Danny Lennon says Clyde hit the self-destruct button as Airdrie hammered them 5-0 in their Broadwood swan-song yesterday.
The Bully Wee gaffer was bitterly disappointed to bow out on 28 years at the Cumbernauld stadium with such an emphatic defeat as the Diamonds ran riot.
A Rhys McCabe penalty was followed by strikes from Callum Smith, Calum Gallagher, Kyle MacDonald and Jon Afolabi as Airdrie finished in second place, five points behind champions Cove Rangers.
While Clyde had chances, they never really threatened Max Currie too seriously and Lennon admits that’s a problem.
He said: “It wasn’t the result we were looking for in our last game at Broadwood and I’m bitterly disappointed that that fizzled out.
“I thought there wasn’t a great deal between the teams in the first half. We more than matched them, and had a great opportunity with wee Lewis Jamieson.
“But then we self-destructed and gave away a penalty under no pressure. I thought our choices, decisions and possession on the ball at that particular time were poor.
“In the second half, we started OK and just prior to them getting their second goal we had a great opportunity to score. It’s a fine save by the goalkeeper, but it’s high.
“The difference today – and I thought we had opportunities right the way through the game – was that any opportunity or any time that Airdrie had theirs, they made it count and we didn’t.”
Lennon says his side had a real incentive to give their fans one last cheer at Broadwood, but consistency is a problem that he intends to fix before travelling to Dumbarton on Saturday for their final game of the season.
He said: “The carrot for the players was to go out there and try and be consistent.
“They were good last week [a 2-1 win over Montrose] but how often can we do that. I thought we did that in the first half, but in the second half we’ve got to do more to keep ourselves in games in difficult situations.
“If you’re still 1-0 down the next goal is very important, and if you don’t bury that chance you can’t let the disappointment stem right through the team – there’s still a job to do to keep the ball out at the other end.
“That’s something we’ve got to get better for next season, that’s the biggest thing I’ve taken out of that today.”
Lennon says Clyde must emulate Airdrie and need to get more strength and depth in their squad for next season’s League One challenge.
He said: “Airdrie are one of the most consistent teams in the league and that’s why they’re up there challenging.
"When you play against any good team you’ve got to try and emulate and match them, and that’s something we have to do.
“Even at 5-0, did you see an Airdrie side giving up? You could see them putting their bodies on the line, making clearances, and that’s what we’ve got to do with one game to go, one final push.
“We have Dumbarton next week and any time we have a difficult afternoon, we always seem to bounce back.
“The Dumbarton game is a good one for us, because they’ve done us over twice this season, so it’s important that we finish the season strongly.”
Lennon says he has appealed for reinforcements over the summer and hopes to get some new faces in the door when they ground-share with Hamilton Accies next season.
“When you start to get injuries and you’re forced to make changes, I think we’ve got to look at the strength and depth of the squad,” he said. “That’s a big thing for me.
“That’s something that we have already been attempting to address, and something that we will look to do over the coming weeks and throughout the summer.”
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