Assistant Manager Tom Rothery reflects on the defeat at Stratford Town and looks ahead to Tuesday's Suffolk Premier Cup clash with Bury Town.
DK: Not the ideal way to start the season.
TR: No, bit of an understatement, I don't think anyone wants to start the season like that Drew to be honest, so yeah not a great start at all.
DK: How do you sum up the game?
TR: I think there's quite a few different phases to it, I think we started with a few mistakes, ultimately one of them led to a goal. I thought we reacted really well after 1-0 behind, obviously got a goal back, had a few chances before we've got a goal back, then (we) got the (equalising) goal back, got a foothold in the game I thought. (We) had a few chances off the back of that, and I think if we've came in at half-time 1-1 against the wind, you'd of said it was a reasonably good half, which we possibly might've edged, although I might be biased perhaps but I thought we slighted edged (the first half) potentially, but obviously we give the penalty away, which again is a mistake to make it 2-1 just before half-time. And then half-time, re-group, have a chat about the conditions, how we've got to play to the conditions etc etc, and then give another really goal away to make it 3-1 after about 4, 5 minutes of the second half which I think really deflated us. Gave us a bit of a kick, which again obviously me and Kev had made changes, tried to get back in the game and created some chances, got on the ball but then obviously opens us up for a counter attack, which obviously they fully exploited. And I think the fourth goal comes a little bit from a counter attack, and again I think it's a mistake from us. We don't react, (the) guy's hit the post, we're on our heels, their number 11 Riley's reacted, finished it and then the fifth and sixth are just not acceptable in anyway shape or form. I'm not saying the first four are, to be clear the first four are mistakes, but the fifth and sixth comes from really just completely losing all shape and all team structure really, to be quite honest. And I think when you go 4-1 behind you've got to kind of take your medicine and make sure it doesn't get any worse, and we clearly didn't do that.
DK: Yeah, it was kind of a late killer collapse in a way.
TR: Yeah and like Kev's said in the changing room, I mean I don't think anyone's seeing that scoreline are they at half-time, or at 1-1. Or even at 2-1, I don't think anyone's seeing that scoreline, and I don't think they would've either, so you know the scoreline is 6-1, but I don't think anyone is seeing that scoreline and that, look there's loads of frustration today. I think the biggest frustration for me is the way that we've given away five and six goals and kind of, like I said, not taking our medicine and make sure it didn't get any worse. That for me is the real thing that hurts most, and, aside from the fact that we've lost, and lost heavily, I think the 5th and 6th goals are the things that are really sort of kidney punching me at the moment.
DK: What do you think went wrong?
TR: Like I said, for me personally, they played the conditions better. They asked questions of our defence, which at times we didn't answer in the way that we should of and I don't think we played the conditions well, clearly we didn't we didn't, we didn't play the conditions as well as they did. I thought at times we made bad decisions on the ball, there's times where you've just got to clear your lines, and we didn't do that. And you can argue there the first and third goals where we just haven't dealt with it and cleared the ball. We haven't taken our chances, we've had chances within the game, which again change games when you score goals, which as it's shown it did for them. You know, there's many things that at the end of the day if you come away from home and lose 6-1, there's lots of things you haven't done well enough. But I'd say the main overall thing is, like I've said, we haven't played the conditions as well as they have and at the end of the day I'll always give the other team credit. They've taken their goals very well today, so they've punished us for every mistake and they've made sure they've scored. Have they made many mistakes today? Not many, but we haven't punished any mistakes that they've made have we really, so apart from our goal maybe perhaps, if that is a mistake, which I suppose technically it is.
DK: Defensively it's quite unlike us.
TR: Yeah, usually, that's what we've said in the changing room, but the thing is Drew it doesn't just always just always come from the defence, yeah some of the goals today are clearly mistakes from the defence but then, like I said goal 5 and 6 are for me they're team mistakes, where you've got to take your medicine, you've got to make sure you compact, you're hard to break down and make sure you don't take the beating that we've ending up taking. So yes, defensively we weren't, clearly we weren't very good today. Like I said they've asked questions and we clearly haven't had the answers today for whatever reason, and again like we've said in the changing room, probably you're thinking yourself how can you (go from) - like I said, pre-season is nonsense anyway, you should never overlook the results but we've had - five clean sheets in seven games in pre-season to ship six today I think today is a surprise to everyone. And of the back of, what like you said, is normally a reliable defence, but like I said, you've got to look at it as a collective. As a collective we haven't been good enough defensively.
