Sligo Rovers
Sligo Rovers boss responds to ‘brutal’ comments
Johnny Kenny, a striker for Celtic, began his senior career at Sligo Rovers and is currently on loan at Shamrock Rovers.
Shamrock Rovers forward Johnny Kenny’s comments regarding his former team have drawn criticism from Sligo Rovers manager John Russell, who called them “disrespectful.”
Following his game-winning effort against Derry City on Monday, which made Hoops manager Stephen Bradley declare that he was a “different animal” from the previous season, Kenny was speaking.
The 20-year-old, who was on loan from Celtic, said he experienced a harsh awakening when he got to Tallaght last year.
In contrast to Sligo Rovers, Kenny stated, “I wasn’t used to the mentality you need to play at this club, and that’s no disrespect to Sligo Rovers.”
“Obviously, things are different at Sligo because, both when I was there and currently, they aren’t league winners. It’s expected of you to win every week on Friday and Monday in Europe.
“In Sligo, you could probably get away with a loss here or there, but in this competitive environment, you have to be prepared every week in order to succeed.”
Russell responded on Thursday, stating that he thought the remarks were inappropriate.
“Johnny used to play for the club; he was given the opportunity here after coming up through the academy,” he stated.
“Considering that he was given the opportunity to work at the club, it’s probably a little disrespectful for him to be saying things like that.”
Before landing a dream transfer to Celtic, Kenny played a season in the Sligo Rovers first team, making 34 games and tallying 12 goals.
He transferred to Shamrock Rovers for the 2023 season after spending time on loan at Queens Park, and he was once more loaned back to the Tallaght team for the current campaign.
Russell went on, “Johnny is a great player and someone I know well, but he has to be aware of Shamrock Rovers’ resources as well.
They are expected to be winning league titles, but we are a fan-owned, community-run team that competes with all of these clubs, producing young players, and having sold players like Johnny. We don’t have the resources Shamrock Rovers do, nor do we have a 10,000-seat stadium.
“Players participate in different leagues at various stages of their careers at various skill levels. They ought to be grateful for what they have and are occasionally given.
John Russell says he will be leaving out a Sligo Rovers player for Friday’s trip to the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium due to fears that the player, who is carrying a knock, may suffer a more serious injury on the artificial surface.
For the same reasons, Russell has acknowledged that he did not include Simon Power in the earlier season away trip to Oriel Park.
Johan Brannefalk and Karl O’Sullivan sustained severe ankle injuries in the same Derry game last season, and minor Sean McAteer sustained a significant knee injury on the same pitch a few days later.
Russell, who has previously expressed his dislike for artificial surfaces, doesn’t want to offer any justifications before the game, especially because The Showgrounds’ surface hasn’t always been the best this year.
We are aware that we are performing on an astro, so please go forward. We had been practicing astro all week. Should I play on artificial turf? No, they shouldn’t be in the league, in my opinion.
“All of the pitches in the Premier Division ought to be grass. We can’t really be too critical of Astros when other fields across the nation and our own grass pitch haven’t been up to par because we’ve had our fair share of problems.
You want grass pitches everywhere. We are aware that tomorrow is Astro, and we must adjust to those circumstances.
However, he would want the league to have no artificial surfaces.
“I believe that any manager, including Ruaidhri Higgins at Derry, would agree to rip up the astros. I know Liam Burns is the manager at Dundalk right now, but even he would probably agree.
“Players and managers want to play on grass fields; that’s what we all desire. Playing on artificial turf appears to be associated with an increased risk of injury. Additionally, a different type of game is played on unwatered surfaces, as you run the danger of getting hurt on dry, sticky surfaces.
“We played Dundalk away and I left Simon Power out, I’ll be doing the same tomorrow with another player who’s struggling with an injury, I don’t want to risk him because he could be out long term.
“It does impact your team selection. That’s not ideal in this situation we’re in with a tight squad.”
