Stephen O’Donnell said that Dundalk supporters deserved an apology for his side’s display in their FAI Cup quarter-final tie with Galway United on Friday night.
The Tribesmen ripped Dundalk apart in the first half, scoring four goals without reply, to book their place in Tuesday’s semi-final draw.
O’Donnell, who described the night as the ‘lowest point’ of his career, and his players made their way over to the traveling support at full time, and speaking to LMFM after the game, he said the anger on the terraces was fully justified.
On the display…
“It’s an embarrassing night for everyone involved with us. To be 4-0 down at half time is disgraceful really and I can only apologise to the supporters. I know they will be hollow words now. They don’t want apologies after a cup quarter-final but it was nowhere near good enough from everyone involved.”
On the supporters…
“They were angry – and rightly so. Everything they said was spot on, and I said that in the dressing room afterwards. This is the team they love, this is the club they love, and for us to go and serve that in a cup quarter-final, as a group, we deserve every bit of stick and flack that we get. Even saying sorry seems a bit false. Supporters don’t want to hear sorry, they want us to progress to the semi-finals and show what the game is about and what the club is about. We didn’t do that.”
On Dundalk having a ‘soft side’…
“Without a doubt, we do. We have to try and find out why – but that’s what it is. There’s no way to sugarcoat it. We’re soft, we concede too many goals, and we look vulnerable and we look so porous. Physically, we were a mile off it tonight. We got battered and I include myself, the staff, and everyone involved tonight. We came down here and we were an absolute country mile off.”
On the players…
“I hope they feel the same as me. You can’t get much lower than this. This is the lowest point of my career and I hope it’s the lowest point of a lot of the players’ careers because to serve that up in a fat cup quarter-final is criminal.”
On lifting the players…
“We have to. We can’t let this be our final action. We have to show character, We can’t be judged on this. I know we will tonight but anything I’m associated with, or any group I want to be associated with, I don’t want to be judged on a performance like tonight.”
