Rovers give Richardson the sack

Irish National League side Shamrock Rovers FC have sacked their manager Damien Richardson.

Failure to win silverware
Richardson had failed to win a trophy for Rovers in his three seasons in charge and has now paid the price. He had also wanted Rovers to follow the example of their city rivals Bohemian FC, Shelbourne FC and St Patrick's Athletic FC and become a full-time club but the chairman Joe Colwell disagreed.

Full-time dispute
"Damien wanted the club to go completely full-time but as a club we were not ready for that," Colwell said. "We cannot spend money which we do not have and our priority is to use funds for our new stadium in Dublin, not spending it on full-time players."

Treble hunt
Rovers were in the hunt for a treble of league, FAI Cup and League Cup in Ireland this season but they ended up without a trophy, finishing in second place, but securing a place in the UEFA Cup qualifying round next season.

Search restricted to Ireland
Rovers will advertise in the Irish media for a replacement as soon as possible as players are due back for pre-season training in late May, but the club have already suggested that they will not want a cross-channel manager and will instead contain their search to Ireland. That could see the former Rovers manager Dermot Keely make a return to the club where he won a Premier Division title as manager in 1987 but the former international Liam Buckley is also an option.