A heated war of words has started between Shamrock Rovers and RTÉ soccer analyst Alan Cawley

There's no holding back here...

RTÉ soccer analyst Alan Cawley's critical comments about Shamrock Rovers and their manager Trevor Croly has prompted a strong backlash from the Tallaght club. Earlier this week Cawley slated Rovers' recent form and overall performance in the SSE Airtricty League Premier Division this season, saying: "The manager is there a year-and-a-half and he still hasn't put a stamp on things. When he came into the job I actually thought he would do well. He came in as a very well regarded coach, which was fine. "But the problem is that he is not a coach any more. He is the manager and it's a whole different ball game as he is finding out. I look at his interviews week in, week out and it's the same rhetoric every week. He is uninspiring, I feel, listening to him. Shamrock Rovers, at the moment, I don't know where they are going." Speaking on RTÉ.ie, he also gave Rovers little chance of winning the league. "I think they are out of the race," he said. "They might be only nine points off the lead but I think they are out of it. They've only scored 10 goals in 11 home games. This is Shamrock Rovers, arguably the biggest club in the country, it's just not good enough." It's fair to say that those comments by Cawley were pretty strong and they haven't gone unnoticed at Shamrock Rovers. Hoops assistant manager John Gill spoke to InTallaght Magazine this week and he was asked about Cawley's comments about Croly being "uninspiring" and the team having "no identity". Gill fired back with some strong words of his own. "I thought [what he said] was disgusting," Gill said. "I could drag a few skeletons out of his closet, I've a few things I could say about Alan Cawley. "Last year I was managing him at Malahide and he refused to warm up in a game because I'd left him out. Why would you bother listening to Alan Cawley? He wouldn't know much about winning anything, he wouldn't win you a corner. "And saying he was "uninspiring?" What does he want? A Peter Kay type who's cracking jokes after every match? It's about running a football club and in my view, Trevor is the right man for the job." We're waiting in anticipation for Alan Cawley's response to that. *JOE puts on some popcorn* Hat-tip to Stephen Bennett who tweeted the story.