‘No hiding place’ Stephen O’Donnell's reaction to Sligo defeat 

Dundalk's poor start to the League of Ireland season continued at Oriel Park last night when they were trounced by Sligo rovers by five goals to nil to leave them rock bottom in the table.  

The side played with little confidence, and for keeper George Shelvey, it was a night to forget as he was responsible for four of the goals and poor defending in the Dundalk box.  

Shelvey was subbed at half time for second keeper Ross Munro. I have never seen this happen at Oriel before. Manager, Stephen O’Donnell kept his players in the dressing room for an hour and a half after the game. He then faced the task of meeting the local media. 

Despite Dundalk going down to their worst league defeat since Shelbourne beat them 5-1 in August 1991 at Oriel, O'Donnell says that he still has no doubt about the talent that there is in his group of players. Dundalk were poor in midfield and all at sea in the defence. The manager basically agreed with this.  

Cameron Elliott got little supply of the ball as Sligo dominated in defence, midfield and attack. But in fairness it was the nightmare goals conceded by the keeper that sank Dundalk. The manager, to be fair, did not single his keeper out for blame. 

O'Donnell was adamant that he was not leaving Oriel last night questioning the talent within his group of players. He says everything just needs to be a lot cleaner and that is what he would say. He accepted the result had left him feeling to be at his lowest point since he came to the club in December 2021.  

The 4-0 defeat to Galway in the cup last season left him feeling equally as low. All the players had been left feeling very hurt as a result of the heavy defeat. The manager says they had been left feeling embarrassed at what had happened.  

O'Donnell said the feeling was also ashamed and he did not think that this was too strong a word. The manager said there was a massive amount of accountability among the whole squad at what they are providing. The softness of the goals given away ensured Dundalk would never achieve anything in the game. 

The manager says the huge dip in form since the Shamrock Rovers game at the start of the season ultimately comes back to him. He says his side must be a lot cleaner on both sides of the ball. The squad were all looking forward to the game for the past nine days in training.  

The Dundalk boss said there was no hiding place from the result. The scoreline from last night is now out there. He said it is what it is. The reaction to the result will be what it is and that will be totally understandable. The boss was adamant he would never hide behind such a result. But Dundalk have a talented group and it was all about them getting real clarity in everything they do. 

O'Donnell says nobody would believe the hurt he or how the whole squad was feeling. He says that they all have a hollow feeling after the game. But they have to take the medicine Dundalk must take a good look at themselves and they have got to produce better.  

To get things back on an even keel, the first thing that must be done is review what happened last night against Sligo. He says they cannot just let the result go untouched. He says he now has to get the group ready to produce more for Friday night's game at Inchicore. 

The manager says it is not how other teams started. Dundalk just need to focus on themselves. It's not about the league being competitive or different results throwing up different score lines.  

It's about within the walls of Oriel and what is the team's foundation and platform. It’s not about anyone else. O'Donnell says what killed them was giving away early goals in last night's game and against Galway.  

He said that they must rectify the problem of looking so cohesive against Shamrock Rovers to the huge dip in form against Galway and Sligo. The scoreline against Sligo is just not acceptable. Now it's about character and getting ready for the turnaround against Pat's next Friday at Inchicore and to ensure the team can bounce back. 

The manager says that the team stayed behind in the dressing room for an hour and a half after the game, because they are a group that really cares. He says it was just about finding the dynamic regarding clarity what the team and manager are doing.

They looked at clarity about how they go about things and clarity about the way they train. He also said they looked at clarity about what they are all looking for as a group. Stephen O'Donnell says that things are a bit scratchy from every aspect of the team performances.

They are all training very well. But in the game against Galway last Friday week there was no clear identity. He says the players must get identity and they must become a team that the supporters at the bare minimum know what they are going to get on a Friday night.

They must all have total accountability to produce that. The Dundalk boss believes that they have got to get themselves right before banking on getting a good result to get things right. The Dundalk boss says they have got to build from within first to help them achieve the result that could kick start their season. He said that the players are a lot better than they showed last night.

O'Donnell confirmed that defender Mayowa had to come off after sustaining a head injury and concussion when he got an elbow into the face. But he says that Mayowa is fine. He will be monitored and checked in the coming days but is not in any distress.

He says that he has no qualms or problems when fans booed the team three times during the game. That he says goes with the pressure of being a player or a coach. In professional football that's life. The fans he says were totally right to boo when the team went three nil down. This he says is their prerogative. But the manager said yet again that he did think his players were a talented group.

He says when things go wrong on the pitch, he is going to get the flack, that he says is fine and is no problem. The fans he says did turn on his players last night. He says he always wanted them to play with confidence and to play with freedom. O'Donnell says he would hate to see the dynamic of fans turning on players and they then turning in on themselves. 

He says what will get fans on side with the players is the team getting results and that this is the business they are in. Stephen says he himself of course feels under pressure. The team had just lost 5-0 at home. 

Anytime a manager suffers from a result like that at home a manager will feel some semblance of pressure. He says he is okay with that. This is part of the course. Again, he stressed he had a big belief in the squad.

He had belief in the calibre of the players and still had big belief in himself. He has a big belief in the coaching staff. The squad work in a very good environment and there was a really good culture in Oriel. The manager says he has every confidence that they will get the ship sailing and that he has every faith that they will get things right.