John McGlynn admits Raith Rovers ‘let everyone down’ following a ‘terrible’ defensive display against Ayr United.
Rovers slipped to a 4-0 defeat at Stark’s Park on Saturday, their heaviest loss against the Honest Men since 1959.
The Fifers’ winless streak in the Championship now stands at 11 games.
Tomi Adeloye opened the scoring after three minutes before James Maxwell added a further two goals before half-time. Sam Ashford completed the scoring after the break.
McGlynn did cite big chances for Ben Williamson and Matej Poplatnik, at 0-0 and 0-1 respectively, as moments that ‘may have changed the game’.
Nevertheless, he accepted that the showing was night-and-day compared to the stirring 2-1 victory at Kilmarnock in midweek which saw Rovers reach the SPFL Trust Trophy final.
“We’ve shot ourselves in the foot and let everyone down,” said McGlynn.
“We came here on the back of a good result against Kilmarnock, we’ve got a cup final to look forward to — and yet we deliver performance like that? Terrible.
“If you defend like that, then you are going to lose goals.
“We didn’t defend well from the second minute. The lad [Ashford] is allowed to peel off the shoulder, get to the byline and set-up the opener. We are on our heels, not sharp enough.
“Then, we are pressing on the half-way line and somehow their lad gets the ball through three of our players, right into the striker’s feet. He can turn and feed the ball through for the runner [Maxwell]. Defensively, terrible.
“For the third goal, we are on our heels again. We’re sleeping — miles off it.
“I’m so disappointed by the way we conceded the goals. The fourth goal is just a long ball over the top which we don’t deal with. It’s terrible.”
Rovers remain just one point behind Inverness in the race for the final playoff place, with the Caley Jags enduring a similarly torrid run of form.
Raith travel to face a resurgent Queen of the South next weekend.
