Sligo Rovers announced Micky Adams as their new manager yesterday and brought an end to the first chapter in what we hope will become a long managerial career for Joseph Ndo. Let us look at how things panned out.
April 9 - Ndo brought into Sligo Rovers coaching staff
After a disastrous start to his managerial reign in Sligo, Owen Heary brought in two extra coaches with Liam O'Brien and Joseph Ndo coming on board. It was Ndo's first involvement with coaching at LOI level.
Joseph will bring some new ideas to the coaching side. He has only recently finished playing and will be able to bring that experience into coaching
June 5 - Shamrock Rovers 5 Sligo Rovers 1
In the aftermath of a heavy defeat away to Shamrock Rovers, rumours circulate that Sligo and Heary will part ways 3 months into the league season.
June 12 - Sligo Rovers 1 Dundalk 2
Official line from @sligorovers 'Owen Heary is still the manager.' But he isn't at The Showgrounds as Joseph Ndo and Gavin Dykes take charge
— Liam Maloney (@omaoldhomhnaigh) June 12, 2015
It wasn't confirmed yet, but the Joseph Ndo era had begun.
June 26 - Sligo Confirm Heary "departure"
In the middle of Owen Heary's commentary gig for Setanta Sports, Sligo confirmed his departure. You can watch the video and see how Heary denied he resigned.
June 27 - Bray Wanderers 1 Sligo Rovers 0
Bray Wanderers, deep in their own issues, beat Ndo and Dykes's Sligo 1-0 to leave Sligo perislously close to the bottom of the table. Among those not to play was experienced defender Alan Keane.
June 29 - Ndo appears on Ocean FM's "Rovers Review"
He lashes some sections of the Sligo support.
You have a time to criticise and a time to support. You’re not just a fan when the team is going well.
Most of the people in Sligo forget where the club came from. A few years ago we were not talking about winning the league or Europe but because we started to have success, we thought we were better than we really are.
July 2 - Alan Keane apologises
Alan Keane released a statement on the club website.
Unfortunately there has been an incident on my behalf and I'm sincerely sorry for the unwanted headlines which let my team mates, staff and club down.
Nobody can find any of the headlines that he referred to but it's clear he was dropped v Bray for disciplinary reasons.
July 4 - Sligo Rovers 1 Galway United 1
Keane returns to the line up but can't help Sligo to a first win under Ndo. Connaught rivals Galway stay ahead of Sligo.
July 7 - Sligo confirm Ndo/Dykes in charge
In a 33 word statement on their website, Sligo Rovers confirm their temporary bosses.
After careful evaluation and consideration of the managerial options available, the club wish to confirm that Joseph Ndo and Gavin Dykes have been appointed to take charge of first team coaching and management.
Neither man had the required UEFA Pro licence to manage in the Premier Division so this measure would only be temporary.
July 11 - Sligo Rovers 3 Longford Town 2
The first win of the Ndo era and a first Sligo win in 2 months. It was only their 2nd home win all season. It had been October since Sligo last scored 3 goals in a league game. Could the magic of Ndo be rubbing off? It seem like it in the first half with all 3 goals in a 13 minute burst but in the end Sligo were hanging on a little.
July 17 - Bohemians 1 Sligo Rovers 0
In a live Setanta Game, Sligo were back to pre-Ndo form and struggled to create much. When they did, Morten Nielsen missed this chance.
July 24 - Sligo Rovers 0 St Patrick's Athletic 3
Another Setanta Sports live TV game. One that started with Owen Heary interviewing Ndo and asking him:
After gettin' me the sack, how are you gettin' on?
Ndo employed an attacking 3-6-1 formation with the 3 at the back being made up of centre half Gavin Peers playing right side, right full Alan Keane playing in the centre and right sided attacker Raf Cretaro playing left side of defence. It was a surprise to nobody that Pats scored 3.
July Transfer Window
With Ndo in charge the following players left Sligo Rovers; Steven Beattie, Stephen Folan (both to Cork City), Eoin Wearan (Bohs).
In came; Patrick Nzuzi, Jason Hughes (both Limerick), Rob Lehane (Cork City loan), Tim Clancy (Shamrock Rovers loan).
The 3 players that left were all signed by Owen Heary before the start of this season.
August 1 - Limerick 3, Sligo Rovers 2
Limerick had not won in their opening 21 games this season. That changed when Ndo's Sligo (Dykes had clearly taken a backseat by now) came to town. The defeat left Sligo 3 points adrift of Derry and in the relegation play off spot. They still remain 7 points ahead of Limerick but there's no doubt that Limerick's confidence will have taken a boost. It proved to be Ndo's last match in charge. He left us with an amazing TV interview
"The bird makes his nest" - @sligorovers manager Joseph Ndo saw a positive from Saturday's defeat to Limerick.https://t.co/urKHyOw727
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) August 4, 2015
Ndo is clearly one of the best players the league has seen in recent years, and also one of the more interesting charachters. For everyone's sake, let's hope he's back in the Greatest League In The World soon. It should be pointed out that Owen Heary left the club in a bit of a mess. It wasn't really fair to expect Ndo to sort it out in 6 weeks.
Ndo's record as manager of Sligo
Played 7 Won 1 Drew 1 Lost 5 Scored 7 Conceded 13
