McGrath in triple swoop - November 23, 2000
Kilkenny City boss Joe McGrath has moved to stiffen his relegation-threatened squad.
Bottom-placed Kilkenny fell six points behind nearest rivals Finn Harps and twelve behind third-from-bottom Galway at the weekend - and McGrath has reacted with a triple swoop for a defender, a midfielder and a striker.
McGrath has signed Portuguese-born forward Carlos Rocha from Lincoln City; Northern Ireland u21 international midfielder Paul McAreavey from Swindon Town; and New Zealand full international centre back Gavin Wilkinson.
Wilkinson played under McGrath when the latter was manager of the New Zealand international star and the Cats boss is confident that the Kiwi can help Kilkenny avoid the drop.
However, McGrath tried once before to integrate a number of his New Zealand international proteges into Eircom League soccer when he was manager of Bohemians - and it rebounded on him. Bohs got off to a poor start and McGrath was sacked after just six games in charge.