Board backing not a bad sign for Sligo boss Lyttle
UNDER normal circumstances, Sligo Rovers manager Gerard Lyttle would have every right to be fearing for his job.
But these are strange, and strained, times at The Showgrounds.
Former captain Craig Roddan was paid off last month as a result of irreconcilable differences, a divorce that was far from straightforward and saw the club’s board nail their colours to the mast in support of their manager with the decision to cut a key player loose.
The Liverpudlian only signed a two-year deal in 2017 so Sligo were forced to honour the remaining five-figure sum on his deal just for him to leave. Hardly an ideal situation for a club which relies so heavily on the generosity of its devoted support-base — as recently as March, the ‘Up the Bit O’Red Fund’ stood at a little over €46,000.
Goalkeeper Micheal Schlingermann, who missed the final third of last season after rupturing two discs in his neck, returned to training ahead of this term but has found himself out in the cold with Chelsea loanee Mitchell Beeney preferred between the posts.
Twenty-six-year-old Schlingermann was goalkeeper of the year three seasons ago and, while he took part in the warm-up before Tuesday’s defeat to St Patrick’s Athletic, teenager Edward McGinty was used on the bench as the Mayo native took his place in the stands.
Beeney’s contract with his parent club runs out at the end of June and a return to Sligo is highly unlikely, especially as the 22-yearold is believed to be earning a significant weekly wage paid entirely by the Premier League giants.
Currently third from bottom, just two points above the relegation play-off spot, the Bit O’Red have lost their last three Premier Division games, with three of their four wins so far coming against the two teams below them — Limerick and Bray Wanderers.
At times on Tuesday, they looked tidy in possession against St Pat’s, they created one fine opportunity from a corner and another from a clever passing move.
But in the second half they wilted, the home side took the lead and, while Sligo missed another giltedged chance in the dying moments, the game was put to bed with a penalty in injury-time.
Lyttle spoke afterwards about his players learning from the mistakes and putting them right, considering he has already been backed to the hilt by his employers over Roddan, it would appear as if he will be the man they keep the faith with through this difficult period.