Blackpool boss reflects on AFC Wimbledon defeat

Blackpool Gazette

Steve Bruce looks back on Blackpool's 2-0 defeat to AFC Wimbledon

Transcript

00:00Is it getting harder to defend and sort of show that belief that this will come good?

00:06Well, I've seen signs that I can understand where your comment of today's performance. Over the last

00:12month in particular, I thought we'd been OK. Not great, not hitting the standards of where we were

00:18last year, but OK, we went to Bradford last week and could have went either way, didn't take more

00:23opportunities. So today, though, I can't defend anybody, particularly myself. I take the responsibility.

00:36Maybe it wasn't the right game to change something new. I believe they maybe needed a new time,

00:42but that obviously backfired for that. I take the sole responsibility.

00:48Obviously, you've seen some minor improvements in some games, but obviously seven defeats out of 11,

00:53and a performance like that today. Is there more to be concerned about than there is to be positive

00:56about at the moment? Of course. The table doesn't lie. And what week, 10, 11 games in with seven

01:02points returned is certainly not good enough for a club who wants to be at the other end of the league

01:08and fully get it. Is it a problem some of the players aren't fit enough? I mean, up to speed,

01:12because some of them do look a bit lethargic at times. Well, I think all of them today, you could

01:18level that and I'm never going to single out individuals as a team. We were nowhere near

01:23near of what's required to compete against a very physical and decent side in Wimbledon.

01:31We were simply too easy to play against, didn't do enough with the ball. Lethargic is a good word.

01:38All of them things was all rolled into one today.

01:42I know some were had well, you know, probably pre-season, but enough time seems to have passed now.

01:47Yeah, yeah, yeah. Why do you think some of them aren't clicking?

01:49Well, it sometimes happens. You know, people haven't settled into the new environment as quickly

01:56as maybe we'd like. So I'm in charge of that, you know, and it hasn't gone as well for some,

02:04as we all would have liked, aren't partial football.

02:09I know you see all the good stats. Are they concerning when you look at them closely?

02:12Is it as concerning as it does?

02:13No, physically, physically, no. Physically, we're still very, very decent and the numbers

02:18in particular in midweek were huge. So physically, we're on a par of where we were last year.

02:24That doesn't concern me. It was the performance all round and the lack of personality in the performance

02:30was the major thing for me. You mentioned, obviously, you had to leave

02:34Anderlein's on the bench. Olly Casey was on the right side of being with him.

02:38And we were out for a long time. There was a lack of trust that made to throw him back in to be a game.

02:41He'd just been out a long, long, long time. And I went for the physicality of us to

02:47knew what they were coming. I knew there would cause us a problem with set pieces where we've been caught before.

02:53Lo and behold, when I make the change, we do get punished with one. So that was the thinking of it.

03:00Can we be better physically, stronger? And with an extra centre-back in the team,

03:05I thought that would be the case. But we never did enough, certainly in the first half,

03:11to convince me it was the right choice.

03:12And obviously, up top, Dale Taylor has recently been left out in Northern Ireland squad.

03:16He has strolled in his first month. How hard is it to sort of...

03:19Well, I know for a fact the kid's going to be a good player. It hasn't quite happened for him yet,

03:25but we've got to still stay with him and work hard with him. He's had a disappointing week.

03:30Of course, being left out of the Northern Ireland squad. And in a performance like today,

03:34he's got to roll his sleeves up and get over it.

03:37For yourself, do you still see yourself in this position next time, next week, have a stop?

03:40Well, look, as I said, I don't quit because my team has been awful.

03:46You know, I would think I'm better than that. But certainly, certainly, when I watch the performance

03:53there today, the criticism that comes my way, I have to take it on the chin. I've been in it

03:57long enough to know that that kind of performance was nowhere near good enough.

04:02Have you got the thoughts that you want to respond to him yet since today's round?

04:05No, I mean, you're the first person I've spoken to him.

04:09And obviously, the first goal, maybe a controversial penalty,

04:11looked outside the area, but can't have too many complaints on a day like today?

04:15Well, it simply is a bad decision because he's outside the area. Pretty brave when you see

04:23him on the TV. He waited a long time and all, so he must have thought about it, but it's gone

04:29against us. But I always have said the personality of the team and how we went about it today was my

04:35major concern. Obviously, on Tuesday night, he was aggrieved by the penalty card. Was it hard

04:39to feel aggrieved when you've not done yourself any favours?

04:42Yeah. We were absolutely awful from the first minute to the last. And that, I've got no excuse

04:50to give you. We were on average. Thank you. Thank you.

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