striker to complete his squad for the forthcoming season with a number of targets at home and abroad on the Tallaght man's radar.

The 32-year-old announced the signing of Dundalk's Ronan Finn during the week and immediately installed the returning midfielder as his captain for 2017.

That followed the announcement last week of the signing of two new goalkeepers, Canadian-Israeli Tomer Chencinski from Helsinborgs and Kevin Horgan from Galway United.

Chencinski's signature came somewhat out of leftfield, a product of Bradley's scouting network in Scandinavia, and the Dubliner indicated he may return to the Nordic countries before the window is out.

“We've been speaking to players the last few weeks and it's just trying to get them over the line,” Bradley said at Finn's unveiling in Tallaght Stadium. 

“That's the hardest part. Similar to the Ronan one, you just really don't know up until the time they ring you and say they want to do it. 

“In your head, you can plan this and say you'll do this and then they ring up and say, 'look, I'm not moving.' That's the way it goes. 

“We're strong in all areas, and we're strong up front as well, but another one to have the four strikers would be really good. If one becomes available at the right price, we'll definitely do it.

“We're speaking to people away and home – Scandinavia, England, Scotland and here. “We're speaking to a couple and we've met a few. We're waiting to see which of them suits best and if it's financially suitable. 

“A lot of the lads away in England and Scandinavia think they can come here and demand silly money that's been quoted for Ronan. And that's not the case at all. They need to understand there's a wage structure here and we'll stick to it.”

Many fans were surprised to see both of the Hoops' goalkeepers from last season depart the club, though Craig Hyland was always likely to leave due to work commitments.

Murphy has been the club's player of the year on three occasions and the only senior player to come through the club's youth set-up, and an obvious role model to young players.

However in Chencinski, who impressed last season with Henrik Larsson's Helsinborgs and is capped internationally by Canada, Bradley thinks he's found a gem.

“When we let Craig and Barry go, a lot of people were surprised, but in my head I have known Tomer from seeing him from afar and knowing reports from him from people I know in Scandinavia, I've always rated him. 

“They said if he's one you can get, you should get him. And I knew if Helsinborgs went down we could get him, and that's what I was waiting on. Once they went down, I made contact and tried to get him in straight away.”

While Chencinski has a 13 years advantage on Horgan in terms of experience, the coach insists the slate is clean for both to make an impression before the season starts.

“Tomer's obviously a lot more experienced. He's 32 and has played in a lot more games, but Kevin has massive potential. 

“I told the both of them they're going to come in and fight it out for number one, and whichever one is performing best at the time will play. They both know that and they both respect that.”

The team will return to the training pitch on the sixth of January ahead of the season's kick-off on February 24^th, but the bulk of the squad have been in doing strength and conditioning work for three weeks.

The club have hired Tallaght-based personal trainer Darren Dillon as S&Ccoach – Dillon worked with Richie Towell on his return to Ireland from Celtic and Bradley was impressed by his approach.

“I just wanted a change. I wanted to do things my own way and Darren is always someone I've respected from afar.  

“When I met Darren I really liked his ideas and how he saw strength and conditioning. It's not just about being in the gym and lifting weights – everything has to relate to how you play on the football pitch. And Darren understood that and his programs were tailored to that. 

“You can get caught up in strength and conditioning coaches wanting to get players all big as houses. He's not about that. He's about them performing properly on the pitch and that was massive.”

While Bradley stops short of suggesting the new-look Rovers will challenge for the title next season, he has set down a challenge to his players to challenge for silverware.

One thing is for certain, while the expectation level from the stands has never wavered at Tallaght Stadium, for the first time in a while it's now matched inside the club.

“I said from day one, finishing fourth in this club is not acceptable. I'm not just saying that to say it, it's the truth. It's not acceptable. Am I saying we'll win the league next year? No, but our aim has to be to go and win silverware. 

“We know we have a lot of ground to make up on Dundalk and Cork, and that's our aim. We need to close that gap as quick as possible. Finishing fourth and fifth here is not good enough.”