Connor O'Riordan

[simongarnerisgod]

thats 3 managers who don`t seem to rate him,must be a problem somewhere,attitude or just not good enough for this level???????????

[MarkBRFC]

14 hours ago, simongarnerisgod said:

thats 3 managers who don`t seem to rate him,must be a problem somewhere,attitude or just not good enough for this level???????????

It could be that he's deemed not ready or good enough for this level, but I wouldn't rule him out just yet.

Carter and Wharton needed multiple loans each at his age to become ready for this level.

[RoverCanada]

Yes, easy to forget just how young COR still is (turning 22 in Oct), especially for a CB, and how much pro football he's already played for his age.

Out of unnecessary curiosity, here's the trajectory of recent(ish) Rovers Academy CB grads:

COR had a bit of a stunted (and to some extent unfortunate) year, but another year in L1 means he's only sort of behind the trajectories of Lenihan (who was more of a squad player, and still a MF/DF hybrid that year?) and Jack O'Connell (he was only a squad player with Brentford that year before becoming a L1 starter with Sheffield the next year). Otherwise, COR's on track with Carter and ahead of Wharton, Magloire, Anthony O'Connor, and Ryan Edwards (to pick out some less successful examples!)

Definitely a crucial year for COR, but I wouldn't write him off just yet. Perhaps he's been 'found out' in training as hopeless at this level, but securing another L1 loan so quickly is still a positive sign.

If reports are correct, we picked him off due to a low release clause (£500k?), which seems like a no brainer bet for a CB managing in the lower leagues at 18-19 years old (yes, can debate if that money was better spent on desperate short-term needs at the time...). It's possible the current sports hierarchy isn't as enamoured with him and he's probably on a high wage relative to someone coming straight out of the Academy (so, the bean counters may be keen to get his long-term contract off the books given he's signed until 2028), but presumably Doncaster are covering an ok chunk of his wages this year.

Edited Thursday at 11:35 by RoverCanada

[Tomphil2]

I'd rather him be brought along slowly and build up his strength etc then come into the team than be chucked in through necessity and struggle.

He'll get his chance at some point and lets not rule out Rovers might have to pay another big chunk of money for him once he plays Championship football.

If he isn't going to make the grade and someone lower down offers a few quid there's no harm done.

[Upside Down]

On 18/07/2025 at 04:16, Tomphil2 said:

I'd rather him be brought along slowly and build up his strength etc then come into the team than be chucked in through necessity and struggle.

He'll get his chance at some point and lets not rule out Rovers might have to pay another big chunk of money for him once he plays Championship football.

If he isn't going to make the grade and someone lower down offers a few quid there's no harm done.

Also worth bearing in mind he's playing a position where experience is crucial to being a good player.

[bluebruce]

On 19/07/2025 at 04:07, Upside Down said:

Also worth bearing in mind he's playing a position where experience is crucial to being a good player.

He has quite a bit of experience for a 21 year old CB. Over 100 games. I'd expect him to be pushing on now.

[Upside Down]

29 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

He has quite a bit of experience for a 21 year old CB. Over 100 games. I'd expect him to be pushing on now.

Fair point.