ROBERTO LOPES believes Shamrock Rovers strong core means they are ready for the new season.
The Hoops had a historic 2024 as they became the first League of Ireland club ever to secure European football beyond Christmas by reaching this month’s knockout stages.
That tie against Molde is coming up quickly with the first leg on February 13, 72 hours before they kick off their league campaign against Bohemians at the Aviva Stadium.
With the second leg against Molde the following week and a clash with champions Shelbourne not long after that, it promises to be a huge month for the Hoops.
But it is also an unusual pre-season at Rovers as their 2024 campaign only ended on December 19.
At that stage, many of their league rivals were already back training.
As well as that, there has been some turnover at the club with new arrivals in Adam Matthews, Michael Noonan, Ed McGinty, Matt Healy, and Danny Grant.
Neil Farrugia, Seán Hoare, Richie Towell, Markus Poom, Darragh Burns and Johnny Kenny have all left Tallaght too.
Burns chose to sign for League Two outfit Grimsby Town rather than return to the Hoops while Rovers still hope to get fellow loanee and striker Kenny back from Celtic on another short-term deal.
But it was confirmed yesterday that midfielder Danny Mandroiu has returned to Dublin 24 on a multi-year deal.
The later start to pre-season, though, has meant a shorter space of time for new players to settle.
Still, Lopes does not think it will be a problem believing that the core group at Rovers is unchanged and will help the newcomers.
He said: “We have lost a few and I think that’s just the nature of every couple of years the team sort of refreshes itself.
“We have some good bodies in the door and the group looks really strong at the moment.
“There is still a lot of the core group there who have been there four or five years or more. The players who have moved on haven’t been there as long or were loans like Darragh and Johnny, that people fell in love with but were not sure what the situation would be come the end of the season.
“The group is very solid and the new boys are getting up to speed very quickly. We’ll be ready to go come Molde.
“One of the most amazing things is to come back into a new season and have European football.
“It’s a first for any Irish club, then you have the huge league game in the Aviva so these are the games you want to play in.
“As a footballer I don’t know what else you could ask for.”
FAST START
But such a hectic start to the campaign requires the Hoops to be on it from the get-go having, traditionally, been a side that hits form later in the season.
In 2023, they did not win any of their six league games but then romped to a record-equalling fourth league title in a row.
But last year, they were winless through the opening four games and could not catch Shelbourne in the run-in.
There were plenty of other reasons too, their nine defeats last year were as many as they lost in the 2022 and 2023 seasons combined.
But Lopes declared that reclaiming the title is a priority, and getting a good start can help that.
Pico said: “You have to acknowledge it, that we fell short of one of our goals.
“It’s something you have to put to one side and move on because we had some really important games after that.
“We’re now on the cusp of a new season and looking forward to trying to win that title back.
“You aren’t going to win every game of the season so if you lose one or two, here, it’s not ideal but there is no panic.
“It’s not our intention to start slow, we just approach every game for what it is. We try and win every game.
“We gave up too much of a lead last year and that was evident come the end of the season. We’ll be on it from the first game and that hasn’t changed since I have been here.
“Slow starts can cost you but at the same time no leagues are won in February either.”
