SHAMROCK ROVERS used to be good at winning more than their rivals.

Now it seems their speciality is collecting, and dispensing with, more managers than anyone else, with Pat Fenlon the latest casualty.

Much like the England team, when will the penny drop that the problem is more deep-rooted than who is in the dugout?

Because the simple fact is that, over the past five years, Rovers have squandered the chance to consolidate themselves as the leading club in the country.

And that falls on the board’s shoulders.

Lately, they appear to have decided their underage system is the way forward, with funds diverted there instead of the first team.

That’s fine but then hold yourselves — and not the manager — accountable when your first team is not competitive.

This time in 2011, Rovers were about to embark on a run which saw them reach the group stages of the Europa League, the first Irish club to do so.

They had won the league the previous season — Michael O’Neill’s second in charge — and were a penalty shootout away from completing the Double.

They then retained the title but, despite that and their European heroics, it seemed like there was no genuine attempt to keep O’Neill and that they almost felt as though they were better off without him.

Eight days before Rovers sacked Fenlon — the third manager they have binned in under three years — O’Neill’s Northern Ireland side narrowly lost out to Wales in the second round of Euro 2016.

So that worked out well.

O’Neill’s immediate successor Stephen Kenny had enjoyed tremendous success before and after Rovers and yet they lost patience with him in under nine months.

Brian Laws was brought in until the end of the season and promptly lost the League Cup final to Drogheda United.

Trevor Croly was next.

The thinking appeared to have been that he deserved much of the credit for the success under O’Neill, even though he was gone and had been replaced by Jim Magilton before their European campaign.

Trevor won the Setanta Sports Cup, EA Sports Cup and Leinster Senior Cup in his one full season in charge but a fifth-place finish in the league was not good enough, especially as it saw the Hoops miss out on Europe.

He was sacked in August 2014 and the appointment of ‘Nutsy’ seemed an obvious one. Pat grew up a Rovers fan and had a proven track record of success.

But less than two years down the line, he has been fired too.

He delivered European qualification for both last year and this but the board were unimpressed by their 2-0 defeat to RoPS Rovaniemi in Tallaght last Thursday night.

Given getting through one round of the Europa League is worth €210,000, the frustration is understandable.

From a financial point of view, progressing through a round is worth more than winning the FAI Cup or finishing second as opposed to fourth, so Europe has taken on an added importance.

But you would imagine that being 14 points behind Dundalk before last night’s game was also a consideration.

Dundalk won the title for the second year running in 2015.

Cork City reacted by giving John Caulfield the funds to strengthen.

The results are there for all to see.

Having gone ten games without a win over Kenny’s men, they have beaten them three times this season. Having lost marquee signings Keith Fahey and Damien Duff to injury and retirement, Pat’s budget saw him sign players from Limerick — relegated last year — and Longford Town, who will probably go down this year.

He’s the fall guy but there are plenty out in Tallaght who need to have a look at themselves.

Richie fit for choir



LAST week, Richie Foran was unveiled as Inverness Caledonian Thistle’s boss a month after his appointment.

And when I heard him talk about the importance of recruitment in terms of bringing in the right type of characters into the dressing room, I had to laugh.

I went grey overnight trying to manage him!

He was a lovely fella but if you looked up unmanageable in the dictionary, there’s a fair chance you’d find a picture of a young Richie.

I had to send him home from training on some Monday mornings because he was ‘tired an emotional’.

And he was a danger to himself and everyone else around him the way he went kicking lumps out of people.

So to see him there as some sort of choirboy was amusing. It was like he had undergone a lobotomy!

In fairness, you’re going back a decade and a half from when I had him, so I guess he has matured a lot.

I’d love to get over to a game of his but even more than that, I’d love to see how he’d cope with a younger version of himself!

If I didn’t see him becoming a manager, I always thought Owen Heary would be and I’m delighted to see him back at work with Shelbourne.

He did a great job at Bohemians, it didn’t go great at Sligo Rovers — I think the job came a little early for him — but I have no doubt he has what it takes to be a success.

He’s a great capture for Shels and hopefully the win over Cobh last Friday is a sign of things to come.

*****

FINGERS crossed for our two clubs in Europa League action tomorrow.

It looks like mission impossible for Shamrock Rovers in Finland, trailing 2-0, but Cork City should have enough as they are 1-0 up.