Sligo Rovers V Shamrock Rovers

Sligo Rovers-3  Shamrock Rovers-0, The Showgrounds, Sligo 12^th May

Sligo Rovers sent out a resounding challenge to the rest of the League on Saturday afternoon with an efficient display of football against Shamrock Rovers. The match was broadcasted live from the Showgrounds in Sligo. 

The TV coverage was decent to begin with and the fact that it was mildly decent weather during the game was a big help. When the sun is shining Sligo and consequently the Showgrounds can be a real beautiful place, but if the weather is bad then it can feel like hell on earth. Which I may add is how many Sham’s fans will be feeling right now after their little sojourn down the railway tracks from Tallaght.

The opening half hour saw few chances as both teams tried to wrestle control of the game. Mark Quigley hit a beautiful, dipping 35 yard shot which bounced off the crossbar. Gary Twigg had a couple of half attempts for Shams which came to nothing. Danny Ventre and Quigley were attempting to dominate the game in the middle of the park. Ventre was tackling hard and Quigley’s moving and passing was intelligent creative. 

The game’s first goal came through Quigley as he burst towards the Sham’s box. The defence didn’t really deal with the loose ball from a despairing lunge at the Sligo forward and it fell nicely for Danny North who drilled the ball low to the left. The keeper's positioning was all wrong for the goal but he was hardly solely at fault. The second Rovers goal came from a corner that was not cleared properly by the Shams defence. After some neat play from Sligo it was teed up nicely for young David Cawley to spectacularly hammer the ball home from outside the box. The ball hit the crossbar and flew into the back of the Shams net, replays showed that the ball did take a deflection but all in all, it still was a fantastic goal. 

The second half was marred by some stupid lack of discipline from Shamrock Rovers when first Chris Turner got sent off for a straight red after what looked like a reaction punch/push on Alan Keane, who in fairness went down fierce easy.  Graham Gartland then caught Raf Cretaro late near the side-line and, after the referee had allowed play to continue, was given a second yellow card which saw him walk.

North got a second goal from a wonderful pass from Danny Ventre, of all people. North had been running the channels diligently all day and finally a good ball came his way and he finished low and hard to the keepers right. 

Sligo Rovers had a good few chances after that but they failed to punish Shams satisfactorily. In his post-match interview manager Ian Barraclough hinted at this, stating that goal difference could be important before the season is over. He was happy though with the overall performance.

It was a great game for Sligo Rovers and nothing should be taken away from any of the members of the team. The one criticism I would have though is that they should have been more lethal and really punished Shams. They were there for the taking and you get the feeling that a chance to really spank them was lost today. But like I said it was a great game all the same and as a Rovers supporter you have to be happy.

United in trouble?

Manchester United is a club on the decline. Why? If you take Alex Ferguson out of the club than where is the will or ability to win?

After Monday night’s defeat to the “noisy neighbours” questions have got to be asked around Old Trafford. The current United team is being driven forward solely by the will and determination of the greatest manager the game has ever known. Alex Ferguson is by far and away the most brilliant charismatic manager the sport of football or maybe any sport has ever known. He is the single most important factor in the rise of Manchester United to the position of dominance that they have enjoyed for the last near twenty years. 

The problem is that although I fully expect Ferguson to come back fighting from this latest setback, and even go on to maybe win the league for a record twentieth time. What is going to happen when he leaves?

United have a team that is lacking in real leadership. They have an aging midfield, questionable defenders, a goalkeeper who is in need of some serious million dollar man rebuilding and strikers who just are not setting the world alight I am afraid.

What will happen when he is gone? Who will pick up the mantel at Old Trafford and lead United into the future? More importantly when will this happen? 

Any new manager that takes over will need to have a certain length of time to bed in. This means a run of poor results that will not be pleasing to the legions of fans that have come to expect success as par to the course during the Ferguson years. A new man will want to shape the team so that his own brand of football will be recognised as different from that of Fergusons. Or, if not, he will attempt to mimic Fergies style in the hope of continuity a la Paisley to Shankly. But the problem is that no one in the backroom at Old Trafford looks capable or willing to take up the reins  when the great man retires. 

The fear is that just like when Matt Busby hand over power to Wilf McGuinness in the 70’s the club could head into a period of decline. Poor McGuinness was never able to control or get anything out of Busby’s players and always had to walk in the shadow of the big man who was made a director at the club upon his retirement. Suffice to say McGuinness got the old heave-ho that December. United never really recovered from the quasi- separation of Busby from the hot seat and therefore the club suffered the indignation of relegation to Division Two within a few years.

In fact it took 22 years from when Busby stepped down, for the last time, for United to win the Premier League title again. Alex Fergusons arrival in 1986 set the tone for a revolution at the club with a lot of old habits and indeed players being swept out the door. The problem at the moment is that if Ferguson was to go a lot of his players are signed with the club and will be around for quite some time. It will take a few years for any transformation to occur under a new manager. Any attempt at mimicry by a number two or an ex-player is not necessarily going to work either especially if Sir Alex is lording over them from a director’s role that the club would have to offer.

So maybe it is time for Ferguson to step down at the end of the season and for the sake of the club to walk away completely.