Uncomfortable feeling still lingers at Bohemians

They may have won four major trophies between them during the past decade but even with six matches of the season gone Bohemians and Dundalk are in the unenviable position of propping up the Premier Division table before their meeting at Dalymount on Sunday.

Dundalk, with three league titles to their name since 1988, had a bit of a scare in this department two years ago but for Bohemians being bottom of the league is a new and uncomfortable feeling.

Perhaps their lack of experience in such circumstances led to the reorganisation of the team's management structure or perhaps, as Joe McGrath maintains, the reasons for their actions go deeper. But whatever the thinking amongst the people who effectively run the club there is a hint of panic about their predicament.

For most observers what has happened at the club has come as a shock - although such is the make up of our Premier Division that if the two promoted teams decline to play ball so to speak and actually win a few games early on then at least one of the big boys is going to start looking bad.

Still, when Bohemians brought McGrath back from New Zealand the move was generally seen as a positive one and to allow him just nine competitive matches in charge before deciding that enough was enough was a little harsh to say the least.

The club maintain that they did not actually dismiss him but given that McGrath was running a national team until a few months ago there could be very few among the management committee that gave Turlough O'Connor the final say on team selection who expected the Dubliner to stay.

What followed last Tuesday night's meeting at the club was a couple of days of manoeuvring ahead of the inevitable claim for compensation but everybody must surely have known that one way or another McGrath would not be able to accept the new arrangements imposed upon him.

Not everything that McGrath had done during his brief stint in charge had met with universal approval outside of the club. Whether there was any real need to bring a goalkeeper from the other side of the world when Michael Dempsey is regarded as a decent example of the home-grown variety or whether the other senior international brought in, Harry Ngata, was of sufficient quality to justify the expense involved was regularly questioned - amongst us reporters at least. Like their manager, though, neither of them, or Dean Dodds who remains at the club, had much time to prove themselves.

Raffaelle De Greggorio and Fergal Harkin had both looked like good acquisitions while Shaun Maher's return and Robbie Brunton's arrival provided stronger options at the back.

Overall the team was playing more positive football than they'd acquired a reputation for over the last couple of seasons. And if the results weren't going their way it appears people outside the club must have seen the task of overhauling a team that narrowly missed the championship boat a couple of seasons ago as greater than those watching from within.

Turlough O'Connor's return is a bit of a surprise, too. Not that he isn't an obvious choice in the circumstances for nobody has performed more consistently during a lengthy National League managerial career than the former Athlone and Dundalk boss.

Still, it's less than a year since Bohemians officials, who were clearly tired of being badgered about O'Connor's perceived shortcomings, announced with indecent haste that he would be retiring at the end of last season. That O'Connor would so readily agree to return after such a slight is itself remarkable.

Not so remarkable, though, as his comment made when he was asked if he felt the team was short a couple of players at last Thursday night's training session in Dalymount. "We're short a couple of players all right," he said before adding: "Paul Doolin and Robbie Best".

His timing might have been better as Best, currently on loan to Monaghan, suffered the misfortune of scoring an own goal that gave Limerick three points at Rathbane, while the night before Doolin (35) looked decidedly ordinary in the Dundalk, Bray game.

Still, O'Connor's message is that all was well before the summer which is likely to be met with some scepticism on the part of the club's supporters. The club's leading financial backer, Tony O'Connell, as well as its management committee, appear to believe he's right, because now they've brought him back they may have some trouble replacing again.