Graham Cummins: It's not a good sign if Dundalk are already talking about winning ugly

 Michael Duffy, left, and Cameron Dummigan of Dundalk during the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division match between Dundalk and Bohemians at Oriel Park in Dundalk, Louth. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile

WHEN you’re used to winning, then suddenly you can’t buy a win, it’s not easy to turn things around. Dundalk have dominated Irish football for years, winning trophy after trophy but they are struggling this season and it’s up to manager Shane Keegan to arrest the slide. It can’t be easy for Keegan with Filippo Giovagnoli in the background — it’s difficult to say who has the final say when it comes to picking the team.

Whoever picked the team against Bohemians should come under scrutiny. There was no balance to Dundalk. We often see teams select wingers like Michael Duffy who play on the opposite wing to their stronger foot, so they can come inside onto their stronger foot to get a shot off. I never feel it is a good idea for managers to take a similar approach when selecting their full-backs. Playing Cameron Dummigan — a right-footed player — at left-back meant that he wasn’t comfortable overlapping Duffy which made it easy for Bohemians to defend.

Ole Erik Midtskogen is a centre-forward who played on the wing and looked uncomfortable there. It reminded me of the few times I played right-wing. I always felt I was just ‘doing a job’ for the team there. In reality, I caused more problems for my team because I didn’t know what I was doing half the time.

Wingers are meant to be positive, tricky players that cause defenders problems but I’d imagine full-backs were licking their lips coming up against me because I couldn’t dribble past a player and all I did was get the ball and pass it backward. My main contribution was winning headers from our kickouts.

Playing on the wing made me look a worse player than I was. And it was the same with Midtskogen.

Certain players can play both as a number nine and as a winger. For Manchester United, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford have played in both positions — and been excellent at times in both — because they are quick, sharp players who can do a trick on the pitch. I don’t think I ever did a stepover in my career.

United wouldn’t play Edinson Cavani on the wing because he isn’t suited to it. Midtskogen looks a similar case. The striker was a big signing for Dundalk, and I would imagine he wasn’t cheap. It seems that Dundalk are trying to shoehorn him into the team rather than select the players best suited for that position.

Watching their game last week, the Lilywhites reminded me a lot of the Cork City team I was part of in 2019. They looked a side that felt sorry for themselves, who showed very little fight after going behind. There were players hiding and not willing to take responsibility. It always annoys me when footballers start finger-pointing at teammates as if to deflect the blame away from their own poor performance. Against Bohemians, the Dundalk players showed more fight arguing with each other than they did to get back into the game.

There are signs coming out of Dundalk that suggest to me that they are panicking. Defender Andy Boyle talked earlier this week about the need for an ‘ugly win’. Dundalk have one of the most talented squads in the league and are known for playing an attractive brand of football, but against Bohs they were very direct in their play — Boyle’s comments suggest that the players have lost confidence in their own ability. The search for an ‘ugly win’ is normally associated with a team in a relegation battle. Is that where these Dundalk players think they are at? In 2019, after each negative result, City players kept telling ourselves ‘next week will be different’ but it rarely was.

Dundalk have had a much-needed turnover of players, but maybe that refresh went too far. It will take time for them to click and figure out their best 11. There’s been a lot of rotation in their first four games and what will worry Keegan most is the goalkeeping situation. Alessio Abibi was brought in to replace Gary Rogers as Dundalk’s goalkeeper and Peter Cherrie was supposed to be the Albanian’s back-up but Abibi has had an awful start to the season and was dropped against Bohs.

Cherrie would have been told before signing that he might play the odd cup game but would spend the majority of the season on the bench, but he was very good against Bohs and he will want his opportunity in the team now.

I know people think competition is good — and it is — but not when it comes to who plays in goal. As an outfielder, you know you will get several chances to prove you are good enough to be in the starting 11, but with keepers, when you’re out of the team it’s hard to get back in and the relationship between Cherrie and Abibi might have changed in the last week.

We are only four games in, but Dundalk can’t afford to drop more points against St Pats tomorrow if they are to have any hope of winning the title this season.