Rodney McAree clear 'if you don't earn your wage, you end up losing your job' after Dungannon Swifts' sixth Premiership defeat
Dungannon Swifts manager Rodney McAree was clear “if you don't earn your wage, you end up losing your job” after watching his side fall to their sixth Premiership defeat of the season against Crusaders – and feels “we have to deliver a bit back” to the club’s supporters.
The Co Tyrone outfit enjoyed arguably the greatest season in club history last term as they followed up a joint-best Premiership finish of fourth by winning a maiden Irish Cup crown, but they’ve endured a difficult start to the new campaign.
After losing their opening five matches, Dungannon picked up a welcome win at basement side Glenavon last weekend, but they were unable to build on that momentum as goals from Josh Williamson, Adam Brooks and Fraser Bryden sealed victory for the Crues.
Another cause of concern for McAree will be the amount of goals his side are currently leaking – no team has conceded more (16) at this stage.
Saturday’s third was a particularly low moment for the Swifts as Robbie Weir ran unchallenged to pick up a loose ball before Bryden headed home under limited pressure at the back post to kill off the game.
While McAree understands confidence is low following a tough run, he isn’t willing to accept his side not doing the basics and admits more is required.
"I think the confidence is a little bit low, but I don't see any reason why you shouldn't run or work hard,” he said. “That's the basics.
"Teams go out on the pitch, teams have to work hard. You have to give your all for your team.
"We spoke in the dressing room about supporters coming in and paying their hard-earned money. I know a lot of supporters are coming in and I know it's a lot of money for people to come and watch Irish League games. We have to deliver a bit back.
"Everybody's earning a couple of quid that's in the dressing room. No matter how much that is, you have to earn your wage.
"If you go to your job and you don't earn your wage, you end up losing your job. I'm a realist towards that as well. We just need to do a wee bit more and give a wee bit back.”
As Bryden was heading home his fifth league goal of the campaign – he sits atop the Premiership’s charts after a fine start to life in the Irish League – McAree had three substitutes standing ready to try and make an impact on the game with 25 minutes still to play.
"They were three forward-thinking players and we were trying to get back into the game,” he added. "We knew that if we got the next goal at 2-0, anything could happen, but we weren't reactive enough all over the pitch.
"If we're going to improve things and we're going to get out of the situation that we're in at this moment in time, we have to create our own little bit of fortune as well.
"We just can't hope and rely on things going our way. It was disappointing. I thought we started the second half reasonably well and the third goal then killed us...it's a wee bit disheartening to be honest.”