Jimmy O'Connor

[Alan_Rovers]

Good luck to him. He was one of the players who were treated appallingly by the board last season when we decided to draft in a load of johnny foreigners.

Hope it all goes well for him at Derby.

[Chris]

He played a big part in our rise up the leagues, sadly all good things come to an end and his "best before" date expired a couple of years ago, Derby fans seem to think he`ll replace Roberts at LB

His "best before" was 25 years old then?

[Filo]

He played a big part in our rise up the leagues, sadly all good things come to an end and his "best before" date expired a couple of years ago, Derby fans seem to think he`ll replace Roberts at LB

His "best before" was 25 years old then?

On his form over the last 2 seasons yes! some players have a shorter shelf life than others, sad but true!

[Glyn_Wigley]

DoncasterRoversFC@drfc_official
Rovers can confirm they have given permission for James O'Connor to have a medical at Derby Co. #drfc

Have they put it anywhere else? I refuse to use twitter on principle.

[eastender]

Doncaster Rovers FC ‏@drfc_official
O'Connor to Derby Co. Signed this afternoon for undisclosed fee #drfc

[Filo]

Surprise, Surprise! another undisclosed fee!

[PaulRover08]

Sad to see him go, always liked to see Jimmy on the team sheet, although I agree not been the same player last two seasons for some reason.
Copps must be gutted seing all his mates disappear around him. Hope he can keep his chin up and look at what is happening at the club as a challenge for him, and not be tempted to jump ship as well.

I wouldn't worry about that too much. Every time i've seen Copps at the gym over the last 8 months he has been with M Woods, Spurr and Bennett. They're all still here. O'Connor was always training on his own.

[Alan_Rovers]

It's on Derby's website.......

http://www.dcfc.co.uk/news/article/rams-land-oconnor-285001.aspx

[MachoMadness]

Big shame this, but as with Friend as long as we didn't get taken for mugs then I can live with seeing him go. Hasn't been the same over the last couple of years but at his best was an incredible RB and a key part of our success. I always thought if he worked on his crossing he could have played in the Premiership before his dip in form.

[streatham dave]

One of my favourite players in recent Year's. Good luck to him but I actually have developed somewhat of a hatred towards Derby what with McIndoe, Green, Roberts and now this.

[Filo]

One of my favourite players in recent Year's. Good luck to him but I actually have developed somewhat of a hatred towards Derby what with McIndoe, Green, Roberts and now this.

Mcindoe only went to Derby on loan and only played a handful of games for them, it was Barnsley that signed him from us

[MartinB]

Good luck Jimmy, great player for us... a real unsung hero

[Wild Rover]

As i see it with GF and JOC gone thats half a million off wage bill. Assuming 200K for each as a fee, that should give DS the opportunity to bring in AT LEAST 4 more to augment squad.

[DearneValleyRover]

End of the season we will at least have a new game to play, spot the player Derby will sign.

[bobbymax]

Good luck to JOC. A cracking right back at his best but went backwards after a spell at centre-half and hasn't exactly shone over the last two years. If we've got a decent fee, a good move but it now leaves us short in that position unless Quinn is signed.

[JayBaker]

An absolutely fantastic player. As with George Friend, he will be missed in defence. But things change.

[Rovin Reporter]

Championship class with any doubt , best defender we have had in years fact !

[DancasterRovers]

Very good servent to club over the years, but lets be honest, he's not been the player he was the last season or 2, may as well loose him while he's worth a bit of cash..

[Surrey Rover]

Championship class with any doubt , best defender we have had in years fact !

I can only imagine those "years" are post Jason Shackell and Elliot Ward?

Jimmy was a good defender for us at one time but his form has collapsed alarmingly over the last couple of seasons both under SOD and Saunders. It's difficult to comprehend what has happened but as another poster mentioned elsewhere players have different shelf lives. We have done well to move on one of our more expensive players IMO, after his performance at Rotherham last Tuesday I couldn't see him moving anywhere after another display which summed up his last two seasons perfectly. Lets not forget he was earning a lot of money that was not justified on what we were getting from him and a club the size of Rovers can ill afford such luxuries.

[RedJ]

Doesn't help that he got f**ked up by being played all over the shop two seasons back.

I've always loved Jimmy but I'm not sad to see him go on the basis that he hasn't performed on a consistent basis for quite a while.

Good luck, Jimmy.

[The Red Baron]

With the departures of George Friend and Jimmy O'Connor DRFC has lost two fine professionals who were fabulous ambassadors for the club. Their departures were in a sense inevitable given the financial constraints we are under, but also because they had the opportunity to ply their trade back in the Championship. I can only wish them well and say that IMO Donny Rovers will be poorer without them.

As I've said before, in order to get the squad up to strength we need to bring in two players for each one of the current squad that departs. Rob Jones has come in, so we need at least three more signings in the next 10 days.

One final thought on JOC- I agree that his form dipped in 2010/11 as a result of being asked to play in a number of different positions. I also wonder how much the Inca Trek took out of him, because he was injured and then was a shadow of his old self for much of 2011/12. It is worth noting that Copps only started to show anything like his best form towards the end of the season.

Memo to Nigel Clough- keep him at right back and keep him well away from mountains!

[dave4842]

All the Best Jimmy

[bobjimwilly]

Top player, deserves another shot in the Championship. All the best Jimmy! 

[Draytonian III]

All the best Jimmy,good luck at Derby

[Lesonthewest]

Best of luck to Jimmy at his new club, great player, grest pro. In his prime his marauding wing back play & link up play with Copps was a joy to watch, not to mention his terrific header at Scunny. Think he began to struggle when we sustained all those injuries & he was swapped & changed about, never seemed to settle again after that. You leave some good memories Jimmy, all the best.

[coventryrover]

very much so championship class.  i dont think we can judge many of the old guard on the shambles that was last season.  judge him on our rise and first few years in the championship

[dumbroofer]

will judge him this season, good luck joc ....star player

[dickos1]

Good player when we signed him, great couple of seasons from him. Agree his form went downhill after he played centre half for a few games and was never the same full back after that.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

A key player in our rise up the leagues who's top form came at our peak. As we know, he was asked to plug many gaps at the back and perhaps was a victim of his own success.

One of the most valuable players we have had in recent years and good luck to Jimmy. We move on.
 

[weststander]

The Burton Mail is speculating that the fee is around £150k