Clyde manager Darren Young did not hold back after his side suffered a shock 3-1 pre-season defeat to West of Scotland Premier Division side Rutherglen Glencairn, branding the performance 'embarrassing' and a necessary 'wake-up call'.
The Bully Wee travelled to the Hamish B Allan Stadium on Saturday for a friendly marking the 900th anniversary of Rutherglen Town. Despite fielding a near full-strength lineup, Clyde found themselves 3-0 down at half-time after goals from Allan Woodhouse, David Mitchell and Boris Melingui. Logan Dunachie pulled one back in the 75th minute, but it was too little, too late.
Young was furious with his team's display, especially in the first half. 'Today was nothing short of embarrassing, especially that first half. The goals we lose are unacceptable and the boys were told that at half-time. We expect better standards from them,' he said.
Quality and Desire Questioned
Young pointed out that 10 of the players who featured against Rutherglen had started the play-off final just weeks ago. 'In that squad was 10 players that played in the play-off final a few weeks ago, so it is down to a lack of quality and desire,' he said.
He acknowledged that five or six players were missing but refused to use that as an excuse. 'That is not to make excuses because we should be coming here and winning the game. No disrespect to Rutherglen, they got their chances, took them and could have had a couple more. At the same time, we could have had more with a wee bit more in the final third. But it is a wee wake-up call for the guys.'
Pre-Season Disruptions
Young admitted that preparations have been 'all over the place' due to holidays within the part-time squad. 'It has been stop-start because we only had a three-week break, which isn't ideal. We have got a few boys who are teachers or their partners are teachers, so they need to go away at the moment. We are all over the place, to be honest. We have got guys coming back, guys going away.'
He revealed that last week only six players trained, alongside three trialists and two trialist goalkeepers. 'We haven't been able to get everything there. Having said that, the Dunfermline game we did not too badly and the same against Queen's Park. We have a wee bit of time before the first cup game so hopefully we will have players back by then.'
Glens Delight
Rutherglen Glencairn boss Tam Miller was delighted with his depleted side's performance. 'We are absolutely delighted with the result. There was eight or nine first team players in there so we are really pleased with the result and performance, especially considering we were in the opposite situation. We had eight or nine first team players missing and I had to call up players from the under-20s just to give us a couple of subs,' Miller said.
Miller praised his team's tactical discipline. 'We were thinking we will set out in a certain shape because they would have a lot of possession. Even if they didn't have a full strength team out, you would expect a team from that level to have more than their fair share of possession anyway. So we set up well to keep them out and it was a great performance. As long as we came out of it with no injuries, we would have been happy. But playing against a team like that, the players learn a lot from these experiences against teams at that level.'
Looking Ahead
Glens now turn their attention to the West of Scotland Premier Division opener on Saturday, July 25, when they host Darvel at the Hamish B Allan Stadium. Miller said: 'I'm quite pleased with how the fixtures have gone for us. Getting a home fixture in the first game is really good. There will be no easy games anyway but Darvel is a big test to start. We are just looking forward to the season starting and how well we can gel as a team.'
