STEPHEN O’DONNELL has admitted that he is Dancing In The Dark when it comes to the future of James Clarke.
Clarke scored twice and could have had two more goals as Bohemians beat Galway United 3-0 on Friday.
The Meath man – who celebrated with fans who have adapted the Bruce Springsteen song to include his name – is out of contract at the end of the season.
Bohs have offered him a new deal but he is not expected to sign it with Grimsby Town one of a number of clubs keen to get him onboard now.
Bohs assistant boss O’Donnell – who was on post-match media duties – said: “Look, that’s above my pay grade.
“I do know he’s really enjoying his football. He loves nights like that. I think he loves playing at Dalymount, he feeds off the energy. I think the fans have a great rapport with him as well.
“Obviously, we’re looking to keep all our better players. So, we’ll see how that pans out. But he definitely is enjoying his football, that’s for sure.”
It was another former Drogheda United player, Douglas James-Taylor, who opened the scoring in his second game for Bohs since joining from the Louth outfit.
And O’Donnell was delighted with how the pair dovetailed upfront.
He said: “We’ve played James a little bit higher up with Dougie and the two of them looked really threatening at times, both getting on the score sheet, so that’s great.
“Dougie’s a goal scorer in the sense of even with that chance there, no real back lift and just a snap shot. He was unlucky with one in the first half, so that’ll be great for his conference to score at home.
“James’ first goal, it was a good team goal, great drive and run by Adam McDonnell, he slips it down the side for Dawson Devoy and then James has great composure like he has in the final third, a great first-time finish.
“And then it was more individual from Clarke, the second one, in the inside left channel, he opened up his body up beautifully.
“So, you know, we want to be scoring more goals. We feel that with the quality of our play and our possession and the areas we get into, we can, so it was great to get three.”
That was Bohs’ biggest home win since the final day of the 2023 season when they beat Cork City 4-0.
And O’Donnell believes the side is now playing with a swagger after 11 wins and two draws from their last 15 games.
He said: “It’s belief, you have to see it to believe it from a player’s point of view.
“From our perspective was, if we can get that big win…the players mightn’t fully believe until they see it happening.
“We’ve got the late goals at Galway, at Pat’s, Shamrock Rovers probably was a catalyst, so they gained belief from that.
“So they always think then, we’re always in a game. And then the flip side of that is when teams come here, even if it is a stalemate, they’re fearing a little bit mentally of a little bit of an onslaught.
“There’s really good atmosphere around the place now, and the players are feeding off that. The crowd believes, which then creates noise levels and gives our lads encouragement so it’s a bit of a snowball effect probably.
“You see Clarkey there for a second goal drive and he just opened up his body. Would he have done that four months ago maybe, you know, when we were struggling a little bit?
“Probably not, so playing with freedom and confidence, that always helps. There’s no magic answer. There’s a lot of variables but the lads are in a good rhythm at the minute and I think the supporters are enjoying what they’re watching.”
