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Young Northern Irishman has been in prolific form during pre-season; will it be enough to see him progress to the senior side?
Young striker Rory Donnelly can consider himself unlucky not to have been included in the first-team squad for Thursday's game against Malmo FF. After enjoying what can only be described as a prolific pre-season, he found himself back with the development squad for a friendly with Port Talbot last Tuesday, and I for one could forgive him if he felt a little hard done by.
Signed from Cliftonville for an undisclosed fee, he'd made his name after scoring 22 goals in his first two seasons with the club. He'd attracted attention from the two Liverpool-based clubs, but in the end Swansea got their man and it was likely this goal which really endeared him to the decision-makers in SA1:
Detractors would be quick to point out that his goals in this season's friendlies came against "lesser" opposition, but as has been said a million times you can only play what's put in front of you, and Donnelly did just that. He featured in almost all of the club's pre-season friendlies - he only missed out on the final Dutch tour game against Den Haag & the final friendly with Reading - and what's more he banged in more goals than anyone else over the close season - six in five appearances.
His technique and finishing ability are there for all to see, and he appears to have bulked up a bit too which will be of great benefit if he does make it into the first team this season. A great example of his prowess in front of goal came against Yeovil - skip to the 5:00 mark to see what I mean:
Laudrup has repeatedly stated his desire for another striker, but do we have the answer lurking under our nose? Last season, Itay Shechter was routinely preferred to Donnelly - even at the end of the season when it was clear that a) the Israeli striker wasn't very good, b) Donnelly was banging in goals for the U21 side and c) Shechter would be returning to his parent club at the end of the season, whereas Donnelly was our player for the foreseeable future. Couple that with what can only be described as a highly impressive pre-season for the young Northern Irishman and I think he can legitimately feel a little hard done by as he appears to be set to watch from the sidelines for the time being at least.
Now, don't mistake this as a criticism of Laudrup's selection policy; you simply cannot argue with the results thus far and who am I to question the great Dane? All I'm saying (and I'm sure I'm not alone) is that I'd like to see Donnelly on the bench for a few Premier League games soon. All you can do as a player is hope to perform to the best of your ability and, if you're a striker, to hit the back of the net when selected. Donnelly has done just that whenever he's been called upon to date, but so far his only appearance for the senior side came in a Carling Cup match against Crawley Town where he replaced Michu for the final 25 minutes or so.
With a long season ahead, and a potentially hectic fixture list on the horizon, it could well be that we see Donnelly playing for the first team sooner rather than later. Will 2013/14 be the season Rory Donnelly shows the world what he can do? I wouldn't bet against it...
[Post edited 3 Aug 2013 11:37]
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Will Rory Donnelly get a chance this season? on 12:24 - Aug 3 with 3580 views
Considering we got rid of Shechter (thankfully) and we're shipping off Moore, I'd be baffled if we didn't at least put Rory on the bench. Most times last season, ML had both Moore and Shechter on the bench. I imagine this year we'll have our 2nd striker plus Rory as subs. Can't really see it any other way.
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Will Rory Donnelly get a chance this season? on 14:27 - Aug 3 with 3411 views
Next Thursday will be ideal little run out for rory . 60 -70 mins for Mich and bony to get aquanted . Then assuming there game safe give rory 20 mins. We only need to score 1 goal and they will need 6! So hopefully gamended will be well won with20 mins left.
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Will Rory Donnelly get a chance this season? on 21:19 - Aug 3 with 3090 views
The biggest question will Donnelly develop the most being a third striker in a Premier League club or being om loan as a first striker in a championship club
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Will Rory Donnelly get a chance this season? on 21:29 - Aug 3 with 3064 views
Will Rory Donnelly get a chance this season? on 21:26 - Aug 3 by Jokeren1943
The biggest question will Donnelly develop the most being a third striker in a Premier League club or being om loan as a first striker in a championship club
Are you sure any Championship club wants him as their first striker on loan?
Will Rory Donnelly get a chance this season? on 21:19 - Aug 3 by jack_obs
ML might go along the RM route and not put a keeper on the bench, that'd leave room for the "natural finisher " that young Rory is.
Great idea - and who would go in goals, if our keeper got injured? - it's not like this has not happened to us with ML in charge, so we'll never see this happen.
If Rory is good enough, ML will give him a chance. If he's not good enough, then I don't want to see him given a chance, simple Of course, I hope he is good enough, and will get (and take) his chance
I think he should but I cant see it (unless that's 1 of the reasons for signing young Hodge frpm Fflint). I can see us getting a loan signing closer to the window end when the champions league clubs have finished assembling their squads and know for sure who they can and cant let go
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- it's not like this has not happened to us with ML in charge, so we'll never see this happen. 
