ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC assistant manager Ger O’Brien said his team’s performances have gone ‘beyond a joke’ following their turgid 3-1 home defeat to Bohemians on Friday night.
The loss comes as the SSE Airtricity League returns to action follow it’s mid-season break, with the Inchicore club rooted bottom of the table with just three wins in 18 games.
St Pat’s took the lead in the Dublin derby when 21-year-old Alex O’Hanlon scored his first league goal for the club since signing from Liverpool during the off-season, however three goals followed from Bohemians after the break.
Oscar Brennan levelled proceedings six minutes after the interval before Dinny Corcoran and Georgie Poynton secured a memorable win for Keith Long’s side.
“We are coughing up absolutely scandalous goals to be honest”, said O’Brien who is overseeing a player/manager role this season as assistant to Liam Buckley.
“It’s the exact same thing happening over and over again. To be honest we were left in a situation tonight with suspensions where we didn’t have enough bodies to change things. It’s coming into July and the transfer window is opening up soon and I’m sure Liam is looking at things.
“But we need to be getting more out of this group. The boys need to be getting more out of themselves. When they cross the white line it’s them on the pitch. More often than not the players are getting away quite lightly.
“Certainly there is no-one getting away lightly in our dressing room. They understand the predicament we are in and we need to go again next week in Limerick.
“We had a really good performance up in Tallaght two weeks ago. In the first half we did okay, disappointed to be down a goal. In the second half I thought we were fantastic”, he said on St Pat’s 1-1 draw with Shamrock Rovers before the mid-season break.
“But we can’t keep making excuses for the lads. Everyone needs to step up to the plate – players, staff. It’s getting beyond a joke now at this stage. Ultimately games are going by thick and fast.”
St. Pat’s were the last side to win the Premier Division before Dundalk secured three titles in a row from 2013 to 2016.
The club has never been relegated from the top flight but fears are growing that the club could go down to the First Division due to the fact that three sides face automatic relegation this season.
Asked if the panel of players at Richmond Park was good enough, O’Brien said the squad needed to bring significant more consistency to their performances.
“It’s hard to say, I think we can judge that at the end of the season”, he said of his players’ performances. “We are midpoint in the season now and we need to make sure that we bring some sort of consistency to our game.
“As Liam has said numerous times we are probably not strong enough together as a collective group to deal with setbacks. We need to make sure that mentality changes.
“In the first half I thought we were quite good, went in at half-time and was quite happy, expecting more of the same.
“We told them that Bohemians would start quite quickly and we just didn’t get a foothold in the game. From the second half onwards we played silly long balls which we never ask anyone to do.
“It was comical from our point of view. It’s a continuous theme now, and it’s frustrating. There is no hiding place in football. Everyone has to stand up and be counted.”
Additional reporting by Harry Manning
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