Callum Honohan turns down Cork City offer, opts to join brother Josh at Shamrock Rovers
Honohan – younger brother of Josh, who made the same move prior to the 2024 season, following City's 2023 relegation – was offered a contract by the Rebel Army, but turned it down in favour of a move to Stephen Bradley's side.
Honohan made his debut for City in the Munster Senior Cup, but the 19-year-old will now move to Tallaght with a view to making a similar impact as his older brother.
The elder Honohan, 24, has managed to work his way into Heimir Hallgrimsson's Republic of Ireland senior international squad on the back of his Rovers form.
'Since we signed Josh, Callum is one we've watched quite closely,' said Rovers boss Bradley. 'Being Josh's younger brother he's one we came across and Callum has really good attributes.
So we're looking forward to getting Callum in, working with him and seeing him in that environment. Hopefully we can develop that potential.
'Callum will be his own man and he'll write his own story. But you'd hope he'd look at Josh and the strides he has taken since he came here and want to do similar.
'That's the aim, and I know Callum has the hunger to do that and now it's our job to try and give him the tools to make that happen.'
"Callum is one we felt was important to get in the building and work with. His age profile means he's definitely one for the future and he can play any of the back three positions.
'We won't quite know which one until we work with Callum in real detail and we'll make that decision.'
Ger Nash and City recently recruited young attacker Brody Lee from Bradley's Rovers.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Shamrock Rovers consider further transfer moves after making loan signing
Stephen Bradley says that Shamrock Rovers will carefully weigh up transfer prospects in this window with the Hoops signing Connor Malley on loan from Sligo Rovers. Rovers are "down the line", according to boss Bradley, in talks to sell teenager Victor Ozhianvuna - with Arsenal believed to be set to shatter the LOI record to sign the 16-year-old on a pre-contract. Ahead of tonight's Conference League second qualifying round first leg tie with St Joseph's in Gibraltar, Malley's arrival bolsters a Premier Division table-topping squad that Bradley says is in a good place. 'We're obviously delighted to get a player of Connor's calibre in the door," said Bradley of the 25-year-old midfielder who is in second season with Sligo after spending the 2023 season with Dundalk. "He's someone we've admired for a long time and we spoke to him and he was very keen to come. So I think Connor will add real quality to the group. "It was clear to see he was a very good player. We spoke to him recently and we felt it was the right fit for us and for Connor. Thankfully when we met him, he was really keen to get it done. 'He's a midfielder who has a bit of everything. He scores, he creates, he's very good on the ball, so as I said, a bit of everything. When we've played against Connor, he's always one player who left a mark on us." Malley is keen to add to his game time this season having featured in 12 games for Sligo. 'Connor is well used to the league and I think from speaking to him, he just wants to get playing again," said Bradley. "He was very keen to be part of this group and we were keen to have Connor. "He knows what the league is about, although he hasn't played a lot of minutes this season, it'll be just about getting Connor up to speed as quickly as possible. "We play a friendly on Saturday so I'm hoping we can get Connor at least a half an hour on the pitch in that. Then we'll assess where Connor is and what we both feel he needs to be ready to play." Speaking yesterday ahead of the European tie, Bradley admitted that Rovers were looking at a couple of targets but were in no hurry to strengthen further. "I know Stephen Mc(Phail) is looking at a couple of things but I've always said, and we stick to it, if it's not right we won't do it," said the Hoops manager. "The squad's in the right place, no injuries, we've got quality so we're not in a rush to do anything but if the ones become available that we feel improve us then we'll try and do it. I know Stephen has been really busy in the last while with a few things and that's definitely one of them." Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts.
RTÉ News
6 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Floundering Cork City enter last-chance saloon against seasoned Sligo Rovers
It is survival of the fittest in the League of Ireland. Cork City have failed to stay in the Premier Division in their last two attempts in 2020 and 2023 and they are in danger of failing to do so again in 2025. The team they must catch are Sligo Rovers, who have been masters at surviving this level for 20 years. With European competition taking the attention of most of the top six this weekend, the battle at the bottom between Cork City and Sligo Rovers will draw a lot of eyes. Rovers' improved form since the mid-season break has seen them take 11 points from six games, nearly half of their season total of 23. That has opened an eight-point gap from the Rebels on the bottom. A loss for Cork would mean an 11-point advantage, which seems insurmountable given they have only taken the same number of points from their last 22 games and would only have 11 further games to turn things around. If Cork City are looking to learn how to stay in the top-flight, they could learn a thing or two from Friday's opponents. Only Bohemians and St Pat's currently have longer uninterrupted spells in the Premier Division than Sligo Rovers who are in year 20 since their 2005 promotion. That's despite suffering four relegations in 15 years following the creation of the First Division in 1985. Although they are familiar with the lower reaches of the table, having finished in the bottom half in five of the last eight seasons, Rovers haven't finished fewer than six points outside a relegation place since 2017. One clear difference in approach between the clubs is continuity in the managerial position. John Russell was appointed in May 2022 by Sligo Rovers In that time City have had five different managers in Colin Healy, Liam Buckley, Richie Holland, Tim Clancy and incumbent Ger Nash. Russell has been in charge for 115 games which is only behind Stephen Bradley (309) and Kevin Doherty (133) for longest spell at their current club. Russell recently went past his predecessor Liam Buckley who was in Sligo for 107 games. With the former Bit O' Red player having been assistant to Buckley, there has been a familiar face on the bench