Europa Conference League, Group F: KAA Gent v Shamrock Rovers, Ghelamco Arena, Thursday, 5.45pm – Live on Virgin Media Two & BT Sport Four
With progress comes respect. The Belgians were minding their phraseology ahead of Shamrock Rovers’ arrival in East Flanders. Not a hint of “British” and “style” to be found in the same sentence.
What’s more, the local media tracked down Dominic Foley, the former Gent and Republic of Ireland striker, at his Ford dealership in Cork for the skinny on Rovers’ possession-based approach. They even figured out that Foley is a peer of the Tallaght club’s sporting director Stephen McPhail, who spread the ball about for Leeds United before injury cruelly intervened.
“Shamrock Rovers is not the weak brother of our pool,” warned Gent manager Hein Vanhaezebrouck. “So it will certainly not be easy, but we play at home and you have to win those matches.”
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All four teams in Group F are level following nil-nil draws on opening night, with Norway league leaders Molde seeking to steal points in Stockholm against Djurgardens, before Rovers visit on October 6th.
So much can happen between then and now as Rovers must trek to the Brandywell for the FAI Cup quarter-final on Sunday before squeezing in three League of Ireland fixtures ahead of the Norwegian expedition.
Battling on three fronts in September is the precise position McPhail and manager Stephen Bradley envisioned when building this Rovers squad. Talk about dipping into resources is very real as Bradley took a serious risk to bench Jack Byrne, Daniel Cleary and Rory Gaffney against Djurgardens, while gifting 17 year old Justin Ferizaj an attacking midfield role.
“He done really well,” said Bradley of Ferizaj, “but we shouldn’t be surprised, he has that in him.
“I trust every player in the group. I believe in them. I genuinely don’t believe we have a strongest starting XI. We want to compete on all fronts, we want to win the league, we want to win the cup, we want to win games in Europe. To do that we need every player in the squad to be ready to play, and I believe we have that.”
Byrne, finally, completed his first 90 minutes since May 13th in last Sunday’s 5-1 thumping of Finn Harps and a brilliant pass for Gaffney almost put the Swedes to the sword late on last week, so expect both men to start on Thursday evening.
There may not be a strongest starting XI, but the most experienced is needed to avoid a repeat of chastising defeats in Bulgaria and Greece earlier this season.
Gent are struggling of late without Moroccan winger Tarik Tissoudali, lying fifth in the domestic table. Add at least 1,000 Rovers fans to the 20,000 capacity Ghelamco Arena, with tickets available due to the rush-hour kick-off, and a special result is not beyond the realms of possibility.
In theory, Rovers should struggle to contain prolific new signing Hugo Cuypers and a squad that reflects the African recruitment system put in place by technical director Michel Louwagie.
“I saw more than one of their matches so I don’t understand how other people call them typically British,” added Vanhaezebrouck. “I’ve no idea who did the scouting for those other teams that described them like that.
“I don’t know Irish football enough to estimate what is typically Irish, but they are a technical team who don’t play kick and rush. If that’s what you’re alluding to as quintessentially Irish, then no. It is a very technical team with players who are strong on the ball and who pass the ball well.”
The ‘typical Irish style’ is being redefined by Rovers odyssey across Belgium and Scandinavia via Derry. It’s a nightmarish schedule, that also includes a Dublin derby at Tolka Park and a round trip to Sligo. But this is precisely what Rovers seek. A kick and rush draw would do nicely.
