What's the way forward?

[Fivesilver]

Is there anything wrong going back to a strong semi professional program with a mixture of pros and locals?

My thoughts exactly.

Why do we have to have an entire squad of full-time professionals? A squad of mostly part-timers with a core of good pros should be easily adequate over the next few years for Premier Division mid-table and a possible poke at Europe or a Cup run. Would such a squad put us on a weaker footing than Galway, Harps, UCD, Bray, Cobh ... ?
Anyway, even by spending the kind of money that perennially rings Sligo Rovers' existence into doubt, we're not going to be able to compete financially with the top four or five, so we'd probably still end up with . . . Premier Division mid-table and a possible poke at Europe or a Cup run.

Sligo Rovers are not going to be able to buy a league title. Even if we finish a couple of places higher than at present, what do we get in return? Does anyone think the league's top clubs have found glamour European ties in Latvia and Armenia to be a stunning return on their investment?

By all means, let's raise as much money for the club as we can. But then let's see it used judiciously, not frittered away a la Shelbourne in a vain chase for short-term gain that does more harm than good.

Rovers can have a quality mid-table Premier team with a largely local make-up. All it needs is a bit of imagination. Local doesn't mean not going beyond Ballisodare, but rather going into the broader traditional hinterland of the club. We should be doing everything possible to root out talented young players from Sligo, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Donegal.

I believe the majority of any money we raise should be spent on doing this in a structured way, as well as improving infrastructure in the Showgrounds and initiatives to attract and keep fans, including whole families, and involve the whole community in the club.

At the risk of repetition, going back to part-time doesn't have to mean going back to the bad old days of scrabbling around in Division 1. An intelligently, imaginatively built part-time squad should be well able to finish mid-table in the Premier - where are the 10 teams that are going to do better? And a local/regional Rovers side winning enough games to finish mid-table and get a Cup run would surely attract bigger crowds that a team getting similar results with practically no local identity. Ideally, that means more money in, less money out.

[Rovers1]

Totally agree Fivesilver, i think a mix of FT and PT players is the future of the EL, even if we had a squad of 20 players, 13 FT and 7 maybe local lads on PT deals, it would be ideal. It doesnt seem the future of the league is too bright attendance wise, so we may as well look long term, not short term. And even on the attendances we are getting, we should be able to sustain a squad with 13 FT players.