at The Showgrounds for well over 200 games. One shining light both teams have had this season to brighten up otherwise largely bleak campaigns has been the emergence of a young star from their well-respected academies. Cork City have enjoyed 18-year-old Cathal O'Sullivan becoming a key part of their team. Owen Elding is two days short of being a year older and has been an outstanding performer in a breakthrough season. While both are set to have great careers, Sligo Rovers have managed to get more production out of their starlet. Elding has a combined 12 goals and assists, ranking second in the league behind Michael Duffy (15). His eight goals are only bettered by one other player currently in the league in Padraig Amond, with Moses Dyer no longer with Galway United. O'Sullivan is yet to get on the scoresheet for City though he has contributed three assists. One of the clearest reasons why both teams have ended up fighting relegation has been an inability to keep goals out. Cork have the most conceded goals with 43 and Sligo have just four fewer. Their problems have come at opposite stages of the games. Sligo Rovers allowed eight goals in the first 15 minutes of games, the most in the league. And, as they are the only team in the league without a win from behind, this has put them at a major disadvantage. For Ger Nash's Cork, they concede late with a total of 11 in the last 15 minutes of games. This has led to them losing 20 points from winning positions. In the last 12 years, only four teams have lost more than this and obviously they were over full seasons. They have four losses from ahead this year and no team have five in the last 12 years. The key difference has been that Rovers have been able to make improvements as the season progressed. In their first 12 games, they saw 25 goals go into the back of their net. In the 12 since, that is down to 14. Only twice in that time have they allowed an early concession of a goal. For City, their defence has actually gotten worse with 19 allowed in the first half of the season rising to 23 in the second half. Although they haven't dropped points from in front in their last six, that is due to their three goals scored in that time all being when they already trailed. The teams haven't met since April so quite a lot has changed with Sligo Rovers improvement and Cork City's managerial change. But two constants stand out, Elding scored in the first and assisted in the second. While in that second, Cork turned a win into a draw by conceding in second half stoppage time. Time is running out for Cork City to fix the problems that have landed them back in this undesirable position. That makes this week's game a clear must-win. For a club who has been known for being one of the country's biggest and best, they are in danger of becoming known as its 'yo-yo' club. That is something nobody wants to contemplate on Leeside.
Irish Daily Mirror
7 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Shamrock Rovers back on the Euro bike after record-breaking run last season
A cold February night in Tallaght is on the minds of all at Shamrock Rovers as they prepare for the 30 degree-plus heat of Gibraltar early this evening. Losing that UEFA Conference League play-off to Molde on penalties, after taking a 1-0 lead back to their own home, still leaves a bitter taste for Stephen Bradley despite the €7.4m banked for an unprecedented European campaign. "It has to give you motivation," said the Rovers boss, speaking before training at Roadstone yesterday ahead of the squad's trip to face St Joseph's in the Conference League second round first leg at Europa Point Stadium Gibraltar (5pm Irish time). "When you've been successful, you need to keep finding that drive and wanting to get better. There's loads that need to fall into place for that to happen. "But we want to try to put that right. The only way you can do that is by winning. As boring as that seems, that's the reality. If we don't do our work then it's done for a year. We don't want that. We want to make sure we're ready." The Molde defeat brought to an end a remarkable 16-game run in Europe and the Hoops really are back to zero, having lost their title to Shelbourne and, with it, the champions path to the ECL group stages. That makes the journey back there tougher but Rovers are accentuating the positives - 12 months ago they were chasing Shels but now are in pole position in the title race, while Bradley has a full squad to choose from. By the time they played Molde, the injury and suspension-hit squad was running on fumes. If Rovers overcome St Joseph's, who beat Cliftonville in the second qualifying round, they will face Ballkani of Kosovo or Malta's Floriana. Players and staff of St Joseph's celebrate following their team's victory in the UEFA Europa Conference First Qualifying Round Second Leg match against Cliftonville at Solitude on July 17 (Image:) A professional display on an astro surface in hot conditions would be a good start but it's a good draw. 'We want to go again," declared Bradley. "I think it's two out of three years, we've been in the group or league phase. "Our aim is to be in that league phase again. I believe we can do it. We have to be at our best to do it. It's definitely not impossible. We're on the side of the draw because of how well we've done. I think people forget that at times. "If we don't take care of St Joseph's over two legs, the rest is irrelevant. If we do, it looks like it would be Kosovo if you get through, then we'd look after that. "The squad's in a good place. We always get better in the second part of the season. It's up to us to go and do it. We want to do it. We want to be there again. We want another taste of that. How we went out (last season) still doesn't sit right with me. We want to try and get back and put that right. That starts here." Gerard Lyttle provided Rovers with all the homework that Cliftonville had done on St Joseph's, who won 5-4 on aggregate. Bradley got to watch the two legs in person and felt that the tie turned on a Cliftonville red card in both games. Shels also played St Joseph's last year and edged through what was a niggly affair. 'We're an experienced team," Bradley stressed. "I didn't think I could see anything like Celje last year. "We've seen a lot in our time here. I don't know how many European games we've played, you see everything from the good to the bad. "We'll be fine. I've heard stories and everything else. It's none of our concern. We don't control it. We're ready to win the game. Whatever it throws up, we'll be ready for it." Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts.
