Elgin City manager Allan Hale
Elgin City manager Allan Hale post match Elgin 0-1 Dumbarton
Transcript
00:00 Find margins and lead to you as always you just came up on the wrong side of what was your assessment in that game today?
00:04 Yeah, really really frustrated because I think I think we've done enough to take something out the game
00:09 I'm not saying we've done enough to maybe win it, but don't think we deserve to lose it
00:14 So much I liked about the performance in terms of having more control over the game
00:19 I think that's you know something that me and you have talked about since I've came in is that I want us to
00:23 To be on the front foot to take care of possession a wee bit
00:27 To maybe probe and not try and force things to too much
00:30 And I think Gael, you know, I thought you'll get better and you'll improve
00:34 You can see that he's someone that wants to take the ball
00:37 he wants to get on it and you know, we need that that central player to
00:40 To really help us step forward and take control of the game and he's someone that offers that for you
00:46 And he's got that ability. I think there was there's a lot of good things about our play today and good interchanges
00:52 You know broke on them really well
00:54 Maybe if I'm being highly critical of the team, it's in that final third
00:58 No, not putting crosses in early enough when we did, you know, not beating the first man
01:02 I still think we've got a fair bit to go in terms of our fitness, you know
01:07 And I know that maybe sounds like a get-out
01:09 But if you look at the difference between Dumbarton in terms of how many bodies they flood in the box when they're in the wide areas
01:15 versus us
01:16 You know, we're only getting two or three bodies in there
01:18 You know, they're getting five or six and that's the difference between you know
01:22 Scoring the goal. The goal is a real frustration because we're you know, even against the wind in the first half
01:27 I don't think we're in danger of conceding a goal. You know, we're really comfortable in the game
01:31 but we're on the front foot and then
01:33 Sat Achilles heel giving away a goal right on half-time and it's a criminal goal
01:37 You know, the boy Orsi is a good player. The cross comes in, Jake does really well to get first contact
01:43 We don't react to second balls
01:45 And that is a real frustration of us since I've been in the door is just that reactiveness
01:49 And not you know having the foresight to know that a ball will drop in a certain area of the pitch
01:53 But second half for 35 minutes of it, we're on the front foot. We're the team probing. We're in ascendancy. We're asking questions
02:01 And we've had opportunities where you know with a bit more composure we probably score and so
02:09 Yeah, devastating about the result obviously, but performance wise, you know, I certainly feel we're making progress
02:16 What we've got now is we've got options, right? You know, Jonesy's been on the bench today
02:20 Matty's been on the bench today, Mitch is on the bench
02:22 And we've got that ability where if we need to change the game that we can do it, you know
02:28 And you know, Daeshaun's played through the middle today. It's part of the game plan
02:30 But you know, we've then went Daeshaun and Jonesy up through the middle
02:33 Which caused problems for them. It's just trying to
02:37 Just focus on that movement, but we've not worked too much on the attacking sense of things in training
02:43 It's been the organisation, it's been you know, the press, the counter press, that sort of stuff that
02:49 You know, I want that to be the identity of how we play
02:51 But now we probably need to start layering in the in-possession stuff and there's been a lot of players, right?
02:57 So the relationships aren't quite there
02:59 so we're not able to maybe be as fluent as the final third in terms of the movements and
03:03 combinations that we're looking for but
03:05 The options is a good thing now, you know, the board have supported us in the window to bring players in
03:13 You know, which we've managed to do and now you can see that we've got good options available to us
03:18 Which you know is pleasing for the second half of season for sure
03:22 Yeah, it's taken time for how we want to play. It's taken time for the players to understand each other
03:27 It's also taken time for the players to understand the league
03:30 And the physicality of it and the speed of it. Things are done just a little bit quicker than maybe what certain players are used to
03:37 But once they get familiar with those sort of things
03:41 You know, I think we've got a good enough team here now
03:43 And as I said a lot of flexibility and a lot of options to change things
03:48 So and Ryan McClellan, you know, a new signing who's been brilliant for us
03:51 Just never got on the pitch just with the nature of how the game was and the changes that we had to make
03:55 But he's another talented player who'll do really well. So yeah, pleased with our work in terms of what we've done in the window
04:01 And yeah, it's now about getting on the training pitch and working the players to start, you know
04:09 Having that cohesion a little bit quicker. It's something that we'll look at
04:13 Obviously, we'll take a look at Clyde and we'll see how they've set up and
04:16 How we feel we can hurt them. Yeah, we'll probably change a couple of positions within the team
04:23 I think we've got to. We've got three games in a week and
04:26 We've got a big squad. Everyone's champing it a bit and everyone's desperate to play their part
04:30 but yeah, we've got to go and
04:34 Hopefully give ourselves a good performance and
04:36 I think if we play like that most weeks, we'll pick up points for sure
04:41 I'll add on Lyle Booth's first game
04:42 Obviously, you've been keen to get him in when he got up to fitness
04:45 And we can see now the player that you really wanted to, the player you worked with
04:48 I think everyone can see today. He was comfortable out there. Very good on the ball
04:53 He's got good speed, overlaps well, but defensively 1v1. I thought he was fine. Maybe a wee bit nervous the first
05:00 First portion of the game, which is understandable, you know being your first home game here
05:04 But he's still got a wee bit to go in terms of that match sharpness, but I thought he was excellent today
05:09 and he's a great kid, fantastic attitude, but a top player as well and
05:14 as I said, you know, we've just got to
05:17 We've just got to improve. We've got to create more chances
05:19 I think that's been our weakness of us maybe since we've
05:23 Since we've came in is that we don't create enough and we've got to score goals in order to win games of football
05:28 so we've got to, it's something that we're going to have to look at in
05:30 in terms of working on the training pitch and implementing that idea in terms of what we're looking for, but
05:35 I'm confident it'll all come together
05:38 So, yeah, it's we've just got to make sure that we put the performance levels in and
05:42 If we play the same way that we have done today, then we'll pick up points