00:00 How would you assess the point gained at the Broadfield Stadium?
00:07 I think we've done everything possible to try and win a game of football tonight. I
00:10 think we played really well. I think we played against a very strong defensive unit which
00:18 is really difficult to break down. But we tried everything. We tried putting the ball
00:25 wide. I thought the two wide lads in Addy and Harry Forster were outstanding today.
00:30 I thought they caused a lot of problems down the flanks. We tried to make runs in behind
00:35 from central areas. We tried shots from distance. We set pieces where the fans get so disgruntled
00:44 when we play it short. But we know what we're doing. We know where the spaces are and we
00:50 know by playing it short. The fans want us to sling the ball in the box straight away
00:56 from the corner. So do Barra, by the way. That's exactly what Barra want us to do. So
01:01 we created chances from that, from playing short and then getting shots away or getting
01:06 crosses in. I thought we did everything possible to win a game of football. We had some good
01:14 chances towards the end there. Lola said a header which probably actually ended it too
01:19 well in the end. There's some other bits and pieces and I thought we did everything possible.
01:23 Our foot players were outstanding tonight.
01:25 Obviously, Corrie made a series of good saves in the second half but especially in the first
01:29 half we seemed to limit Barra to very few chances. It always makes it more difficult
01:34 when you go 1-0 down when a team is so happy to sit back and hard to break down. Did that
01:40 disturb the game plan in any sense that you then had to chase more?
01:44 No, we knew that they'd do that from the off, which they did. Straight from the off
01:49 they did that. They kind of sit in and bank in and they play a back five and a three across
01:54 midfield and front two. They narrow the pitch off and just try and make it really hard for
02:00 you to play around their shape. First half I felt that we played around their shape but
02:10 kind of didn't play through it as well as I'd have wanted. We talked about a few things
02:14 at half-time about playing around their shape but then coming inside the pitch and making
02:20 runs off the back of them. We spoke about a few actions where we felt we could get in
02:25 and I felt we did it better in the second half. My players did everything possible to
02:32 win that game today. We came across a really good, strong defensive unit today. I know
02:38 we scored a goal penalty but it was difficult to break them down. We tried everything possible.
02:46 I thought their keeper was probably their best player.
02:48 It's always hard when you go into the break one nil down. What was the message you gave
02:53 to the lads at half-time? It did seem that they came out properly out of the races and
02:57 were giving it a right go. Is there any specific message that you gave to them at half-time?
03:01 I didn't talk about them too much defensively because I thought we was okay. I thought the
03:05 goal shape looked a bit wrong. The right-hand side centre half carried the ball up the pitch
03:11 too far for me and I think we could have jumped. We were a little bit out of sorts with that
03:15 shape. So defensively, I didn't speak about anything but we spoke about how we were going
03:19 to get through their shape. We spoke about three actions where I think we could hurt
03:26 them and like I say, I think we did that better in the second half. But yeah, we had all the
03:32 ball. I would imagine our xG would be higher than theirs. Like I say, I think their keeper
03:40 had a blinder. I thought he made some really good saves. He made a really good save in
03:43 the first half from Lola. Lola gets in behind them and God knows how he makes that save
03:47 but he does. He makes himself really big and I thought he was their best player tonight.
03:51 Ultimately, it is a point in the right direction. It's a point that keeps us in those places
03:55 with two massive games to go. So I suppose the message to the players would be we've
03:59 got two massive games ahead of us and keep the faith because again, it's still in our
04:03 hands.
04:04 Everything's positive in that dressing room now because I'm really pleased with the way
04:09 we played tonight. I think we showed a real character to try and win a game of football
04:13 against a good side. Like I say, there were some really outstanding performances tonight.
04:17 I thought Adi was brilliant. Obviously, tired towards the end. He'd run out of steam.
04:24 Harry Forster, I thought was outstanding as well. You know all the time he's on the
04:30 pitch that something can happen. We put Adam on the pitch because he's obviously got goals
04:34 in him. We put Roles on the pitch because he can create stuff in the final third and
04:39 we obviously needed that goal. So we brought Jay off. I've got to be honest with you, I'm
04:45 really disappointed with the booking of Jay. The fourth official gets him booked and I
04:51 just don't understand it. Jeremy makes the foul and he books Jay. Now Jay's missing for
04:59 the next two games. Incredible.
