ADAM McDONNELL insists Bohemians boss Alan Reynolds held no inquest into the Gypsies’ eighth-place finish last season.
The midfielder simply states that it was not needed.
He said: “I don’t think that we need the staff to tell us last year wasn’t good enough. All the players know that.
“We were soft in both boxes — not just defenders and attackers but midfielders included, not chipping in with the goals.
“Since Rennie came in last April, from box-to-box we’re one of the best teams in the league if you were watching it.
“But it doesn’t mean anything if you’re losing or not winning your games.
“After every game last year it just felt like we were battering teams up to the 35th minute and they’d get their first chance and it was like, ‘Here we go again’.
“Trying to change that in that moment is hard. That’s why we’ve been in early pre-season and we’ve been working on it.
“We know we were playing well but we weren’t finishing off games.
“We were letting opponents get a chance. It’s hard then to get back.
“We have to be a lot better than last year. We can’t let it happen again.”
It is why the hard work was done — and done early this pre-season — with Bohemians back in training since December 1.
Crucially, a lot of their close-season business was completed by then with Colm Whelan, who has been injured in pre-season, John Mountney and Niall Morahan signed in November.
As well as that, the players who are returning from absences — captain Keith Buckley, Rob Cornwall and goalkeeper James Talbot — are as good as new signings.
McDonnell added: “They were big losses in the dressing room, experience and vocal. And JT coming back fit too . . . he’s flying in pre-season.
“It’s like three signings. It’s good to have them back.”
DUBLIN’S FINEST
McDonnell knows the time for talking will soon be over and it will be about proving it out on the pitch.
The first target is to ensure Bohemians are not the fourth-best Dublin team in the Premier Division.
Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic were last season’s top three so if the Gypsies achieve that goal, they will likely be title contenders.
McDonnell said: “We saw last season what we could have been, the fine margins, what we could be better at.
“The club shouldn’t have finished where they have the last two years.
“It hasn’t been good enough on the pitch. This year is about stopping the excuses and doing it properly.”
And McDonnell admitted that they could not ask for a better start than a big Dublin derby with Shamrock Rovers at the Aviva Stadium.
The clash will likely set a League of Ireland attendance record, with 20,000 tickets sold two weeks from the big kick-off.
McDonnell said: “It’s a big day to make a statement. It’s the first league game, it won’t make or break the season.
“But it’s about going out, enjoying it and not being crowded out by it.”
