AFTER YEARS OF balancing other commitments with his playing career, Evan McMillan is finding the lifestyle as a professional footballer at Sligo Rovers a refreshing change.
Pete Mahon gave the defender his first taste of the League of Ireland at UCD back in 2006 and he spent four years playing in Belfield while at the same time completing a degree in commerce.
Off the pitch, he earned a three-year contract in an accountancy firm and a move to St Patrick’s Athletic followed. Last season, McMillan was arguably Bohemians’ most important player – as well being a solid presence and leading the young side from the back, he was regularly used up front by Aaron Callaghan and finished the campaign with a return of nine goals.
Having completed his accountancy exams and seeing his stock rise as one of the Airtricity League’s best prospects, the former Templeogue United and Mount Merrion schoolboy decided he wanted to throw himself into the deep end and have a crack at playing full-time.
Pat Fenlon invited the 26-year-old to Hibernian for a trial period but the timing was far from ideal (he had just surgery on his knee and wasn’t fully fit) and although Nutsy said something might happen in the New Year, there were other offers on the table so he wasn’t willing to wait around.
Shamrock Rovers (tonight’s opponents) were keen to bring him to Tallaght but, after thinking long and hard about his next step, he opted for a move west to join the Premier Division champions.
Despite Sligo’s recent set-backs after a blistering start to the season, McMillan couldn’t be much happier with how things have gone since arriving.
“It was a difficult choice to make but what swung it was that everyone I spoke to said it was a bit different. People talked about living with your team-mates, training in the morning, focusing on football and resting in the evening. It’s like a set-up you’d find in the UK.
I’ve settled in well. We go in, do our training and eat before coming back out to relax with the lads. It’s quieter than Dublin but there is nothing you can do there that you can’t here so it’s grand.”
Living in Riverstown with his girlfriend, team-mates Ryan Connelly, Seamus Conneely and Gary Rogers are all close by.
“It’s different to other clubs where you go for training for an hour and a half , then you head off home and go to the cinema with your own mates or whatever. Everything is done with your team-mates here.”
Eight league wins on the trot saw the Bit O’Red storm out in front of the chasing pack during the opening six weeks. Their last two league games have returned just a single point however – after a 2-0 defeat to St Pat’s, they had to settle for a 2-2 draw at home to Drogheda last Saturday night.
Manager Ian Baraclough, who McMillan describes as “a calm character” in the dressing room, hasn’t panicked.
“Even when we were winning games, Ian was saying in the media and to us that he hasn’t been overly happy with some of the performances and winning games kind of hid the fact that we weren’t hitting top form.
“We’re not really getting too down about the couple of bad results. We’ve been playing better and did well when we went down to ten men against Drogheda. We’ve started to perform again in the last couple of games so we’re looking to improve on that in Tallaght.
Sligo lost key players Jason McGuinness and Mark Quigley to the Shams after winning their first title in 35 years and although comparisons have been inevitably made between McMillan and McGuinness, he isn’t overly interested to dwell on that and has brought his own personality to the Sligo backline.
“After signing, that comparison was made a lot in interviews and even with people down here. They mentioned the pressure of replacing Jason but I just ignored that.
“Ian told me I’ll have to work to get into the team so is what I was focused on. It was just about impressing the manager and getting into the team.”
Another newcomer who has found his feet instantly at the Showgrounds is striker Anthony Elding, whose 11 goals in 13 games have helped fans forget all about last season’s Player of the Year.
I didn’t know much about him when he came over but he is a good voice in the dressing room and is one of those who gets us going before matches. He’s big and powerful and scores a lot of goals through headers.
“We’re trying to get the ball in to the box and he’s done terrifically well. He’s played in England all his life but he was looking for a new experience and it has worked out for him here.”
McMillan, who sees being a leader on the pitch as one of his strengths, is keen to add to his single goal in a Sligo shirt and tonight’s ‘Rovers Derby’ would be the ideal place to do it.
The Hoops lie a massive 13 points adrift of Sligo after the recent loss to UCD and while McMillan believes the league position doesn’t reflect their performances at time, he adds that the visitors will be looking for nothing less than a win this evening.
“People say they have the best team on paper which is up to them to say but we know they have got very good players. I’ve played with a few of them and there’s no hiding that fact.
“They haven’t started to well and the pressure is probably on them to beat us if they are to give their fans some hope of catching us.
We’re going to go down there and play the way we play. We won’t be going there looking for a draw and I think it’s going to be an open game. They’ve arguable been a bit unlucky as they have played some good football but just aren’t putting the ball in the net.
We know it will be a good footballing game with the ball on the ground but we’re confident we can go to Tallaght and beat them.”
Finally, on a side note, McMillan insists one of his former clubs – where younger brother David is still plying his trade – will be safe come the end of the season despite their early struggles.
“I talk to David all the time. He was obviously very happy last weekend after beating Shamrock Rovers. UCD have struggled but I think they’ll be strong enough to get out of it.
“They always seem to go on a run when a few of the younger lads get used to playing in the league. Martin is one of the top coaches in the country.”
