Embattled Rovers forced to put entire squad up for sale

SHAMROCK ROVERS have put their entire squad up for sale in a move manager Roddy Collins accepts may mean relegation this season but which is designed to help secure the long-term future of the club.

“It was not my call - my call would have been to bring players into the club,” said Collins. “But through no-one’s fault the financial situation has meant that they have come up with a budget this week which we have to keep within in order to survive.

“The only way I could do that was make everyone available, get down under that figure as quickly as possible and see what trade-offs I can do and what fees I can bring in. I have until July 15 to get below that budget with whatever I can wheel and deal with.”

Collins said the players were “all down and disappointed” after this latest setback in a season of bad news for the club.

The manager accepts that the likely departure of many of his players makes more remote the prospect of Rovers retaining their Premier Division status. The Hoops are currently rooted to the bottom of the table, having been deducted eight points by the FAI for irregularities in their club licence application.

“If you asked me this minute I’d say that staying up is a very slim possibility,” said Collins. “And if you asked me next week when maybe five of this panel are gone, what am I going to tell you?”

However, Collins insists that his own commitment to the job remains total.

“When I wake up every morning I have this mad determination in me, that I don’t know where I got it from. I wish sometimes that I could go to a nine to five job but that’s not me.”

Collins paid tribute to the 400 Club, the supporters’ group which is currently bankrolling the club and which is believed to have contributed some €150,000 in the past ten weeks alone.

“These are genuine supporters who are busting a gut to save their club,” said Collins. “In years to come, managers and players will come and go, but the supporters will be there forever. They’re trying to save their club at the expense of results, short-term goals or staying in the Premier Division, and I’ve got to respect that.

“It’s all about saving Shamrock Rovers football club,” said Collins. “But I will never, ever concede being relegated until it’s the final day and we are mathematically out. But one thing’s for sure, I’ll give every single ounce I’ve got to try and retrieve it.”