Sleepless nights ahead for Kenna

Following a performance as bad as has been seen in many a year at Terryland Park on Monday night, Galway United boss Jeff Kenna admitted that a restless night lay ahead for the man burdened with the task of rescuing Galway from a return to First Division.

When asked whether he would consider a change in formation for the upcoming visit of St Pat's, Kenna admitted he would have time enough to think it over. "That's something I will think about later tonight cos I'm sure I'm not going to sleep, and that'll give me something to think about."

Surely that would not have been the only question keeping Kenna awake on Monday night. A number of other issues are in need of serious scrutiny in the short term - How does a team which performed so admirably in defeat to Bohemians turn in such a dire 90 minutes on their home turf against a team without an away win? Is there a curse on this club that has led to the horrendous home form over two seasons that threatens to dissolve the good support that stayed faithful through tough times last year, but are now conspicuous by their absence? How may players can be brought in during the transfer window on a limited budget? Who should stay and who should go from the current panel? What have I let myself in for?

A lot for the Dubliner to ponder, but he at least didn't try to paper over the large cracks that appeared on Monday night. "I'm absolutely disgusted. We had no oomph, we had no fight, we didn't compete. As good as we were on Friday, we were the complete opposite tonight. I'm just gutted, absolutely gutted. There was no competitiveness, and it's not good enough by a million miles."

Another goal handed on a plate to the opposition, Kenna has began to notice the disturbing similarity between the majority of the goals Galway have conceded this year. "It was another defensive mix-up. Two blunders for the goals on Friday. It just seems to be, dare I say it, back to our old ways. There's a lot of hard work ahead of the lads, and I'm just not accepting that performance tonight."

After picking out Mark Leech, John Fitzgerald and Vinny Faherty for some faint praise, the manager admitted that he needs more from his players in the coming weeks. "You might get away with one or two not playing well, maybe even three or four, depending on who you're playing against. But any more than that and you're just not going to get anything out of the game.

"If we play like that against Pat's, it could be a cricket score, so it's my job between now and then to get them up and make sure we have a good performance on Friday night." On the sidelines at the moment, the odds are shortening that Kenna will tie up his laces for a stint on the pitch come July if the situation doesn't improve sufficiently.

Restless nights may well turn to nightmares when thoughts turn to the visit of St Pat's on Friday night. Good performances are not enough now. Galway need to gather points. The players need to prove themselves on home soil. 2,855 was the attendance when the Inchicore side made their first journey west last year. You'd get very long odds on a similar crowd on Friday night.