The phrase "clumsy attempt" means trying to do something but doing it poorly or awkwardly.
Sentences with «clumsy attempt»
It was my kind of clumsy attempt to put the content back into abstract painting. (brooklynrail.org)
Similarly, as an inhouse lawyer, I was never impressed by clumsy attempts at corporate hospitality where I was invited to events that had little professional or personal interest, simply because I was in a particular position with an external legal budget. (intelligentchallenge.com)
Here he has built them a shrine, or two, in fact - piles of driftwood and cut - up traffic cones meant to look like clumsy attempts at flames. (theguardian.com)