Agree. Age could well be a factor as much as ability. Cooper was 24 when he moved and doesn't look like he's going to make it. Pat Hoban was 23/24 when we got him, and he just couldn't get going for us. Apart from anything else, they could well find it difficult to step up several levels at that age. I've been to see a few NI Premier games and the standard is not great. The 3-4 better teams would be OK in L2, but most of the others are poor. National League South or thereabouts imo. But there are some very good players in NI in their late teens who were overlooked by English clubs at 16- Sykes & Whyte for example. But they have to want to play in England. You read quite a few stories in the Belfast Telegraph about successful players in the NI Premier who were with English clubs as teenagers, didn't like it and came back to Belfast. I would imagine we do background checks on the players' circumstances before we sign them. Our success rate on players from the island of Ireland in the last few years has been very good. There's a big article on Oxford United and players from NI in today's Belfast Telegraph. I'll post the link if I can work out how to!
