A Quick sweep with Richard Brush
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Since 2004, from the base of the then eircom League First Division, Sligo Rovers have continued their rise to the top, and this is signified by their upcoming clash with the Albanian side FC Vllaznia Shkodër. The thought of even having European football back in Sligo would have been laughed out the Tracey Avenue stand back then, but today, extratime.ie caught up with Richard Brush. A player who has been with Rovers on their rise to glory since 2006, when he joined from Shrewsbury Town.
When quizzed on the change from playing in the Lamb Ground in Tamworth, to the Loro-Boriçi Stadium in Shkodër, Brush's response was akin to that of a child on the verge of having his dreams come true. “Yeah, obviously, when you come over to Ireland to play football, one thing you don't expect is to be playing in Europe. So, I'm delighted," he declared. “Coming from Tamworth to Albania; t's a massive change. All the way through you're career and that, you dream about playing in Europe and things like that. So, it's a big deal.”
The destination has been played over and over in the minds of Rovers fans. From the dreaded Kazakhstan, to the ideal draw of a side from Malta, everyone connected to the Bit O'Red had their dream draw. From Richard's response it was clear that his thoughts were cleary fixed on the footballing aspects of the draw. “First round in these things, I mean what would be your dream draw? You know there is a lot of clubs in there that you'd like to avoid. You can obviously hope that they're not the best teams, so you can progress to the next round, where you'll get the bigger clubs.”
Sligo have been far from great in the league and their form has been patchy to say the least. This is something that irks Brush slightly. “It's great these cup runs, but we need to start bring this form back into the league, because the position where we are at the minute is nowhere near good enough for the squad we have. We have a small squad, but still it's no excuse with the quality of players that we've got.
"It's put a bit of a sheen on the season, these cup runs, but when you're down to looking at the league, in a way it's very disappointing at the minute. Obviously, we've been killed with a lot of injuries, and maybe a few too many suspensions have been logged over the season, but you can't make excuses for things like that. You get your squad brought together, and you've got to be picking up more points then what we have already," he added.
Finally, Brush had some keen words to say about the Bit O'Red's supporters, Forza Rovers. The groups ingenuity and dedication have not gone unnoticed from the young English keeper. “When you come out and look over at home games, and you see the bigs flags and that, and it's great to see the lads putting in an effort and even at away games, you look at the support that we took to Bohs the last game and a few of the other away games like the cup game in Cork, where we took more than we expected. It's great to see fans, making an effort on the away trips as well," he concluded.
When quizzed on the change from playing in the Lamb Ground in Tamworth, to the Loro-Boriçi Stadium in Shkodër, Brush's response was akin to that of a child on the verge of having his dreams come true. “Yeah, obviously, when you come over to Ireland to play football, one thing you don't expect is to be playing in Europe. So, I'm delighted," he declared. “Coming from Tamworth to Albania; t's a massive change. All the way through you're career and that, you dream about playing in Europe and things like that. So, it's a big deal.”
The destination has been played over and over in the minds of Rovers fans. From the dreaded Kazakhstan, to the ideal draw of a side from Malta, everyone connected to the Bit O'Red had their dream draw. From Richard's response it was clear that his thoughts were cleary fixed on the footballing aspects of the draw. “First round in these things, I mean what would be your dream draw? You know there is a lot of clubs in there that you'd like to avoid. You can obviously hope that they're not the best teams, so you can progress to the next round, where you'll get the bigger clubs.”
Sligo have been far from great in the league and their form has been patchy to say the least. This is something that irks Brush slightly. “It's great these cup runs, but we need to start bring this form back into the league, because the position where we are at the minute is nowhere near good enough for the squad we have. We have a small squad, but still it's no excuse with the quality of players that we've got.
"It's put a bit of a sheen on the season, these cup runs, but when you're down to looking at the league, in a way it's very disappointing at the minute. Obviously, we've been killed with a lot of injuries, and maybe a few too many suspensions have been logged over the season, but you can't make excuses for things like that. You get your squad brought together, and you've got to be picking up more points then what we have already," he added.
Finally, Brush had some keen words to say about the Bit O'Red's supporters, Forza Rovers. The groups ingenuity and dedication have not gone unnoticed from the young English keeper. “When you come out and look over at home games, and you see the bigs flags and that, and it's great to see the lads putting in an effort and even at away games, you look at the support that we took to Bohs the last game and a few of the other away games like the cup game in Cork, where we took more than we expected. It's great to see fans, making an effort on the away trips as well," he concluded.
About Christopher Davey
is a full time Physics student in Trinity College Dublin, but his deep love of all things football is one that simply has to show somewhere. You can contact Christopher on Twitter @ChristopherDavy View Full Profile