Mid-season review: Sligo Rovers
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Season so far: Paul Cook’s team are somewhat the league’s draw specialists – having finished level in seven of their 16 games so far. The Bit o’Red have only lost four times, the same amount as current leaders St Pat’s but they will need to be more consistent. They could either be sucked into the relegation battle or else be near the European places when the business end of the season rolls around. The next half dozen games should tell a lot.
Biggest strength: Goals. Sligo have bagged 25 in 16 games, more than any other side. See ‘star player’ for the main reason why. A dozen players have scored for them already. They haven’t conceded too many either: just 15 at this juncture.
Biggest weakness: Late concessions. Rovers have let in five goals in the final 15 minutes, while they have conceded more than double the amount of first half goals after the break. They have also only kept two clean sheets, which suggests that they’re often likely to let in one goal but rarely nothing more.
Manager: There isn’t a more entertaining and flamboyant manager than Paul Cook. Always good for an interesting quote, Cook looks to have stabilised Sligo somewhat. His acquisition of Joey N’do could prove to be a masterstroke later in the season.
Star player: Padraig Amond is the league’s top marksman with 10 goals and his striking has proved invaluable to Rovers’ cause. The next best is Eoin Doyle with three goals, so Cook needs to make sure his team don’t become over-dependent on Amond or they could have problems if he gets injured.
Where to improve: Consistency. Rovers have struggled to get successive wins under their belt and it was only in the games before the break that they grabbed six points from six. Form has been too sporadic to move up the table.
Overall rating: 5/10
Biggest strength: Goals. Sligo have bagged 25 in 16 games, more than any other side. See ‘star player’ for the main reason why. A dozen players have scored for them already. They haven’t conceded too many either: just 15 at this juncture.
Biggest weakness: Late concessions. Rovers have let in five goals in the final 15 minutes, while they have conceded more than double the amount of first half goals after the break. They have also only kept two clean sheets, which suggests that they’re often likely to let in one goal but rarely nothing more.
Manager: There isn’t a more entertaining and flamboyant manager than Paul Cook. Always good for an interesting quote, Cook looks to have stabilised Sligo somewhat. His acquisition of Joey N’do could prove to be a masterstroke later in the season.
Star player: Padraig Amond is the league’s top marksman with 10 goals and his striking has proved invaluable to Rovers’ cause. The next best is Eoin Doyle with three goals, so Cook needs to make sure his team don’t become over-dependent on Amond or they could have problems if he gets injured.
Where to improve: Consistency. Rovers have struggled to get successive wins under their belt and it was only in the games before the break that they grabbed six points from six. Form has been too sporadic to move up the table.
Overall rating: 5/10
About Alan Smith
Alan Smith works as a sub-editor for the Guardian newspaper in London. Originally from Cork, he freelances for several other newspapers and websites. Follow him on twitter @alansmith90. View Full Profile