Season Preview 2017 - Shamrock Rovers

Manager: Stephen Bradley

Stadium: Tallaght Stadium

Players in: Paul Corry (Free Agent), Roberto Lopes (Bohemians), Danny Devine (Firhouse Clover), Ryan Connolly (Galway United), David McAllister (Free Agent), Tomer Chencinski (Helsingsborg), Kevin Horgan (Galway United), Ronan Finn, Darren Meenan, Michael O'Connor (Dundalk), Sam Bone (Charlton Athletic), Graham Burke (Notts County).

Players out: Stephen McPhail (retired), Gareth McCaffrey, Richie Purdy (Drogheda United), Pat Cregg, Barry Murphy (St. Patrick's Athletic), David O'Connor, Dean Clarke (Limerick), Rob Cornwall (Bohemians), Gary McCabe (Bray Wanderers), Craig Hyland (released), Cian Kavanagh, Evan Osam (UCD).

Extratime.ie Key Man: Ronan Finn

Finn makes a return to Rovers following a highly successful spell at Dundalk. This signing by Stephen Bradley has simultaneously strengthened his own squad and weakened Dundalk as the Lilywhites attempt to match the achievement of Rovers’ four-in-a-row side of the 1980s.

Rovers missed Finn’s creativity after his departure to Oriel Park in 2013. His importance is shown by the fact that Bradley has handed him the Hoops captain’s armband for the season.

Extratime.ie One to Watch: Tomer Chincenski

The Canadian will wear the Rovers number one jersey for the season. He began his career in America where he played with Toronto, Detroit Ignition and Newark Ironbound Express. He played with Nistru Otaci in Moldova, VPS in Finland, Orebro in Sweden before joining Maccabi Tel Aviv.

He subsequently played with RoPS in Finland and was last with Helsingborgs in Sweden. The commanding Rovers ‘keeper, capped previously at international level, could be the dominant number one that the Hoops haven’t had since they lost Alan Mannus to St. Johnstone in 2011.

How they did last season:

League: While they finished high enough to qualifiy for Europe through their league position of fourth, that was only due to the fact that Cork City played Dundalk in the FAI Cup final which freed up another European spot in the league.

Once again Rovers failed to mount any title challenge, ended the season with a new manager after Pat Fenlon’s departure and were 22 points behind league champions Dundalk. While Rovers inflicted two heavy defeats on Bohs in Dublin derbies, fans weren’t happy with the Hoops' overall league performance. Four losses in a six game period from mid-March to April, suffering defeats to St. Pat’s, Derry City, Dundalk and Cork City put pay to any title ambitions early enough in the campaign.

Rovers' squad underwent significant changes during the season with Mikey Drennan, Danny North, Max Blanchard, Gavin Brennan and Killian Brennan all leaving the club for various reasons by the end of the campaign. Stephen Bradley gave significant game time to a number of up and coming teenagers who will have gained great experience to take into this year - one positive side to an otherwise disappointing 2016 season.

FAI Cup: The cup has been a disappointment for Rovers three decades as they continue to chase their 25^th cup crown. Hoops fans of an older generation would refer to it as “our cup” but that term is now only used in an ironic sense as Rovers’ FAI Cup drought continues since the last season at Milltown. The fact that the most successful Cup winners in Ireland haven’t won the trophy since 1987 is something that haunts the Hoops.

That is why their embarrassing elimination to Cork City in the quarter-final was the low point of the season. Torn apart by City 5-0 in front of the live TV cameras, it was Rovers’ low point of the season.

EA Sports Cup: The Hoops made it to the semi-final stage of this competition for the fifth year in a row. St. Patrick’s Athletic knocked out them out en route to retaining the trophy.

Europe: Rovers abject performance in the first leg of their first round tie in Europe at home to Finnish side ROPS Rovaniemi precipitated the departure of Pat Fenlon from the Hoops managerial hotseat. Stephen Bradley took over as caretaker boss for the second leg and while they secured a draw in the Arctic Circle they couldn’t over turn the first leg 2-0 deficit.

What to expect this season:

There is a certain sense of optimism around Tallaght Stadium not seen since the Michael O’Neill era when the Hoops last lifted the league trophy in 2011. Rovers have stepped up their significant investment at the club, with the first team joining Rovers underage teams at their expanded Academy setup at Roadstone Sports Club in Kingswood. Stephen McPhail has stepped up to take on the role as Rovers’ Sporting Director.

On the pitch, the Hoops have also invested. It should be noted though while Rovers have made some major signings, they have also moved on a number of players from the club to free up money for those new additions.

The Hoops would love nothing better than pipping Dundalk to the title to prevent them making it four-in-a-row. The capture of Ronan Finn from their rivals in Oriel Park was a welcome boost to those ambitions. Bradley has made some shrewd signings, which means they have a wealth of new talent particularly in midfield (Ryan Connolly, Paul Corry, Roberto Lopes, David McAllister and Darren Meenan).

The Rovers boss will be able to continue to call on the mix of experience and youth to position them up the towards the top of the table but they may not have enough to match Dundalk this time round. Rovers have six league winners medals in the squad but they are spread evenly between just two players (Finn and Meenan).

Title Odds: 4/1

First game: The fixture ‘computer’ coded a cracker for the opening Friday night of the season. Rovers travel to the home of the champions Dundalk in front of eir’s live TV cameras (kick off 8pm).