• 2 days ago
Transcript
00:00Can I get a quick sound test?
00:02Sorry, go that side.
00:041-2, 1-2, 1-2, 1-2, 1-2.
00:07Well, Chris, defeat here at Oxford.
00:09Your take on the performance today?
00:12Yeah, we didn't do enough, so there's no argument for the result.
00:16I always look at my team and they get the honest answer,
00:19they get no spin on it, and we didn't do enough.
00:23I thought they started better than us,
00:27and obviously we knew the approach and I've done exactly the same.
00:31A team fighting for its life against a team that's trying to get out of the division.
00:36They stuck it on us.
00:38Obviously long throws and stuff like that,
00:40but still quality at the top of the pitch and we never really dealt with that.
00:45We had two or three opportunities before they scored,
00:49which we should possibly take,
00:51but as we always say, when an opponent,
00:55especially an opponent that you're expected to beat,
00:57and the crowd's vociferous and they're right behind their team,
01:01gets a goal in front, it becomes a difficult afternoon.
01:04Gary's an extremely talented manager and he's a good operator.
01:12And one was always going to be enough.
01:14They sat in, the pitch was dry, it was windy,
01:18so it wasn't a fast game from our point of view,
01:22even though we tried to slow it down, which I didn't enjoy.
01:25We played too slow, we were too ponderous.
01:28We didn't play quick enough, the ball speed wasn't quick enough for us.
01:31Allowed them to sit into the shape and then I thought,
01:34from a technical point of view, the quality of our players,
01:37we made so many poor decisions.
01:39Poor decisions in terms of what to do with the ball
01:43and then technically poor decisions in terms of loose passing
01:49and crosses going behind the goal
01:51and really not playing well as individuals.
01:55So, there it is.
01:59There was an opportunity there to obviously gain three points,
02:05but when you don't do enough,
02:07and full credit to Oxford United and Gary,
02:11they deserve their win and it obviously comes to an end
02:15of an incredible away record.
02:19Is that type of performance taken by surprise?
02:21There's lots of energy about the away record,
02:24how you played against Coventry training this last couple of weeks
02:27and then here we are.
02:29I didn't see it coming.
02:31Listen, it's not an attitude problem,
02:35because they can't play 30, 40 games or whatever
02:39and Sul can walk about and not try or not give everything.
02:44It was just the other part of it.
02:46We were just off of it.
02:47Like I said, from the start, the two centre forwards never held the ball up.
02:51Midfield players made some bad decisions with the ball.
02:57The two wides never really gave us anything.
03:00Quality from full-backs wasn't very good.
03:03When we tried to build and gain some momentum,
03:06it was too slow and allowed them to get in.
03:08Like I said, it was a slow pitch and it was a dry day
03:15and we have to recognise that we have to play a little bit quicker
03:19and maybe a little bit more direct.
03:23Obviously, we didn't try and force little balls through even late on.
03:27They're 5-4 or 4-5 and they're clogging the middle of the park up.
03:30You've got to go wide.
03:31It's pretty simple.
03:32There's a game plan.
03:33We put a game plan to them,
03:35but the game plan is to help the players in position and out of position.
03:39So, if something changes,
03:41if we want to play down the side of the right back
03:43and he comes in and Gus moves him,
03:45then there's a ball down the side
03:46and the right back stays in his slot,
03:48we've got to make better decisions to say
03:50we've got to do something else off the back of that.
03:52It's not FIFA.
03:57We didn't do the basics right in terms of just overall keeping the ball
04:01and playing and moving the ball quick enough.
04:06As much as we talked about how good Friday night was,
04:13and for me it was 7s and 8s out of 10,
04:17we've collectively come together and produced 5s and maybe a couple of 6s.
04:22So, we have to deal with that.
04:24We have to get on with it.
04:25We have to get back on the bus,
04:27get ready and prepare for Tuesday.
04:30History this season suggests that when there has been a defeat
04:34on the back of that,
04:35generally comes with it a fairly substantial unbeaten run thereafter.
04:38Yes, as I said, it's not an unbelievable margin for error
04:43because I think all three teams will go to the end.
04:46So, we have to recover pretty quickly
04:50because we can't feel sorry for ourselves.
04:52We can't feel sorry for ourselves as a football club.
04:54We've got to get back and get on
04:56and produce a performance on Tuesday night
04:58and hopefully put this to bed.
05:00This is what the Championship is all about
05:03as everybody talks about
05:04and I've managed loads of games in it
05:06and the game is not won on a coupon.
05:10It's won on the pitch
05:12and we just didn't do enough to win a game.

Recommended