05:04 The positive message obviously needs to be echoed to the fans. We've got these two big
05:08 games ahead of us. One of those away at Sutton. It's one of those local derby ones. We've
05:12 already sold well in advance of 850 tickets. Looking to tick over to 1,000. As you said
05:19 at the start of the interview, fans can easily get disgruntled but we need to put everything
05:23 beside us now and really get the lads rocking away at Sutton for these next two games.
05:29 Yeah, there's nothing better than a local derby. We've got two games to go and we're
05:35 in the play-offs and they need their points to stay up. It's a massive game for both clubs.
05:42 So we're going to embrace that and enjoy it. If we play anything like that we'll be alright.
05:46 You had some quite strong words after the Colchester defeat on Saturday for your players.
05:51 You must have been really pleased with the way they've reacted, especially with the defence.
05:54 Yeah, listen, the strong words were... I actually didn't have strong words for the players.
06:00 I just felt that we became a little bit sloppy and unprofessional in moments. I actually
06:05 think we played quite well against Colchester. I just felt that we've got to remain focused.
06:13 Whilst these games are really important, it's even more so reason to have full focus and
06:17 I felt that we dropped our focus a little bit in a couple of moments in that game. But
06:25 tonight I've got no complaints. I've got no complaints at all. I thought we were very
06:29 good. I thought we did everything we could to win this game of football tonight, apart
06:34 from put the ball over the line the second time. So yeah, I'm really pleased with the
06:40 performance. Of course we wanted three points tonight. It was really important we got three
06:44 points tonight. But we haven't and there's nothing we can do about it now because it's
06:47 gone. All we can do is keep encouraging the players to play that way and I think if we
06:53 play that way in the next two games I think we'll be fine.
06:56 I don't want to get you in any kind of trouble but going back to the Jay Williams thing,
07:00 how frustrating is that for you?
07:02 It's just a joke. I just don't understand why Jeremy makes the foul and the referee's
07:10 not blown the whistle for a foul. Jay comes in and wins the tackle and then he blows for
07:15 a foul. But it's Jeremy that's made the foul. Why are we booking Jay? And the fourth official
07:22 standing right there. It's big as belief. And we're dealing with these situations every
07:29 week, every Saturday, every Tuesday, every game there's a situation with a referee or
07:35 an official every week. The importance of this game is massive for both clubs. He's
07:46 made a decision that's now going to affect me moving forward in the next two games and
07:51 it's the wrong decision. I can go in there and moan about it but nothing will get done.
07:58 That's the big thing for me. He's booked the wrong person. It's clear, so clear.
08:02 And like you say the repercussions for you.
08:05 The repercussions is he misses two games now. The biggest two games in this football
08:09 club's history he misses. And he's probably been arguably my best player. He's a rock
08:15 in the middle of the park and he's done so, so well for me yet he can't play in these
08:21 next two games now because the decision's wrong. He should be looked at. It's not fair.
08:27 Absolutely. Now looking at Sutton, I know they're all huge games now but these decisions
08:35 from the referee have made you think about probably you have to change your plans for
08:38 that game now.
08:39 Yeah I've not thought about that yet. Obviously I'm going to go home tonight and I'll watch
08:49 our game back in the morning and in the afternoon I'll watch loads of Sutton and come Thursday
08:54 I'll be prepared and ready to go and know exactly what I'm doing. But yeah, obviously
09:00 the game's just finished so I've not really looked at Sutton yet so I don't know what
09:03 I'm going to do.
09:04 Thanks Scott.
09:05 Thank you.
09:06 Just quickly on Jay, Scott, there's nothing really you can say to him is there? This is
09:12 the thing. What can you say to him to make him feel any better after that? How has he
09:18 taken it?
09:19 Well I spoke to him yesterday. I felt that he's played with the handbrake on over the
09:23 last two games actually and I've said to him, "Look, don't play with the handbrake
09:27 on. This is such an important game and I want you to play like you play." I don't want
09:33 you to get bookmined but play like you play. I thought he was unfortunate. I think he's
09:39 really, really unfortunate. I think he's unlucky. I think the referee's targeting him and I
09:44 think that was a prime example of that. I really do.
09:47 There's not much you can say is there really?
09:50 It's unfair on the kid. It's his first year playing like proper professional football.
09:56 I know he's at Northampton before but this is his first year as a seasoned pro. He's
10:02 come out of non-league, he's done absolutely outstanding for me and then he gets punished
10:08 for something that he hasn't done. I just beg his belief. I'm really, really angry about
10:14 it. There's nothing we can do.
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