Sean Roughan, He’s One Of Our Own

The title is a song that is never seemingly belted out at Sincil Bank, or anywhere else.

Last night, I heard Freddie Draper is one of our own. I heard Sam Clucas is one of our own. Curiously, I didn’t hear Jovon Makama is one of our own, despite being more or less identical to Freddie in his career path, but that’s a discussion we’ll have another day (and trust me, we will be having that discussion in the summer).

Why do I never hear Sean Roughan is one of our own? In fact, why do I never hear more love for Sean full stop? Here’s a player who is still only 21, who has 123 starts for the club and five goals. He can play left back, left centre back and he’s one of the first names on the teamsheet.

I feel like standing on the gantry with a loudspeaker and asking why the (CENSORED) are we not shouting more about the jewel in the Academy crown?

I guess there are elements of Sean’s personality that some might not find easy to identify with. He’s absolutely no-nonsense, he looks a miserable sod on the pitch, and he’s stoic in his interviews, stoney faced and always 100% focused. I recall when I did an event and asked players to do a quick soundbite along the lines of ‘this is xxx and you’re listening to the Stacey West‘. Ted Bishop wouldn’t do it, all the others made a joke of it. Sean took me to one side, out of the room, so he could get it right with no banter or teammates nearby. He asked for a second take, so that he could try and make it better. I think that sums up his persona perfectly.

In my eyes, that isn’t bad. He’s focused, he’s driven and that has always been the case. When he was cast aside for a season under Michael Appleton, he kept working hard, fighting for his place. When the contract was on the table that is about to run out, he took time to take stock of his actions and make the right decision. They’re not crimes; just because he didn’t sign it in blood as it was coming off the printer shouldn’t be to his detriment. The same goes for this summer.

I think people generally tend to forget how young Sean is, and that perhaps he’s one who could be affected by reactions from the crowd. I crunched some numbers, and his long passing stats are much better when he’s playing in front of the dugouts, rather than when he’s in front of the GBM stand. I took a sample size of the 16 homes matches this season he’s appeared in, and worked out his long passing accuracy for each half. In two of those games we kicked the opposite way in the first half.

His accuracy in front of the dugout, where it is assumed there are fewer moans and groans, was better in ten matches of the 16. Once, his accuracy was the same (Cambridge United), and in only five matches, he performed better in front of the GBM Stand. Of those five matches, we won three, including Peterborough and Reading, meaning a less toxic atmosphere.

Those numbers might seem fairly random, but there is certainly a pattern. Some numbers that are not random are those from across League One, which I also find quite pertinent to the discussion. After doing some research earlier today, I can underline how Sean is one of the better defenders in this division.

His crossing is better than you’d think.

He has delivered 118 crosses this season, the third-highest of any player in the division.

His accuracy is 40.68%, which is the 15th-best in the division.

For context, the two players above him in numbers (Barnett and McClean of…

— The Stacey West (@Staceywestblog) February 19, 2025

As you can see from the Tweet above, he has delivered the third-highest number of crosses in the division this season. That alone is a good stat, but when you consider he’s doing it from central defence rather than wing back or winger, I think it is remarkable. The stat about accuracy is interesting as well—only Ryan Barnett and James McClean have delivered more, and both have lower accuracy.

In fact, of the top 30 players for crosses in the division, only one other player who has played as a centre back for most of the season features, Danny Andrew of Cambridge. Of the rest of top six, Rob Apter, Thierry Small and Joe Powell, all feature lower in the accuracy stats – Apter on 36.75%, Small on 38.26% and Powell 34.5%. That dispels the notion that Roughan’s accuracy is awry, as he’s the most accurate out of the top six prolific crossers.

I have seen the argument that a cross is only as good as the striker it is intended for, and that is hard to put into a stat, granted. You could argue putting it in the six-yard box is important, and Roughan is 18th in the division for that, but as we tend to play a lot towards the back stick, it is a subjective view. I have argued accuracy for crosses can actually be a little unfair on a player, as something flashed across goal that nobody touches is an inaccurate cross.

Of course, it isn’t just about crossing the ball. Where does young Sean appear in the defender stats? In terms of defensive duels, he’s 12th in the division, and contests more than any other Imps defender (which surprised me as well), with Tendayi Darikwa popping up in 30th position. Paudie O’Connor is the best in the division for interceptions, but let it be noted that Sean is 9th, with 170 – that’s nine more the Carl Piergianni, for those who are counting.

All I’ve done here is found numbers to back up my argument, but here’s the thing – I didn’t research this first. I knew the crossing stats, but those defensive stats have literally just been discovered as I’ve written the piece. I know Sean Roughan is quality. I know he’s one of our best players, the jewel in our progression crown and I’ve been utterly delighted to find that those figures back up my arguments.

To finish, would you indulge me? I wanted to look at the 22/23 season, under Mark Kennedy, when we had a really tight defence. I’m not going to say we didn’t have a central defender who could cross that year, because we didn’t play three at the back, and that would fit my argument in a clumsy, offhand manner. No, all I want to do is point out that in terms of total defensive duels, only Paudie featured in the top 30 for the division. In terms of interceptions, Paudie featured as did Regan Poole, who was 22nd (13 places lower than Sean is now).

That season, Poole was regarded as one of our best players, and when he left, many claimed it was criminal to have allowed it. With Sean, he’s 13 places better currently, and while his contract is running out, anyone who wants him will have to risk the compensation fee imposed by the FA. So, not only is he looking to be as good as Poole in some metrics and better in others (crossing), but we’re protected against him leaving after all the time he’s spent at the club.

How on earth are we not signing “Sean Roughan, he’s one of our own” in every single bloody game?