Mid season Report Card -- Shamrock Rovers

Club: Shamrock Rovers

Head Coach: Stephen Bradley

Stadium: Tallaght Stadium

Highest attendance this season: 6,414

This crowd came the turnstiles for the Dublin Derby against Bohemians in late April. This broke the record for the largest ever league attendance in Tallaght Stadium.

Highest league goalscorer: Aaron Greene and Aaron McEneff both have five goals

Mid-season position: Second

How we thought they would do

The extratime.ie team predicted at the start of the season that Shamrock Rovers would finish second to Dundalk and that is how the table currently reads.

How they really have done

Since solving in the middle of last season their goalkeeping crisis, the Hoops have been excellent defensively. They kept 11 clean sheets from their last 15 league games of 2018 and with Alan Mannus in goal have got another 11 from the 21 league games in 2019.

The Hoops forged an early lead at the top of the table – going out at one stage to 13 points albeit having played two games more than a slow starting Dundalk. They had a spell of five shut outs in a row back in March and it is over 12 months since they last let more than two goals in during a league match. 

But as of the mid-season break that lead has been eroded and turned into a five-point deficit. Unjust red cards and suspensions hampered them in games against Bohs and Dundalk earlier in the season.

However, recent away defeats to Sligo Rovers and Bohs in Dalymount last week were self-inflicted wounds for the Hoops and have handed the momentum back to Dundalk – something you really don’t want to do to a side who have won four of the last five league titles.

Moment of the season so far

The 3-1 away win in Cork was the highlight of the season when it occurred although City’s form has been abysmal this year and so that result in early April – Rovers’ first win in Cork for six seasons – maybe doesn’t have the same lustre as it did at the time. 

The 1-0 win in Finn Park on a Monday night in March was a crucial win too. The Hoops could have called that game off due to international call ups but decided even with Jack Byrne part of Mick McCarthy’s senior Republic of Ireland squad they would go ahead with the game. All eyes were on Ballybofey to see if Rovers would drop points – they didn’t and won their sixth game from the opening eight league fixtures. 

Star Player: Jack Byrne

Byrne’s signing by the Hoops ahead of the start of the season was an eye catching one. The former Manchester City youth team midfielder had an impressive season spent playing in the Dutch Eredivisie with Cambuur earlier in his career but hadn’t managed to kick on in the UK as he would have liked and Stephen Bradley jumped at the chance of signing the 22-year-old.

When the Ireland management team went to see Byrne play for the Hoops against Sligo Rovers in mid-March, he was the standout player - grabbing an assist and a superb goal in the 3-0 win over the Bit O’Red. That helped earn him a call up for the EURO 2020 qualifiers against Gibraltar and Georgia. He was re-called for Ireland’s training camp in Portugal ahead of the June qualifiers but the Hoops withdrew the player from the camp. His range of passing, close control and well taken goals – four in total - have been a joy to watch.

Surprise star player: Greg Bolger

Bolger began the season not in the starting XI but once in the side he has been the lynchpin of the team. Playing just in front of the defence, Bolger is way more than simply a domestique. He has allowed others in Rovers’ star-studded midfield to get forward to support the lone striker and he has provided invaluable cover to Rovers excellent defence (only Dundalk have conceded less than the Hoops this season). His long range effort in Ballybofey back in March was the match winner in a game that sent Rovers seven points clear in the early season table.

Young player: Trevor Clarke

The return of Trevor Clarke to the Rovers squad after missing most of last season has provided the Hoops with a full-back in the modern mode – someone who can get up and down the line and is more of an offensive weapon than simply a traditional full back. With the Hoops playing without natural width in midfield, having Clarke available to add creativity in the opposition half is a great asset.

Star signing: Aaron McEneff

McEneff has been an excellent addition to Rovers’ stellar midfield this season and his five goals has him joint top scorer from the Hoops squad alongside Aaron Greene. The Derryman’s form has meant limited game time to Dylan Watts who was the Hoops star man in the second half of last season. McEneff has brought energy, creativity and goalscoring to the centre of the park in Tallaght and is firmly a fan favourite – helped by his cheeky paneka penalty against his former team Derry in February in front of Rovers singing section on the night the new South Stand in Tallaght opened.

What they need to do in the transfer market

Since before the start of the season and throughout the campaign so far all the talk has been that the Hoops need to sign a striker. Aaron Greene’s effort, pace and skill for holding the ball up, bringing others into play and taking on the opposition when the chance arises has been a signature of Rovers’ best play this season. However, five goals is a poor enough return for a striker in a team that is looking to win the league.

Stephen Bradley might rightly claim that goalscoring from his quality midfield will balance the lack of goals up top but Dundalk and Cork City have both won their recent league titles by having the capocannoniere in their team - Pat Hoban (2018 and 2014), Richie Towell (2015) and Sean Maguire (2017). 

The Rovers league challenge in 2009 and success in 2010 and 2011 under Michael O’Neill were built around the prolific goalscoring of Gary Twigg. These top marksmen do not come cheaply and if Rovers are to truly push Dundalk for the 2019 title, they will need to push the boat out and secure a top-class striker for the second half of the season. 

Where we see them finishing

Rovers fans will be thankful that they only have one more Dublin derby to play against Bohemians. The three losses to their cross-town rivals have put a dent in Rovers title ambitions and in the confidence of the fans.

The league table is likely to have a similar look to now come the end of the season. Rovers lack of experience in a title race and Dundalk’s hegemony in recent years will give the Lilywhites the edge – unless a long Dundalk run in Europe (which could well be likely) provides too much of a distraction.