Galway United manager Tommy Dunne, hugely disappointed to exit the FAI Cup following a tame defeat against Bohemians, is now hoping for a significant ‘improvement’ when the Tribesmen host Sligo Rovers in the SSE Aitricity League premier division at Eamonn Deacy Park on Sunday (3pm ).
United were comprehensively beaten by the Gypsies on a chilling night for the Galwegians, who failed to seriously examine the Dubliners. Unsurprisingly Dunne is demanding his players summon a quick and gutsy response.
“Improvement is what I am looking for from everybody involved,” Dunne says. “What I'm looking for is some sort of drive and desire to go to win a football match. I didn't see that against Bohemians.”
Keith Long’s Bohemians demonstrated the necessary grit and determination to claim a surprisingly comfortable win, despite a string of decent saves from Galway goalkeeper Conor Winn. “It could have been worse, only for the goalkeeper, it could have been a lot worse,” was Dunne’s verdict.
“I will say this, we just weren't at it, we weren't at the races. We just didn't get going, we didn't play, we didn't create enough chances. The basics of competing and battling in a game just weren't there.
"They were hungrier for it, they were hungrier throughout the game. When you don't close the ball down on the edge of your box, what do you expect? Paddy Kavanagh, the one individual you'd be saying that has to be closed down on the edge of the box, we were standing off him.
“Nobody went to clear the ball out, then we had a free kick in an attacking area and we end up picking the ball up out of our net. There was a complete lack of discipline in every aspect.
“Guys switch off, sometimes I wonder when I speak to them, are they listening? I tell you one thing, that is not good enough. It is not good enough for anybody involved in the club.”
It was a particularly poor performance, he said.
“Normally I'd be saying certain play didn't go well, but when you don't turn up to compete, and you don't turn up to give the basics of tackling, head, control, pass - if you can't do that in a match, you have no chance of winning it. This, for me, was possibly one of the worst I've seen in a while.
“Going to Dalymount was always going to be difficult and when you go to Dalymount you have got to be solid and strong and aggressive. They hadn't scored for a while and you say 'here you go, there is a present for you' it is no use.”
With the transfer window looming, Dunne says there could be some movement in July.
“Now the question is: are one or two good enough for it or up for it and ready for this level? At the moment from where I am looking one or two are not.
“We were looking to get guys forward as much as we possibly could, but for me we weren't at the pitch of the game. That was the problem. They played a similar system to us, but they were at the pitch of the game. In all departments we were second best.”