Russell confirmed that Simon Power’s scan results mean he will be out until after the mid-season break, as will Nando Pijnaker. Will Fitzgerald has another scan in the next few days, with Russell hopeful he will be back soon.
Both Ollie Denham and Wilson Waweru picked up slight knocks, and will undergo late fitness tests ahead of Friday’s game.
Rovers, who only had 12 players available for training on Monday, travel to Derry on Friday knowing they are up against it.
Despite losing to Shamrock Rovers on Monday night, Ruaidhri Higgins’ team is still in second place in the standings.
“Astro, it’s a big pitch, and they have a really good team.” They want to be titled. Many of the players who were sidelined due to injuries are, in my opinion, returning to the squad and starting lineup.
“They have also rotated the team in the most recent games. We are aware of the game’s level of difficulty. To give ourselves a chance of winning, it’s about us and putting our passion and drive into the game tomorrow night.
Additionally, Russell is interested in seeing how his team responds to the crushing loss to Bohemians at The Showgrounds last Friday.
It was an exhibition that
it didn’t happen.
Despite losing to Shamrock Rovers on Monday night, Ruaidhri Higgins’ team is still in second place in the standings.
“Astro, it’s a big pitch, and they have a really good team.” They want to be titled. Many of the players who were sidelined due to injuries are, in my opinion, returning to the squad and starting lineup.
“They have also rotated the team in the most recent games. We are aware of the game’s level of difficulty. To give ourselves a chance of winning, it’s about us and putting our passion and drive into the game tomorrow night.
Additionally, Russell is interested in seeing how his team responds to the crushing loss to Bohemians at The Showgrounds last Friday.
It was an exhibition that
“The reaction has been very good this week, we trained really well. There was a review of the game as we normally would, win, lose or draw after the weekend and some hard truths on Monday morning.
“We went through everything from the performance on Friday. It was nowhere near acceptable, I think it was definitely our worst performance at home this season. We’ve had a good reaction this week in training and it’s all about bringing it into the game.
“The thing for me that was missing was the fight and desire, that’s the basis of any good team when you’re competing in the league to win matches, you have to sprint, close people down, put tackles in and play with an intensity.
“Bohs showed early in the game that they wanted to win the game, whereas we thought we could just turn up and it would happen. And it didn’t happen.”
At the Showgrounds, James Clarke, Aboubacar Keita, and Dayle Rooney scored goals to help Bohemians defeat Sligo Rovers three goals to none.
Rovers changed just one thing from the draw in Galway seven days earlier. With Max Mata’s loan period coming to an end, Rein Smit was given his second start for the Bit O’Red.
After two minutes, Clarke nodded past Ed McGinty from a cross by Dayle Rooney to give the Dubliners the lead.
This loss did not dissuade a determined Rovers, though.
Rovers dominated the game for a while, and Smit and Stefan Radosavljevic both had close calls for the home team.
Just before halftime, Keita nodded Rooney’s corner past McGinty, giving Bohs the upper hand in this match.
In an attempt to level the game, Rovers brought on Kailin Barlow and Wilson Waweru in the second half as John Russell’s team sought a goal.
In the middle of the second period, the visitor broke the tie. The points were secured by a stunning drive by Rooney from outside the area.
Sligo Rovers: Ed McGinty; Connor Malley, Niall Morahan; Stefan Radosavljevic (Daire Patton 87); Ellis Chapman, Fabrice Hartmann (Wilson Waweru HT); Rein Smit; JR Wilson, Ollie Denham (Kailin Barlow HT), Charlie Wiggett, Reece Hutchinson.
Bohemians: Declan McDaid (Dylan Connolly 62), Dayle Rooney (Martin Miller 66), James McManus, James Clarke (Daniel Grant 79), Adam McDonnell, James Akintunde (Filip Piszczek 75), Luke Matheson, Aboubacar Keita, Jevon Mills, and Paddy Kirk.
The umpire is Gavin Colfer.
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