Sligo Rovers announced three new signings at a press conference at the Radisson Hotel today (25th January).

Manager Rob Mc Donald is delighted to announce the signing of two players,  Tomislav Arcaba who is Australian and an Englishman ,Kevin Julian, plus the addition of a physio for the club ,Michael Hegarty.He opened by briefing the gathered media on his new signings and his progress in his attempts to build a squad for the 2007 season

                         “We have obviously got certain areas of the team that we really need to work on. The signing of a goalkeeper is logical with us losing John O’ Hara .Tomislav Arcaba, this was a tip from Gerry Cassidy who I’d like to say is at the moment giving an incredible amount of tips .When you hear that a goalkeeper is an ex U20 international, plus we had a some really good references about Tommy so I went ahead and brought him in on a two year contract

He then went onto introduce defender Kevin Julian, a player Mc Donald has had previous experience with and again has been brought in on a two year contract    “He is someone I know from my time when I have been over doing top class camps in America. He is a an ex Halifax Town player. He thought himself he was wrongfully let go by the and I have seen him play for a decent college team. He can play centre half and right back but he can also come into the role of controlling midfield player which I like to play in a 4-3-3 system. Kevin is absolutely determined to avenge the situation he had of leaving British football and has a fantastic mentality. He is a Yorkshire man, what you see is what you get and he says what he means and what he thinks”.

Mc Donald completed the introduction by talking about the new physio at the Showgrounds, 23 year old Michael Hegarty. He explained why he chose someone so young to fill such an important role at the club  “The physio is another tip, it was a last minute thing, and I mean last minute.  As in the day before pre-season started. He is young yes, and its ok saying someone is inexperienced but how on earth can become experienced if you don’t give them any experience. I like the idea of having a young dynamic physio coming in having to prove himself than somebody, with every respect, who is in the 30’s or 40’s and maybe not giving full commitment because they have done it somewhere else and earned big money somewhere else. I have heard some good positive reports from the players already”. 

Click here to hear the thoughts of the new arrivals