Football Season Guide

Given that as many as three of the twelve sides that were in the Premier League last season were relegated due to the restructuring of the top flight, Sligo were one of the sides that were happy to just finish fourth from bottom. They struggled initially, but things improved following the arrival of Gerard Lyttle, who made them a formidable home team and guided them to safety. The winter break that is now behind us saw the Rovers lose their arguably most important player in Tobi Adebayo-Rowling, who joins from Cork, while another regular member of the back four has left in Mick Leahy, who is now at St.Patricks. However, Lyttle, who took over two months into the previous season, has now had a chance to make the squad his own and has brought in three players who impressed for relegated sides in Caolan McAleer, David Cawley and Adam Wixted, while the likes of Adam Morgan, Eduardo Pincelli and Alistair Roy sign from abroad. What is noticeable from a mere look at their list of transfers is that the Rovers were not looking to replace the departed defenders and instead brought in new firepower. This is quite interesting, given that their survival last season was built around their defensive record, given that they conceded the least number of goals out of all sides in the bottom half and also conceded less than some of the top half teams. Whether this transfer activity means that the Rovers are looking to make a transition to a more attacking style remains to be seen.