2019 Season Preview: Sligo Rovers

Manager: Liam Buckley

Stadium: The Showgrounds

Players in: Lewis Banks (Stafford Rangers), Rónán Coughlan (Cork City), Johnny Dunleavy (Cork City), Daryl Fordyce (Free Agent), Dante Leverock (Narva Trans), Ronan Murray (Dundalk), Romeo Parkes (Pittsburgh Riverhounds).

Players out: Gary Boylan (Cork City), Raffaele Cretaro (Finn Harps), Mikey Drennan (St Patrick’s Athletic), Lee-J Lynch (Larne), Caolan McAleer (Finn Harps), Rhys McCabe (St Patrick’s Athletic), Patrick McClean (Derry City), Seamus Sharkey (Glenavon).

Extratime.ie Key Man: Ronan Murray

It was blindingly obvious that Sligo Rovers’ biggest problem in 2018 lay in front of goal, where the Bit o’ Red managed just 38 goals from 36 games – bettering only the two relegated sides, Bray Wanderers and Limerick – and only 14 of those came at home.

That their top scorer was Mikey Drennan, who only joined the club in June, typified the point – Gerard Lyttle’s side lacked potency in front of goal, and ultimately it cost him his job. Drennan joined St Patrick’s Athletic in the summer, so a lot will fall on the shoulders of his replacement, Ronan Murray.

Mayoman Murray may have won league and cup medals with Dundalk last year but he will have been frustrated to have played second fiddle to Patrick Hoban at Oriel Park and has returned to the west in search of more regular gametime.

Murray managed just three league goals last season, compared to 13 during Galway United’s relegation season in 2017, and Buckley knows if the former Ipswich Town man gets regular gametime he’ll easily rack up double figures once more.

Extratime.ie One to Watch: John Mahon

Despite the lengthy out queue at the Showgrounds this winter, it’s striking to note that seven of the starting eleven from the 2-0 victory over Shamrock Rovers on the final day of last season remain at the club.

Of those seven, four are aged 20 and younger, and former manager Gerard Lyttle deserves credit for bringing those players through and giving them regular gametime when results were going the wrong way and his position in peril.

Of the numerous young players to make their mark last season (goalkeeper Ed McGinty also impressed), centre-half John Mahon looked to the manor born, starting 21 games in the league during 2018.

An imposing presence at the age of 19, there are shades of the late Ryan McBride in the calmness the Sligo native has brought to his role at so young an age.

How they did last season:

League: 7^th

Sligo pipped Derry City to seventh position by virtue of their superior goal difference and finished a comfortable 15 points clear of the relegation play-off spot, but mere survival isn’t what Sligo fans demand from their team.

Gerard Lyttle was removed from his position at season’s end for failing to maintain the standard demanded, and he suffered in particular from the club’s dire home form.

The Bit O’ Red won just four games at home in the league all season, and went more than five months without a win at the Showgrounds from April to October.

FAI Cup: First Round

Gerard Lyttle will have nightmares about Longford Town for years to come after his side were eliminated by the midlands club in the first round of the FAI Cup in successive seasons.

After losing 4-2 after extra time at City Calling Stadium in 2017, the Bit O’ Red tasted defeat at home to Longford in 2018 thanks to a solitary goal from Jamie Hollywood.

EA Sports Cup: Semi-finals

The Bit O’ Red fared much better in the EA Sports Cup, a trophy they last won in 2010, picking up narrow 1-0 wins over Galway United in round two and Waterford in the quarter-finals.

The semis proved one step too far, however, and there was just a goal in it once more as Rory Hale’s first-half strike saw Derry City into the final, where they’d overcome Cobh Ramblers to lift the cup.

What to expect this season:

16 points at home and 26 away is a neat summation of where it went wrong for Gerard Lyttle last season, as the former Cliftonville boss set his side up as a formidable counter-attacking outfit but one that struggled to remove the shackles and take the initiative in front of their own fans.

The appointment of Liam Buckley will at least address that shortcoming, as the former Ireland international is renowned for his patient, possession-based approach to football whether at home or away, and his side will revel in playing front-foot ball on the slick Showgrounds surface.

The signings of Rónán Coughlan and, if he can stay fit, Ronan Murray should ensure a cutting edge in front of goal but it remains to be seen whether overseas imports like Lewis Banks, Dante Leverock and Romeo Parkes can hit the ground running in an unfamiliar league.

Title Odds: 66/1

First game: Dundalk (away), Friday, February 15^th (kick-off 7.45pm, live on RTE2).