'That was unacceptable': Jim Magilton blasts 'really poor end to really poor season' for Cliftonville
Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton blasted his side’s 2-1 European play-off semi-final defeat to Dungannon Swifts as “a really poor end to what has probably been a really poor season”.
The Reds had sealed a spot in Europe across Magilton’s first two seasons by winning the Irish Cup in 2024 before coming through the play-offs in impressive style last term having bounced back from the disappointment of cup final heartbreak.
They’ll be absent from the continental stage this summer after Kealan Dillon’s winner helped Dungannon set up a showdown with Linfield for the Irish League’s final berth – Larne, Coleraine and Glentoran have already guaranteed progression.
Having missed out on a top-half Premiership finish last term, Cliftonville returned to the top-six this term, ending the campaign in fifth.
They were defeated on penalties across three different competitions – a Senior Shield final against Carrick, Irish Cup semi-final by Dungannon and BetMcLean Cup quarter-final against Glentoran.
Magilton was left furious with his side’s weekend performance and feels the North Belfast outfit have “let ourselves down” in the biggest games this season.
“We let so many people down today,” he said on the club’s website. “Dungannon deserved to win the game, we have to say that, but for us, we were nowhere near the levels.
“You’re going in at half-time after both teams have conceded poor goals from set plays.
"We settled down in the second half and expected an onslaught – we didn’t get that. We didn’t test the goalkeeper enough, we didn’t ask enough questions and it’s probably typical of big games – we’ve let ourselves down badly in big games.
“There weren’t enough leaders in the team, there weren’t enough people smelling blood.
“It’s a really poor end to what has probably been a really poor season.
"There was a lot of ‘what ifs?’ – losing on penalties, you can look to that; you can look to semi-final losses, the County Antrim Shield Final loss, quarter-final losses, whatever it is, but today was an opportunity for players to really stand up and be counted and we didn’t.
"We have to accept that that was an unacceptable performance.
“There are zero excuses, no excuses. I’m not looking for excuses. I just thought we were so, so poor. We lacked energy and intensity.
“That was winner takes all and that’s what turned up for us. I thought it was an awful performance.”