SHAMROCK ROVERS’ European progress may have disrupted wedding plans but it has also laid bare troubled relationships.
On Thursday night, the Hoops host FK Borac Banja Luka looking for a win to boost their chances of bypassing the play-off round of the Europa Conference League to go straight into the last 16.
A week later, they face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, where points will be harder to come by.
According to Lee Grace, those two games are all that is occupying his mind, even though he has some other significant dates on the horizon.
On December 28, he will get married to his fiancé Emma. The defender squeezed in a stag night in Liverpool at the end of the League campaign.
A honeymoon to Cape Town will be fitted in before preparations begin for the 2025 League of Ireland.
But he said: “Our focus is the games we have coming up. I’m getting married at the end of the month and I haven’t even thought about that. Don’t tell my missus.
“My full focus is on this game first and then Chelsea next week and then we can enjoy a bit of a break.
“We started back on December 18 last year and when the Chelsea game comes around it will be a full year non-stop.
“We’re not complaining, it’s what we play the game for, I’m sure if you asked any other player in the League they’d like to be in our position. We’re just enjoying it.
“These are the games you want to be playing in as a footballer, I’m lucky enough, this is my second group stages and hopefully plenty more to come.”
His manager Stephen Bradley made a similar point but in a different context having suggested that not everyone at the club was taking the same enjoyment from their run and that, if they could not do so, they should leave.
It was a reference to simmering tensions between some of those who were responsible for saving the club in 2005 when it had been placed into examinership on one hand, and Ray Wilson and Dermot Desmond on the other.
The lifelong Hoops fan and Celtic owner each own 25 percent of the club, with Rovers members owning the other half.
Some are concerned by the fact that the members stumped up a considerable amount of money last year which was not matched by the two private owners.
And they fear the two wealthy men are seeking to claim a bigger share at their expense, something which they have denied.
Bradley made a pointed reference about being happy with the support he had received from ‘a lot’ of the people around the club and said there were ‘aspects that can definitely improve’.
Asked to elaborate, the Hoops chief said: “I was asked the question and I said for the club to keep improving, we need alignment.
“We need us to have a clear direction in terms of where everyone wants to go. And that is the kind of thing that should exist in any organisation, whether it is a football club or not.
“We are no different. If the club want to keep progressing and building on what these players are doing then we need everyone to want to go in the same direction and not to pull in different directions.
“Because that is not healthy for anyone.
“We should not be sitting here talking about this on the eve of a big European game when you have that man sitting beside me, a guy who is one of the best players in the league and who has been for some time.
“It should be about him and the players and what they are doing but instead of that I am being asked questions about what direction the club wants to go.
“It is above my pay grade but I know for sure to keep growing, you need everyone to want to go in one direction and that is forward. You need everyone to be better every year.
“And if we have not got that, you can find yourself going in a different direction. We all need to be very careful about that.”
Rovers did surrender their league crown this year after four successive titles but Bradley again insisted any public post-mortem would have to wait until after the Chelsea game.
HOOP DREAMS
And, despite their domestic disappointment, their European progress has continued and there is one remaining target for 2024 which is to bypass the play-off round and proceed directly to the last 16.
That would ensure that their first game of 2025 would be their league opener against Bohemians at the Aviva Stadium on February 16.
The first leg of a play-off round tie would take place three days earlier and Bradley said: “That would be really important for us.”
Borac have seven points compared to Rovers’ eight meaning the visitors’ need is greater but Bradley said: “If you’re asking us if we’re going to take our foot off, the answer is no.
“We want to put ourselves in the hat for automatic qualification. It’s difficult, I understand they are saying 12 points is the bar. We’ll just have to go and beat Chelsea then won’t we?”
That was said with a smile with the Hoops coach also laughing off a question as to whether Danny Grant – who has signed after he parted company with Bohs – had been pointed in the direction of a tattoo removal expert given his calf bears his image as a small boy standing at Dalymount Park.
And, despite the underlying tension at the club, they will be put aside at least for a while if another big European result can be claimed on Thursday.
Danny Mandroiu, Graham Burke and Aaron Greene are all available, although Aaron McEneff, Rory Gaffney, Sean Hoare and Richie Towell will not be involved.
Borac’s Sandi Ogrinec had an idea of what to expect, even before he was presented with his opposition analysis clips.
He said: “I come from Slovenia and they played Celje. I watched this game and they knocked Celje out.
“Celje are a good team and I saw Shamrock Rovers are also good. It’s going to be a good game. Let’s see who is better.”