Buckley on how Rovers keeping
LIAM BUCKLEY SPEAKS TO JESSICA FARRY ABOUT HOW THE CLUB IS COPING
SLIGO Rovers’ 2020 SSE Airtricity Premier Division season was only four games old when it came to a halt due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Things weren’t going as planned, with the Bit O’Red picking up four defeats from their opening four games.
But there were hopes that things would improve. New signings Alex Cooper and Ryan De Vries were just settling in with the squad, and a number of players were due to return from injury.
Less than two weeks ago, the club announced they would have to temporarily lay off all staff in order to safeguard the future of the club.
Cork City soon followed suit, and with June 19th set as the return date for League of Ireland, more clubs could soon suffer the same fate.
For Rovers manager Liam Buckley, not having any football is difficult. He is doing his best to keep in touch with the players to help them through the lull and to try and ensure that their fitness levels are as good as can be.
Buckley told The Sligo Champion: “It’s a difficult period for everyone. I’m sure there’s a lot of people like ourselves laid off, or contracts on hold, there’s a lot of us in the same boat.
“It’s quite frustrating not having a lot to do. It is an unprecedented situation in relation to the virus. We’re keeping in touch with the players.
“All the lads have programmes and every week we update that.
“The sooner we get back the better but I just don’t see that in the short term unfortunately.”
The silver lining, if there is one, is that Rovers may be close to having a full squad to choose from once the season does return.
Injuries to John Mahon, Regan Donelon, Lewis Banks, Johnny Dunleavy and Danny Kane meant that Liam Buckley’s options were limited for each game.
The delay to the season means that some of those struggling with injuries may have time to recover.
Buckley added: “It was disappointing that we had to stop.
“We were down quite a few players from an injury point of view.
“We’ll get them back by the time the season comes back around.
“If the season is back by June 19th we’d have quite a few of our players back.
“John Mahon unfortunately broke his leg but Regan Donelon who dislocated his shoulder was quite close to coming back, the new lads that we have coming in, their fitness levels will be that bit better as well.
“But it all pales in comparison to what’s going on with the virus really.”
Buckley is a huge football lover and time away from the sport won’t be easy for him.
But luckily, prior to the new strict restrictions coming into place, he found ways to keep himself occupied.
“There’s a local guy here Sean McDermott who owns McDermott’s pub in Riverstown, himself and myself have been going out cycling on a regular basis.
“He has a couple of bikes and he’s brought me all around the place with him.
“My wife Orlath goes out walking with his wife Cora. We do something everyday.
“We try and get out to the shop but we are trying to self isolate as well like we should be doing.”
For the players, it will be a difficult period. Trying to follow their individual programmes will be tough, particularly now that the Government has introduced stricter restrictions to try to slow down the spread of the virus.
“Everybody is finding it tough, we’re not the only ones. Our lads are disciplined enough.
“They can do a bit of training by themselves, they can’t do it in groups because that’s not self-isolating.
“They all have their plans, we update that every week.
“That will help them maintain their fitness levels to some degree until we find out when we’re definitely coming back.”
The players will need to undergo a mini pre-season when they can return to training, once the FAI gives clubs the clearance to return.
“Yeah there would have to be (mini pre-season). We played our four games in the month of February and early March.
“You can’t go three months without a game and be expected to have the same level of fitness, especially when the players are in self-isolation.
“If that date in June is confirmed as the return date then we’ll have to plan some sort of mini pre-season. Their fitness levels will be good.”
Buckley himself had no issues with the club’s decision to lay-off all staff in the meantime, as he understands it was a measure that needed to be taken.
“We’re a community club. The community owns Sligo Rovers Football Club. The community come to our games each week.
“I’ve no doubt lots of our supporters are in the same situation as us.
“They’ve been fantastic with all the fundraising they have done. We’re all fully aware of the circumstances.
“The right decision has been made, we have to safeguard the health of the club going forward.
“In the short term it’s a pain but in the long term hopefully we will come out in a good place.”
With no actual football taking place at the minute, the club was represented by Ronan Coughlan in the FIFA Ultimate Quaran-Team competition.
Seven thousand people tuned into the live online stream to see Coughlan, as Sligo Rovers, overcoming Burton Albion to set up a meeting with Wolves in the next round.
But, Coughlan’s journey ended there as he was overcome by Wolves, who were represented by a professional e-sports player.
WE’RE A COMMUNITY CLUB. THE COMMUNITY OWNS SLIGO ROVERS FOOTBALL CLUB. THE COMMUNITY COME TO OUR GAMES EACH WEEK. I’VE NO DOUBT LOTS OF OUR SUPPORTERS ARE IN THE SAME SITUATION AS US.