Rodney McAree reveals secret behind Dungannon Swifts' return to winning ways
Rodney McAree revealed an open and honest conversation over Dungannon Swifts’ recent defending woes – which included “a few arguments” – helped pave the way for Saturday’s Premiership victory over Glenavon, but the Stangmore Park chief isn’t getting carried away by their progression up the table.
The County Tyrone outfit had conceded only 10 goals in their opening 13 league matches this term, but then leaked 11 in consecutive defeats to Loughgall, Coleraine and Cliftonville before getting back on track against the Lurgan Blues.
Barney McKeown’s own goal ensured the Swifts’ impressive first half recorded continued – no team has been winning more matches (11) at the break so far this season than McAree’s men while only leaders Linfield have scored more goals in the opening 45 minutes – and Kealan Dillon sealed three points by rounding Gareth Deane after a sublime pass from Thomas Maguire.
Victory also returned Dungannon to the summit of the home form table, collecting 19 points from a potential 27 at Stangmore Park, and an eighth clean sheet, which is another league-high, was perhaps the most pleasing aspect for McAree.
"The mood has never changed,” he reflected on the three defeats. “Our training is very good and our focus and attitude in training is very good.
"We had a meeting on Tuesday night to address the goals we’ve conceded. We had a look at them all and were open and transparent. The odd finger was pointed and there were a few arguments off the back of it, but we have to do that.
"It’s not a bad thing. We have to do it if we’re going to improve. It’s alright getting pats on the back but we have to take criticism from time to time and look at where we made mistakes and correct them."
Dungannon remain on track for their first top-six finish since 2009/10 in what is a mightily competitive Premiership campaign where only six points separates second-placed Cliftonville and Larne in ninth.
While it would be easy to get swept away by emotion given their current form, McAree wants to maintain a sense of “realism” about what’s possible against clubs with significantly more resources.
"It’s a surprise when you here people talking about bumps in the road for Dungannon,” he added. “We lost three games in a row, but I’ve been at this club when we’ve probably not won in 13.
"I said to the coaching staff when we got back into the dugout ‘this will determine where we are in comparison to last season’ because last season we were very good at times in the first half and threw it away in the second half.
"The only thing, and this is the honest truth, that I looked at after the match was to see how far we are off the bottom of the table and I know it’s 15 points.
"That’s maybe being negative but there’s a realism with me too. We’re Dungannon Swifts, we probably have the second-lowest budget in the league and we have to keep our feet on the ground and focus on each game.”