Places up for grabs as Mahon wields the axe
UP to half the Drogheda United side could be dropped for the home game against Bray Wanderers tonight (Tuesday) as the management team shuffle the pack following the humiliating defeat by Cork City.
The runaway leaders have inflicted some heavy defeats on other clubs this season and put five past Finn Harps in their previous home game, but the Drogs were lucky to escape with a 5-0 scoreline on Friday evening and they have now slipped to second bottom in the table.
Assistant manager John Gill admitted that the experience was hard for all concerned, but he remains hopeful that the Boynesiders can turn things around and back-to-back home games against Bray and then Derry City this Friday - both kick off at 7.45pm - offer a realistic hope of putting more points on the board.
‘It was hard to stomach and a very humbling experience,’ he began when assessing the game at Turner’s Cross.
‘I actually though we did quite well for the first 10 minutes, but once we gave away the first goal we capitulated for the rest of the half.
‘You look at them and you can say they were very good, but I don’t think it was that. We were poor.
‘We were a little bit better in the second half, but at least we don’t have to go to Cork every week. We have to try and learn from it and move on. In this situation you can bury your head in the sand or try and learn and get stronger.’
Asked about the period of the first half when Drogheda conceded four goals in 10 minutes, Gill insisted his team’s effort couldn’t be faulted.
‘I can’t question their attitude, but maybe I can question their quality at times,’ he responded.
‘In the heat of battle, when you are getting pulverized and are under pressure, it’s hard to think in the heat of battle and players can panic.
‘But each player has received an email with all the goals we’ve conceded and we have to try and learn from our mistakes.
‘We are shipping a great many goals and we have to defend better as a team.
‘It’s up to our senior players to show leadership and help the young players, and I think we can all do more. I am looking at myself and saying ‘can training be better’.’
Gill will hope the defensive issues can be dealt with swiftly as Drogheda prepare to welcome a Bray team who have scored as many goals away from home as Cork - 16 from seven games - and with the short summer break looming he believes it’s vital that the Boynesiders arrest their recent slide.
‘We’ve 14 points and it’s very tight at the bottom, and we probably would have taken that at the start of the season,’ he said.
‘We knew it was going to be a battle, but we have options and we will make changes - I would imagine at least four or five. We have to be seen to be doing something.
‘We have two home games this week and we need to go out and try and get three or four points, and there’s no reason why we can’t. We’ve actually been decent enough at home and I think our season will be defined by our home form.’
Colm Deasy could make his comeback from injury in time for the Bray match and Stephen Elliott was due to return to training last night (Monday), while Drogheda have no suspensions.
Gill said Drogheda hoped to clinch the signing of a 21-yearold, 6ft 2in centre-forward this week who has been training with the club for a number of months, while the club hadn’t given up on securing a work permit for another striker, Joe Efford, who did well in pre-season.
‘Before we even apply for a work permit you need approval from the FAI and I see that Finn Harps have a permit for Pascal Millien, but the FAI won’t approve Joe and I would like to know why.
‘It’s gone a quiet with Joe, but we’ve only scored 13 goals this season and we would like to pursue it.’