Oakland Roots announced they’ve signed former Hartford defender Niall Logue to a contract on Wednesday.
A team source expects Logue to line up on the left side and can also rotate centrally.
Oakland could also be looking into adding one more center back to the rotation, per source, making a brand new and strong cast for its back line going into the preseason program.
Logue’s stats show a player who can provide solid distribution at the left-side spot. According to FotMob, Logue was productive in creating chances at Hartford, averaging 0.42 chances created per 90 minutes. It’s difficult to replace Roots’ former left-side center back, Danny Barbir, but is a comparable figure to his 0.53 chances created per game. Tarek Morad and Emrah Klimenta averaged just 0.28 and 0.20 respectively.
Logue also completed 42.6 percent of his long balls at 4.48 long passes per game, compared to Barbir’s 3.94 at 46 percent.
John Morrissey also provided his breakdown of Logue, ranking around the top of the USL in several categories according to his data model.
Niall also shows a considerable improvement in terms of winning 1-on-1 situations. He won 62 percent of his ground duels while Barbir won 53.1 percent of his. On aerial duels, Logue was highly productive by winning 73.1 percent of his aerial duels at 2.51 per 90 minutes. Barbir, on the other hand, won just 59 percent of aerial duels at a 1.44 per game clip.
Logue, 28, is a native of Derry, Northern Ireland and moved to the United States in 2014 to attend Yavapai College in Arizona before transferring to Ohio State, appearing in 34 matches for the Buckeyes. He was teammates with Memo Diaz at the Arizona community college.
After graduating, he returned home to begin his professional career with Derry City FC of the League of Ireland Premier Division in 2018. He joined Finn Harps F.C. of Ireland in 2019, making 17 appearances and scored once.
From there, Logue returned to the United States in 2020 with FC Tucson of USL League One and was a routine starter in his 16 appearances alongside former Roots’ forward Charlie Dennis. Niall made his USL Championship debut with Memphis 901 in 2021, helping lead them to the postseason in his 20 starts. He also made 24 appearances and 19 starts with Memphis in 2022.
Hartford signed him for 2023, making 18 starts last season and recorded two assists. He wore the captain’s armband for both Memphis and Hartford.
For his USL career, Logue has 81 appearances and 73 starts for 6,448 total minutes and two assists.