The Rumour Mill

Waterford’s season finished a week later than planned with the playoff final on less than three weeks ago, but much has happened in the intervening time and it seems they will begin preparations for 2026 much earlier than usual with preseason training rumoured to begin far in advance of Christmas. Newly-appointed manager Jon Daly is determined to improve the squad’s fitness after so many late concessions, saying “it’s important that we have enough in our tank to go the full distance.” Which players will take the field at the RSC next season is the main topic of discussion for the manager and for the fans now.

The squad currently has twelve players named as signed with locals saying 17-year-old Muhammad Oladiti will be added to the list on signing his first professional contract soon. Four young, local defenders are contracted already in Adam Coyne, Seán Keane, Ronan Mansfield and Jesse Dempsey. Two of John Coleman’s summer signings remain in Finlay Armstrong and Josh Miles, while Trae Coyle is also under contract from last year. Dean McMenamy has re-signed and joins Sam Glenfield, Matty Smith, Tommy Lonergan and Pádraig Amond, all of whom were either under contract or had one-year extensions taken up by the club. That still, naturally, leaves a lot of gaps for Daly to fill as he sets about re-shaping the team for next season.

Stephen McMullan’s return to Fleetwood Town after a year-long loan was confirmed in last week’s Retained List and it doesn’t appear as if he will be returning for a second year. While that possibility can’t be ruled out completely, it seems Daly will favour a more experienced goalkeeper. Fleetwood will have a decision to make on the Northern Irish Under-21 international with Jay Lynch and David Harrington ahead of him in the pecking order for Pete Wild’s first team. The former Warrenpoint Town stopper has spent the past eighteen months on loan between Caernarfon Town and Waterford.

 

First Division Player of the Year Barry Coffey

James Talbot’s release from Bohemians this month after six seasons in Dalymount Park piqued the interest of a lot of Blues fans. However, I believe there’s a strong chance the 28-year-old will take a break from football and may spend time travelling instead. Brendan Clarke’s exit from Galway United also raised eyebrows, but the League’s most experienced keeper’s move to Athlone Town had already been agreed. It is expected that Waterford will seek a veteran number one for 2026 after a year with the 20-year-old McMullan as first choice. They may have to look outside of the League of Ireland for a suitable candidate.

Having worked with Galway most recently – a team who have targeted Waterford’s physical weaknesses in recent years – it stands to reason that Daly will look to improve the stature and size of his defence. We have seen virtually a full clear-out from last season with Andy Boyle’s retirement followed by the release of Grant Horton, Kacper Radkowski, Darragh Leahy, Ryan Burke and Navajo Bakboord. 

To that end, the new manager will be looking for a statement signing to lead from the back. Carrick-on-Suir’s Lee Grace has been the name on the lips of many fans who insist “he’s coming home” and building a house in the area. It would make a lot of sense for the towering defender, who turns 33 on Monday, but he seems to still be very much a key part of Stephen Bradley’s plans at Shamrock Rovers. With the Hoops now becoming accustomed to playing twelve months a year due to their European successes, they are highly unlikely to surrender a lynchpin of their defence (who reportedly signed a two-year extension last summer), especially with Roberto Lopes due to miss a chunk of next season with World Cup action and a strong possibility of Josh Honohan moving abroad in January.

 

Mark Connolly's release from Derry City came as a surprise

Another intriguing option would be former Derry City captain Mark Connolly. The soon-to-be-34-year-old was surprisingly released this month after three-and-a-half years at The Brandywell. The teak-tough centre half earned his place in the PFAI Premier Division Team of the Year in both 2022 and 2024 and was previously a £1,000,000 signing by Bolton Wanderers as a youngster. The Monaghan man played for Dundalk as well as Derry on his return from a good career in Britain with Dundee United, Kilmarnock and Crawley Town. It’s rare that Ulster-based players relocate to play for Waterford in the southeast so it would need to be a big offer to attract Connolly, but I believe there have been tentative talks between he and the club.

Rumours spread recently linking both Killian Brouder and David Hurley to the RSC, but both Munstermen have re-signed with Galway this week having initially been on the PFAI list of free agents. Brouder, from Limerick, attracted the interest of the Blues several years ago and would fit the mould of that big, strong defender, but is back in Eamon Deacy Park for an eighth season. Corkman Hurley has been a thorn in Waterford’s side, particularly with his set-piece deliveries, and will wear maroon for a sixth successive season.

First Division Player of the Year Barry Coffey is attracting attention from all around the country and will surely be a Premier Division player in 2026 following the conclusion of his contract with Cobh Ramblers. A return to Cork City would have been likely had they survived in the top flight, but it seems a long shot for Ger Nash’s City now. 24-year-old Coffey, from Nenagh in Tipperary, spent time in the academies of both Chelsea and Celtic and has top flight experience with Cork in 2023. His record 26 goals as an attacking midfielder for Cobh this season have made him a hot prospect with Sligo Rovers reported to be favourites to sign him. It would be surprising if his more local club, Waterford, aren’t also in the hunt.

 

Conor Carty won the FAI Cup with Jon Daly in 2023

The area in which the Blues were strongest in 2025 was attack with the combination of Amond and Lonergan accounting for 23 league goals between them. Despite both of them being due to return next season, Daly will need to add to his forward options. Maarten Pouwels was a disastrous failure whose term was cut short mid-year while Muhammadu Faal made very little impact either and has left the club this week too. 

Also, while the club’s wording in the Retained List was reassuringly firm that “Captain Pádraig Amond will head into his third season as a Blue” last Friday, the player’s own comments at the PFAI awards on Saturday did the opposite of pouring cold water on speculation. Asked about his plans for next season, Podge replied “Not sure yet. Obviously, there’s a bit of speculation at the moment, which means I’m doing my job right. I’m a striker. I score goals. I give everything for whatever club I play for. I want to do the best I can and I have ambitions for the rest of my career.” Everyone will hope that the club can match those ambitions and fend off any offers from Shelbourne or Shamrock Rovers with the skipper already under contract for one more season in Waterford. 

One striker the Blues have been linked with, preferably in addition to Amond and Lonergan, is Conor Carty. The 23-year-old from Wicklow joined St Patrick’s Athletic on a two-year deal last January, but didn’t start a single league game this year with Mason Melia and Aidan Keena ahead of him. All 24 of his league appearances came from the bench and his lone goal was an excellent volley from a corner at the RSC in August while also netting from the penalty spot away to Besiktas in the UEFA Conference League. There’s no shame, however, in losing out to the €4,000,000 Melia and Carty really impressed on loan to St Pat’s from Bolton in 2023 when his manager was none other than Jon Daly. The six-foot striker played 34 league games that season, scoring 5 goals, and Daly liked him enough to pick him ahead of either Melia or Lonergan, including for the FAI Cup final win. Newspaper reports have linked Carty with a move to Bohemians, but a reunion with his old boss would make a lot of sense.