Sligo Rovers sign Jason McGuinness

All quotes from sligorovers.com

 Sligo Rovers have confirmed the signing of Bohemians' defender, Jason McGuinness.

Photo courtesy of Inpho.ie

McGuinness is the first player to join The Bit O' Red during the Winter Break, and is not the only Bohs player who had been linked with a move to The Showgrounds, Rafael Cretaro has been strongly linked with a return while Gareth McGlynn has also been regularly mentioned. 

McGuinness began his career at Bohs, making 11 appearances and scoring 2 goals in his debut season in 2002/03. He them moved to rivals Shamrock Rovers in 2004 as he struggled to break into the first team ahead of Colin Hawkins or Ken Oman. He spent two years with The Hoops', where he established himself as a key defender in the side, scoring 7 goals in the process, before re-joining Bohemians' in 2006. McGuinness enjoyed a number of highs and lows in his 4 years at Dalymount Park. He played an integral part in the Gypsies' successful spell from 2008 to early 2010. A solid defender, he helped Bohs keep a highly impressive Goal Difference in 2008, conceding just 13 goals in the League and also landing the FAI Cup in the RDS, after the first ever Cup Final penalty shoot-out decided the winners. 2009 saw them retain the League and win the EA Sports Cup.

McGuinness' final piece of silverware was the Setanta Cup in early 2010. The year of 2009 also brought a well documented incident involving our new signing and Romauld Boco and, without going into too much detail, may have a job on his hands to win over certain sections of the support, altough both players have put the incident behind them.

Manager Paul Cook feels McGuinness' signing will bring some needed experience and height to the team: " He is a very experienced player. He’s won league title and he brings height to the team which is important."

Cook, not forgetting about the episode from 2009, consulted Boco about McGuinness signing and says he would welcome him to the club. "I know it might be an issue with some of our fans but we did speak to Romauld Boco and Rommy more than any more anyone welcomes Jason to the club."

Best of luck to Jason McGuinness for the season ahead, and hopefully will play his part in another successful season for the club.