Glenavon manager Gary Hamilton says he was “embarrassed and ashamed” by his team’s performance in Tuesday’s 5-1 home thumping by Newry City in the Irish Premiership.
The Glenavon display followed Friday’s 3-1 win at then leaders Coleraine.
Newry led 3-0 within 15 minutes as they went on to clinch their first points of the campaign.
“Honestly, I was totally embarrassed. I’m actually ashamed to be manager tonight,” said an angry Hamilton.
“I said it on Friday that there was no point in us going to Coleraine, playing the way we played if we don’t go against teams that are going to be in and around us in the league.
‘We absolutely crumbled’
“Play with the same attitude, the same desire, the same hunger.
“When we are expected to win it looks like there is a fear, there are no leaders to go and take the game by the scruff of the neck.
“Anybody can concede a goal after two minutes but then you go ‘right, get together, we don’t concede again, we stick together and we get ourselves out of this because it is only one goal’.
“But no, we absolutely crumbled altogether and Newry dominated.”
Hamilton added that he was “confused” by the disparity in Glenavon’s last two displays.
“Three goals in 11 minutes and they could have had four only for a save from Rory [Brown]. With the players that we had on that pitch tonight that should never be the case.
“Congratulations to Newry on their win, they were very good but the three goals that we let them score in 11 minutes, it doesn’t give us a chance.”
Hamilton criticised his players failure to take responsibility on their pitch following their awful start to the game.
“By the time our chances came our players were thinking ‘if I miss this I’m going to get abused in the stand’ or whatever, instead of saying ‘right I’m going to be the one who scores this goal to get us back in the game and set the tone’.
“We didn’t have anybody to do that, nobody stepped up to the plate and that disappointed me. I thought we were really, really poor.
“Even second half, we get them in at half time and obviously there were some stern words. You think in the second half they will come out and show something.”
