Relegation fears growing as the weeks go on
IT feels like we’re beating the same drum every single week at this stage.
“An encouraging performance, but not the result we needed or wanted.”
A familiar tale of Sligo Rovers this season. There have been a lot of encouraging performances in recent months, but that matters little when you’re not picking up the required points.
Saturday night was so frustrating because Sligo Rovers com- pletely dominated the opening half, and most of the second-half.
Benny Igiehon was a nightmare for the Drogheda defence who really couldn’t handle him.
He looks like the exact type of player Rovers need. His hold up play is good, he looks confident, he’s willing to work hard, and he is a breath of fresh air compared to what we have been watching so far. He needs to start scoring and as a striker that’s his job. If he can continue to play as well
as he did on Saturday then he could very well help get Rovers out of relegation danger.
Rhys McCabe is a tidy player and we really needed someone like him. Those have been two really good additions from Gerard Lyttle, along with Seamus Sharkey who has looked pretty solid so far.
People complain that there’s no signings, that they’re not hearing rumours of potential signings on internet forums or their local watering hole - it doesn’t mean that the work isn’t being done.
Rovers desperately need new additions. I had high hopes for Jonah Ayunga but he just hasn’t done what’s needed of him.
I have no doubt that the talent is there, but we need goals from our striker and so far Jonah has not delivered.
With four goals he is level with Mick Leahy - a defender, albeit one who has an eye for goal.
We are two thirds of the way through the season and at present we do not have a goalscorer. That’s where Benny comes in. Hopefully.
It’s really hard to stay positive as the weeks go on, and people are rightly very concerned about where we are headed.
I think at this stage I’m deluding myself by saying that Rovers will be fine, and they have enough to get out of it.
They obviously don’t have enough as it stands because we are still right in the mix for relegation.
Galway and Drogheda United look doomed at the moment. And while on paper we should be better than those, it hasn’t transcribed to the pitch and that’s where it matters.
The reality of the situation is
that we cannot afford to get relegated. First Division football could be detrimental to Rovers. It’s hard enough to attract players to Sligo in the Premier Division, but I have no idea how you could coax players to move from the UK or even Dublin to play in the First Division, for significantly less money than they could earn elsewhere.
We could very well be headed that way and the implications for the club would be massive - we all know that.
It just can’t happen. You need to be winning games against the bottom teams but it just isn’t happening at the minute.
We simply cannot afford to get relegated and with just one third of the season (11 games) left we need to be getting more points than we have done in both the first and second third.
We need to maintain our good home form, pick up wins over teams at the bottom and a couple of surprise wins over teams further up the table would be very welcome.
Gerard Lyttle has a very tough task on his hand. It has always been a tough ask for him.
People are largely on his side and can see what he is trying to do each week.
Survival would be a massive achievement for Rovers at this stage, and should Lyttle achieve that, he is in a good position for next season.
At this stage we can’t be just pleased with a good performance. Results are what matters and until we start moving up the table, we have every reason to be worried about where we’re headed for.
As fans we’re all rightly concerned about where we’re headed. It has got to be turned around before it’s too late.