Crawley Town lost 2-0 to Mansfield Town in League One at the Broadfield Stadium on Tuesday night. It was Gladwin's second and last game in charge as interim head coach. He praised the players and said he had no indication of his role going forward following the appointment of Rob Elliot as manager.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Ben, thank you for joining us. Ultimately, it's another frustrating evening here at the
00:04Ballpool Stone. Can I get your reflection on the game first?
00:07Yeah, I think unfortunately it looks probably a bit too much like Saturday again. Tried
00:12to probably be a little bit, not direct, but a little bit more forceful in the final third
00:18in the first half. Didn't quite come to fruition. I think we changed back to the same system
00:22that the boys usually play in the second half and got a lot of control of the game and started
00:28to create some decent chances. Nothing clear-cut, but there was a bit of feeling definitely.
00:34They get one on the break towards the end of the game. Another frustrating night, but
00:39the boys have to stick together and move on.
00:41Yeah, I think the phrase huffed and puffed can be used. I don't think you can fault anyone's
00:46commitment out there, but it almost just felt like it wasn't to be at some stage. The ball
00:49just wasn't dropping in. Obviously, we had that chance to hit the post. The goalkeeper
00:52was forced into a couple of saves. Is there an element of not being ruthless enough or
00:56do you think at the moment it's not just dropping for us?
00:59There's definitely a mentality in the final third, I think, that's a bit of belief as
01:06well. But you're right, the boys have been phenomenal in terms of their effort. You can't
01:10fault that, there's no doubt. They've given everything. Some things aren't dropping. Sometimes
01:15maybe players aren't arriving in the right slots in the right moments. It's probably
01:17a combination of all things, but it's stuff that can be worked on in the training round
01:22for sure.
01:23Do you think it's a case of when one goal goes in, the others will come? Is it literally
01:27just a case of that confidence where we just need that one to go in for us?
01:30Yeah, it usually is that way. I hope it's not something that the boys are thinking about
01:34too much because you don't want it to get that way. The goals are going to come, they're
01:38going to flow and they have before, so it will come again. It's nothing to worry too
01:43much about, but just in this period, it's not happened.
01:45Yeah, the lads are hungry, aren't they? You can see that as we've already touched on this.
01:49There's no one out there who's not giving their absolute all. I can imagine the dressing
01:53room is a difficult environment at the moment, but also, as you said already, they need to
01:57stick together, don't they?
01:58Yeah, that was my message afterwards. You can identify where their goals are coming
02:04from and there's some accountability to take there, but ultimately the boys have to stay
02:08together and they're all pulling in the same direction. It's a long old season, so we're
02:14still early on. They'll be fine.
02:17Yeah, and I suppose there's also the element of you don't become a bad team overnight.
02:21This perhaps isn't the side that we saw at the start of the season. It maybe is, just
02:25as you say, a confidence thing. There's plenty of positives to look back on and take into
02:30those games, aren't there?
02:31Yeah, I think we've spoken a lot about the performances being very important. Not always
02:37the result, not to measure it, always off the result. That's a fine line to tread sometimes,
02:43but I think the performances have remained pretty good. Then there's things that you
02:48have to tweak along the way, but ultimately it's about winning games, so just finding
02:53that balance.
02:54Can it be demoralising for players? I suppose, as you said there, 2-0 probably isn't a fair
02:58reflection of the night. Obviously, we've thrown everything forward towards the end
03:01to try and get going. We get caught. Is that an element of it, where you've got to try
03:05and say to the lads, look, don't pay too much attention to the result? It is about the performance
03:09as well?
03:10Yeah, I think so. It's not always the easiest sell, but it's definitely the environment
03:14that's been created at this football club and the boys have bought into it 100 per cent.
03:18So I think everybody feels a little more comfortable with going after good performances consistently
03:23rather than rolling the dice every weekend. It's what we've tried to do. Unfortunately,
03:28the last couple has not quite come off, but it makes it easy to identify the issues and
03:34what you need to fix on the training ground, I think. So that will be done, I'm sure.
03:40You've had the two games in charge. You must be very proud of how the players have performed
03:44for you over these two games?
03:45Yeah, immensely proud. They've been fantastic. I've just said that to them in there. I said,
03:49thank you so much for your effort and commitment because they've been brilliant. I've enjoyed
03:54it a lot with them. So, yeah, no, it's been good.
03:59Yeah, and obviously we've had the announcement that Rob Elliott is coming into Manchester.
04:02Any indication of what your role is from here?
04:04Not yet, none. I imagine there will be some conversations had. But obviously, brilliant
04:09for the club that they've got a manager in now. They've got a clear direction, which
04:13is great. So, no, I'm sure there will be some conversations, but that's where it's at.
04:17Yeah, and with obviously the results having gone their way, the performances have been
04:21good, but do you think there's anything apart from sticking the ball in the back of the
04:24net, anything fundamentally that needs to change in the style of play?
04:28Well, that would be for the new manager and what he looks to do. I believe he tries to
04:32dominate the ball as well. He's obviously put together a really, really good team up
04:37there at Gateshead. So, I'm sure he'll have some new ideas that will be brilliant for
04:43the players to hear some fresh thoughts and ideas. He'll have his own picture of what
04:48he saw tonight and what he's seen previously and what he wants to change. So, yeah, I'm
04:54sure he'll get to work straight away and you'll probably see some differences.
04:57Yeah, and the fans tonight, for the second half in particular, they just kept singing,
05:01kept singing. How were the players? You were pretty pleased with them, weren't you?
05:05Yeah, it was a great atmosphere second half and I really thought they almost sucked the
05:08ball in the net at that end. We almost got there, we got close. And again, the second
05:14goal goes in and it flattens everyone out a little bit. But up until that point, really
05:18good, really grateful to the fans. Everybody connected with the football club because it's
05:22not been an easy time at all. So, I think everybody's remained together, which is the
05:26most important thing. And now they've got some clear direction to almost not start again,
05:31but to get a new sense of energy.
05:33Thanks Ben, cheers.