Armagh game is immensely important and a must win
WITH Sligo manager Niall Carew entering his third season in charge, in my mind this will be the most challenging.
On taking charge in late 2014 he inherited a team in transition, with a number of both leaders and experienced players retiring over the previous number of years.
Usually when an outside manager comes into a county, they take a short- term view, possibly with one eye on the next job, such as their own county. I however can’t say that about Carew, I feel it’s never been about him or his own CV, but has taken Sligo football to his heart wanting to leave it in a better place than when he got it.
I sense he is a manager that is in touch with the demands that are expected of county players, giving leeway within reason when needed.
I came across a statistic recently that Sligo from 2006 to 2015 has used the second lowest number of players over this ten- year period, with only 62 players used, Kerry had the lowest at 58.
This can mean a number of things: 1. Not enough players are given a chance, 2. The quality of player is not within the county or 3. The best players are extremely committed to Sligo football. Personally, I feel that it is a combination of all of the above, but really think that the loyalty and pride that the Sligo players give the county team is up with the highest level in the country, when you consider the low number of players used over this ten- year period.
Of all the managers including myself, Carew certainly can’t be charged with not giving players a chance, and is probably the manager that has given debuts to the most players in his time as manager. He has taken chances ( some may say gambles) on a number of players in addition to the positioning of players in areas that aren’t familiar to them, with more success than failures.
Now back to this year, which I consider an extremely important year for the Senior County Team. Obviously, promotion to Division Two will be the league ambition for this year, however, I believe this may be a step beyond us.
The main reason for my pessimism is our away from home form. In the last 4 league campaigns, we have played 14 games outside of the county, winning just once, that being Kildare in Newbridge last year.
Without that win we would now be in Division Four. If we are to be in a promotion shake up, this form must change, in addition to winning our three home games.
We were fortunate over the last two seasons that we had four of our seven league games at Markievicz Park, where our record is very encouraging.
At this moment in time I would gladly take a mid- ta- ble position, with hopefully four home games next year, in addition to some of the encouraging younger players getting another years’ experience, and then concentrate next year in promotion to Division Two
After this, comes the unique trip to New York, which is a total banana skin.
If we win, you were expected to, and if we lose you are vilified, but more on this closer to the time.
First up we have Armagh next Sunday at Markievicz, who have bounced between Division Two and Three over the last few years.
This game is hugely important to our season, and even at this early stage is a must win, as we must win our three home games not only to avoid relegation, but if we are to even consider promotion. Carew has openly spoken about the attacking threat of his side, with a number of quality forwards to get the scores.
This was backed up when his team scored more than any other team in the country during the League Campaign of 2015, yet was still one defeat away from relegation, with the 2016 campaign following similar lines. Normally when a team has this type of scoring averages they would be winning more games than losing, but this hasn’t been the case.
It’s now about trying to find that balance of reducing the scores against us, while still scoring enough to win games. Keeping possession in this regard will be very important, when we have the ball, they don’t and can’t score. When the opposition has possession, we have to work harder and be smarter than the last two campaigns. Where teams made gains on us last year was directly running straight up the middle of our defence. We will need to slow this down, particularly when they get to the 45- metre line.
In the first half during the last game against Leitrim I felt we did this well, admittingly the opposition were not what we will be meeting over the next few weeks, I however thought the balance was good, with us moving the ball from back to front at great pace, and in most instances, took the correct options in front of goal.
Hopefully, when I sit down next Sunday evening to write this column, the focus will be on how we are going to add to the two points already on the table as we face the long journey to Tipperary.
Sligo under 21’ s suffered defeat last Saturday at the hands of the current all- Ireland champions Mayo in Markievicz Park.
After defeating them in the earlier round of this warm up competition hopes were high that Sligo could gain a confidence boosting result heading into the Connacht championship match against Roscommon in March.
With 5 minutes to go Sligo showed great resilience to level the tie with a brilliant individual goal by Liam Gaughan. At this stage, there only looked like one winner but Mayo emptied their bench and ended up winners by a flattering margin.
What can be taken from this match, is that this side has the potential to make a break through at this level, as we matched a strong Mayo team for 56 minutes before tiring towards the end when mistakes were made that gave Mayo the initiative to take control. There is no doubt that this side has the ability to make a big impression in the coming months with a number of players still to come back into the frame.