I FOUND IT quite interesting to hear what Trevor Croly had to say about the situation at Shamrock Rovers and his departure from the club on Soccer Republic last night.
I would agree with a lot of his points and would take what he said at face value. Something that I believe is becoming more and more of an issue in the League of Ireland is the loss of a generation of players who stood up to pressure.
It was one which, if they realised that were at a club that could win trophies and league titles, they had a hunger and a drive about them to do so. I believe that generation is going out of the game and we’re starting to see a type of player who is losing focus and is distracted by the other things around modern day football — the PR, their own profile and money.
Money is important but if I was offered €100 a week more to go to a football club where I knew I wasn’t going to win league trophies I wouldn’t go. It’s as simple as that. When you retire it’s nice to be able to look back on what you’ve achieved in football because the money doesn’t really go that far.
It’s disappointing because there is only one football club in this country which has the ability to bring Irish soccer to another level and that’s Shamrock Rovers.
Since the days of Michael O’Neill and playing in the Europa League group stages, the club hasn’t progressed. Maybe things happened a little too quickly for them and maybe it was the case that they had no other choice but to take a step forward.
From the outside looking in, the club were a little bit fearful of taking that step. Not too long ago, they were in financial troubles and there were clubs going into meltdown left, right and centre so it’s understandable that there was a fear factor.
The League of Ireland needs to get back to the stage where it was moving forward in the early noughties. We were starting to go full-time, players were hunger for success and looking to bring football to a new level by progressing in Europe.
Okay, they made a mess of the whole thing from a financial perspective but, from what I hear now, there are players earning more now than what I ever earned in full-time with Shelbourne. If you’re telling me that we can’t sustain full-time football clubs on the salaries that are being paid at the moment then something is wrong somewhere.
We have to remember that there aren’t that many people qualified to do the Shamrock Rovers job. In my opinion, there is only one man who is qualified to do it and that’s Pat Fenlon. He is in for the job at the moment and brings a huge wealth of experience… not just from what he achieved in the League of Ireland but also in Scotland with Hibernian.
The timing couldn’t be better for him to come in and I think he would be perfect for the job. In saying that, I don’t think it is as straightforward as it seems. Pat will want assurances over certain issues and if the Shamrock Rovers board have those same reservations about wanting to progress there could be an issue there that will need resolving.
Having gone through two managers in as many years, they will certainly be keen to make the right appointment now.
I do think there is enough ability in that Shamrock Rovers squad to be successful but they lack experience in key areas. They are lacking two or three players down the spine of the team who would lead by example and help the younger players develop and deal with the players.
If you can’t deal with supporters wanting you to win a league title, you’re at the wrong football club. You shouldn’t be there, it’s a simple as that. You are at Shamrock Rovers to win league titles. If you can’t swim, get out of the water. This is top level football. If you don’t fancy it, go somewhere else. That’s what they’re going to be told if Pat gets the job.
