Baraclough fully focused on retaining title

Homepage image by Jason O'Callaghan

Twelve months ago, Ian Baraclough was thrown into the deep end and didn’t get a chance to take pre-season with his new team. In 2013 he has been at the helm for the full programme and speaking to Extratime.ieat the League Launch, the Sligo Rovers boss admitted that he was looking forward to the new season.

“We are really looking forward to it now. I myself can’t wait. Exciting times. Just a few days to go. Every mention of it now just compounds the fact that we are nearly there, all the hard work has been done, the majority of players are all in now at their various clubs and looking ahead to Friday night.”

Sligo Rovers take part in the Setanta Cup and while he insists that he wants to win every trophy, the league is the bread and butter.

"We want to do well in the Setanta Cup but we want to do well in everything. The league is our main priority but we will be treating the Setanta Cup like every other competition, we want to win."

The former Scunthorpe United player was busy in the close season window tying down players and bringing in new faces and he has stated he is delighted with how his dealings in the market have gone while also expressing his happiness at keeping a settled squad together.

“I am more than happy with the acquisitions we have gone and made. We have managed to keep the majority of the squad from last season which is unheard of for a club to do that in this league. People want to come play for Sligo Rovers. It’s great that people want to come and work in the west of Ireland.”

The title last season was the Bit O’Red’s first in 35 years and their third overall. However, they have never managed to win the crown back-to-back. The 42 year-old has stated that retaining the title is a goal he has set for his players.

“We’ve never retained it. That is something that we are fully focused on, we want to create our own little bit of history. You are always trying to create little goals for players and while we want to win every competition, retaining the league will be our first priority.”