To be humbled so easily does not bode well
AN article which appeared in the Irish Times last Friday, penned by former Sligo Rovers chairperson Dermot Kelly has received plenty of deserved attention following its publication.
The piece detailed the stresses and strains of not just achieving and repeating success on the field but the amount of time, effort and personal sacrifice invested by those running clubs just to even field a team.
Mr Kelly is not the first and won’t be the last martyr to donate countless hours of spare time, energy and personal resources towards the all too often thankless task of keeping League of Ireland football in Sligo.
That article was printed on the morning of the opening day of the season. Later that night, it was hard not to be stirred with anger when considering how much effort was applied from the current management committee compared to the abhorrent performance by those who are paid by the club for the honour of wearing the shirt.
With almost four months of preparation behind them, the well laid plans of day one of the new season vanished with Limerick’s third goal without reply on 38 minutes.
This was Rovers’ third defeat on the bounce to Limerick. I had hoped we would never see such a poor display as our last visit to the Garryowen Road venue in August 2015 when it looked as if the Bit O’Red would be sucked into a relegation dog fight after a 3- 2 defeat to a Limerick team who hadn’t won a game all season. Friday’s feeble performance ranked worse. A whole lot worse.
Craig Roddan’s wayward pass into no man’s land was the catalyst for Ian Turner’s opener whilst basic defending failed us for Rodrigo Tosi’s first and second.
A catalogue of embarrassing errors saw Rovers diving head first to the bottom of the table by halftime. It’s almost not worth mentioning the rest of it.
As captain of the team you look to Roddan ( pictured) for inspiration and to lead by example.
This didn’t happen. He was sluggish for the majority, far too casual and rarely broke into a jog never mind a sprint. All much too laissez- faire from the club captain who has a lot to live up to this year following an unconvincing first year at the Showgrounds. The most ill- disciplined player in the league last term, picking up twelve yellow and two red cards over his 31 appearances, Roddan began his Rovers career with plenty of promise but his form dipped dramatically mid- way through last term. Of course he cannot shoulder all the blame for a dreadful day at the office. But he must soon begin to show the characteristics of a leader whilst a one hundred percent improvement in terms of guile, effort and industry must be evident immediately. This, if he is to justify the two year deal awarded to him last September. The manner of the defeat also saw further scrutiny upon Dave Robertson. Having struggled and up until the weekend failed to secure the signature of an experienced centre half and striker, Robertson has handicapped himself and his team from the start. His attempted capture of Jordan Richards on deadline day was scuppered due to red tape issues. Is it overly- harsh to speculate that Richards was a desperate last minute attempt to fill a round hole with a square peg? That maybe all other avenues were exhausted? The busy midfielder settled well in Sligo during his few months on loan here last season but I don’t think he is the answer to what the team needs. Experience was required and so far it hasn’t been found. To be humbled so easily, never mind by a newly promoted club, bodes extremely unwell heading in to a new season. Supporters were beyond furious on Friday night with some taking to social media platforms calling for Dave’s job. The doubts over the current management team continue on from last year but he is always going to be given time to prove himself even if poor results are to come in the short- term. Robertson achieved beyond what was required of him in terms of a final league position last season. But there is little doubt that without two or three further key signings and a doubling in efforts from his players, the Londoner’s target of European qualification will be little more than an unfulfillable aspiration.