Big names played their part while we are starting to see younger players emerge
The key players played their role at the weekend as a solid all- round performance from the Bit O’Red saw the team climb away from the bottom three for the first time this season.
Much more purposeful, full of intent in attack and a more convincing defensive game when required, Gerard Lyttle showed the first signs of stamping his authority on the team on Saturday as Limerick were comfortably dealt with.
Lyttle spoke after the Drogheda game about improving both individual and collective confidence levels. Saturday’s game saw morale levels boosted in abundance.
Young players like the impenetrable Kyle Callan- McFadden, the energetic Gary Boylan and the magical Kieran Sadlier showed leadership. While the senior players including Raff Cretaro and John Russell gave us that look of assurance so badly lacking since early Spring.
For the second time in a week, Lyttle opted to keep Boylan alongside Russell in the centre. His passing range, willingness to keep things simple and ability to read the game makes him a preferred option ahead of Craig Roddan.
Both Russell and Boylan’s performances have been somewhat unsung this season, but the balance they provide the team suits us a lot better than any other option.
Limerick were killed off before they had a chance to find themselves in a game.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen a Rovers team with the self assurance to consistently do that. It doesn’t mean that the good times are back but there were hints that something has changed within the dressing room.
From picking up five points in seven games under Dave Robertson, the same squad has amassed eight points from the five league games since a change at the helm. The transition is going to take time but on Saturday we saw tangible improvements and promise.
The situation in Athlone reached national and even international headlines last week. The club are under investigation in relation to irregular betting patterns in three games this season.
It’s extremely sad to see the league’s oldest football club in this sorry state. A lack of interest from local stakeholders and indeed the wider public in the area seems to have all played its part in bringing his fiasco upon the club.
It’s as if the club’s owners had given in to the promise of instant finance for a gamble at the big time. But it was painfully obvious something was going on from the very start. The club’s secrecy around their new investors. Did they even have investors?
They named four different first team managers on team sheets for their opening ten games. A number of players left the club sporadically whilst a number of players who had been previously involved with teams investigated for similar crimes were brought in.
Where were the FAI and Fran Gavin from the start? The league’s operators hardly expected an outside party to invest in a First Division club with an ambition to make a return on their investment from prize money alone?
It could eventually happen if they were lucky enough to follow Dundalk’s story but it would take years and buckets of fortune to build Athlone into that sort of club.
Clever businessmen make money but none invest in foreign football clubs who play their games in front of 200 people every week.
It is blatantly clear that the FAI should shoulder a lot of the blame for this one for utterly failing to properly vet whoever is behind all of this. Abbotstown stands idly by while the few supporters of one of their flagship members watch their club become scandal on back pages of red- tops.