Mahon may wield axe in bid to halt Drogs’ slide
PETE Mahon admits Drogheda United have now entered ‘must-win’ territory in their battle to avoid relegation from the Premier Division – and he has informed his squad that unless there’s improvement there will be departures this month.
Drogheda are without a win in 10 league outings now and Friday’s defeat to Limerick was the latest poor showing in a league campaign that has collapsed after a promising start back in February. Nine games into the second round of fixtures and Drogheda are yet to taste victory in the second third of the campaign.
Performances have offered little in the way of indicating a change is around the corner. Mahon labelled the defeat to the Shannonsiders last week ‘absolutely shocking’ and has confirmed that he is attempting to bring in two or three new faces in the transfer window.
July sees Finn Harps, Sligo Rovers, Galway United and St Patrick’s Athletic provide the opposition in the next four games and the Drogheda manager believes some new players can help the club stop the rot. Beyond the visit of the men from Ballybofey on Friday, Mahon will run the rule over at least four players when Ipswich visit United Park this Saturday.
‘We’ll be looking at a minimum of four, maybe even six, on Saturday. If it is six – there’ll be a centre back, two midfielders, two wide players and a centre forward. We won’t obviously sign six players but if we get two or three, I’ll be able to afford that no problem,’ he said.
‘But if you bring three players into a squad of 22, it’s only right that you let a few players go. That sounds awful for players to be reading this in the newspaper but I’ve told them that there may be changes. The players now have another couple of weeks to start performing so they make it extra hard for me to let anyone go.
‘They’re all good lads, they’ve all given 100% especially the lads who were there last year. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet. That’s what I’m paid for – to make decisions.’
Mahon says that after such a poor run of form the club are entering a period now where they must put points on the board or risk losing sight of the teams directly above them. That task starts with the visit of Finn Harps on Friday (kick-off 7.45pm).
‘If there ever was a must-win game, it’s Friday. We have to win. All of the pressure is on us because if don’t win, Finn Harps could go five points ahead of us. It’s a really, really season defining game.
‘The crowd was flat there last Friday. They don’t seem to have the same enthusiasm coming from the terraces as there was last year but on the other side of that too, the team hasn’t given the supporters much to cheer about. We have to try and get some good performances under our belt and move away from this position we find ourselves in.
When quizzed about whether the toll of enduring such a run in the Premier Division was having an effect on players confidence, Mahon said that his squad trained well but seemed to ‘freeze a little on the pitch.’
‘Maybe we’re a bit overawed,’ he said. ‘We have a good few players in the team who haven’t played at this level before. That could be proving a step too far for them.
‘I don’t think the modern day player dwells too much on defeats where the likes of myself does. I don’t know whether it means the same to them as it means to myself and the staff. They get in their cars, they go home and they forget about it.
‘Whereas we go off, have cup of tea and we start analysing the game straight away. Maybe we’re a little too tense in terms of what we do.
Colm Deasy didn’t last the first 45 minutes against Limerick and the right back is rated as extremely doubtful to face Finn Harps on Friday but there is better news regarding Richie Purdy who is expected to feature after he was withdrawn at half time last week as a precaution. His hamstring strain is not serious and he trained on Sunday morning.
Gavin Brennan remains out with an ankle injury but Mahon is hopeful striker Stephen Elliott is available. Thomas Byrne has served his suspension.
We’ll be looking at a minimum of four, maybe even six, on Saturday. If it is six – there’ll be a centre back, two midfielders, two wide players and a centre forward. We won’t obviously sign six players but if we get two or three, I’ll be able to afford that no problem