Potential signings?
IT HAS been a whirlwind few days for our beloved Sligo Rovers Football Club. The guard of honour fallout, who might come in, who’s definitely leaving and who will be in the dugout in 2024?
We received a definitive answer to the last question on Monday as the club confirmed that John Russell would remain at the helm.
It is news that has not been enthusiastically received by the Rovers faithful, and Russell himself would be the first to tell you they are right to be critical of the team’s performances (or non-performances) this year.
There were times in this year’s campaign that the dismissal of first team boss John Russell seemed inevitable, but the club have chosen to back their man even if it may have been the popular choice going forward.
That said, it is some relief that the managerial situation will not be a drawn out process over the early weeks of the off-season. Like it or loathe it, a swift decision needed to be communicated to supporters to move on with the rest of the season and we can at least focus on the building of the squad over the coming weeks.
The only thing I would hope to see is that support of the club is defined by support of a manager.
Unfortunately there has already been stories of fans strongly considering “voting with their feet” as they say – not renewing their season tickets, not buying merchandise for Christmas, considering their attendance at future matches and so on.
It is a stance I personally can’t fathom. Your club is always bigger than any manager or player, but then maybe it is all talk because some of the most dedicated supporters I have ever known have also somehow managed to be the most cynical about the club whether they are winning silverware or languishing in the First Division! It comes from a place of care but we can’t afford to start this boycott mindset over a managerial choice – indeed Rovers are one of the very few clubs that can’t cushion a big drop in attendances with no major financial backer bankrolling the club.
We can but hope that John Russell has indeed learned plenty of lessons from 2023 and can apply them to a new squad with a greater appetite to give their all for the club.
Russell is a year wiser to the market
AS the exodus from The Showgrounds begins – with Sligo Rovers confirming the exits of nine plyers earlier this week – the wheel of the local LOI rumour mill is already spinning about potential signings for 2024.
Rovers have already been linked with two current League of Ireland players – John Ross Wilson and ex-Bit O’Red man Jack Keaney. Wilson, a right-back, was released by Shelbourne on Monday afternoon. The 24-year-old, who turns 25 next month, was in his second spell with the Dublin club where he had made more than 100 appearances.
He also played for Bohemians and Bray Wanderers earlier in his career. Like most modern right-backs, Wilson is known to raid forward and can score the occasional goal but his real strength can be found in his defensive duties.
Meanwhile, Donegal man Jack Keaney is also available as he completed his studies at UCD earlier this year.
Keaney left Rovers midway through the 2019 season to take up a sports scholarship offer where he made more than 100 appearances for UCD and served as their captain in the last two years – albeit playing in the less familiar role as a centre-back.
It is unclear if Keaney were to return to Rovers if he would be primarily utilised as a centre-back or a centre-midfielder but Rovers boss John Russell would need no introduction to Keaney’s capabilities.
The midfielder often impressed, including scoring some big goals, when Russell was assistant manager and a team-mate of Keaney’s between 2017 and 2019.