DK: You spoke a it about it then, but what was the reaction amongst the group within changing room?
TR: Well they'll be hurting, won't they, I know - without getting on my soapbox too much, I think some people don't realise how much it does hurt. I think for me, Kev, Irish, Patch, Bex, Barty, it hurts, it hurts deep and even will for the players. No-one comes out whether it's Saturday, Tuesday, whenever it is, puts all the commitment that they put in to turn up to get beat, and let alone heavily beat, so they'll be hurting, but like I've said to them in the changing room you know, it's the first game of the season, so you've got to take it on the chin and you've got to make sure; one it doesn't happen again, two that the reaction off it so i.e. Tuesday night is a good one and you make sure as a group that you'll never ever, on the back of a beating like that, or as naïve as we have been at the end of the game. Like I said, but without getting on my soapbox, like I said, I'm trying not to, I'm a bit emotional myself at the moment, but it hurts, it hurts everyone, no-one's going to turn up to a game and want to do badly and want to get beaten heavily, so they'll be hurting definitely. That's where it's important to as much you've got to criticise them and have a go at them, that will stay in the changing room and you've also got to be mindful that you don't want to give them too many kidney punches, because we do need a reaction and you don't want to complete erode their confidence so it is one game, but now the reaction's absolutely key.
DK: Yeah, it gives us a point to prove now Tuesday, it fires us up even more.
TR: Like I've just said to the lads, look at the end of the day we had a awful league season last season, where we came 17th, 18th, wherever nowhere near good enough and what that's done today is that anyone that wants to hate on Needham can look at that result and go, 'right ok they're going in for another tough season, they're not very good,' so now it's down to us to use that as almost like a siege mentality and have something about us. I know I've got that about me, I hate losing football games, I said that to you last season, I hate it, it hurts every owness of me. I will now have a rubbish weekend and I will think about nothing other than football until Tuesday night and I'll want to put it right. Unfortunately, I can't go on the pitch and put it right, but I'll do everything within my power to make sure that Tuesday we put it right and going forward, it's a tough one, but anyone that thinks people don't hurt and don't care then they're completly wrong.
DK: It's fair play to you sitting here now and doing this (interview), moving onto Tuesday Bury themselves they're going to look at this and think wow.
TR: Course, from their point of view it's; one they'll want to do well in the Suffolk Cup - because all Suffolk teams want to, two for them it's an opportunity to come to a club that's a league higher than them, which is clearly a league that they're aiming to get to. Bury's a huge club, obviously they've got a new manager in Cole (Skuse) and look they'll be (thinking) what's better than to dump the holders out, from their point of view they're going up against a team that's a league higher that they're aspiring to get to, and they're going to try and dump the holders out and get the headlines, so it's not going to be easy, clearly, but like I've said today's one game. Now it's about reaction and showing what we're really about, and in parts we've shown what we're about today, but clearly not enough and not for long enough.
DK: It's going to be another tough game, like Felixstowe and Stow in pre-season.
TR: Look, I said it the other day on Twitter, with regards to David and Graham have now stopped doing their thing on BBC Radio Suffolk, which is a real shame, and like I've said on my Tweet, I think Suffolk sport at the moment - and obviously I'm more interested in football than any other sport - Suffolk football at the moment is as good as it's been. As far as I'm concerned you've got Ipswich (Town) are flying, you've got teams like ourselves, Leiston and now Sudbury playing at step 3, you've got Bury, Felixstowe, Stow, Ipswich Wanderers, there's a lot of very good Suffolk sides and I think as a county Suffolk's flying that's something to be positive about, definitely, but from any team in Suffolk's point of view - or whether you're in Essex you what to prove you're the best team in that county. Like I've said we've taken personal pride in that the last 3 years and it kind of has given us something to grip onto off the back of not very good league seasons, so Bury will be no different, and we know it'll be tough as simple as that. Whenever I've played Bury they're always a good footballing side, so I expect a very tough game, I expect a good footballing side, however I'm not really interested in them. I'm interested about how we react from, and I'm expecting us to be good, so Tuesday we'll find out, but regardless of what Tuesday's about we've got to learn lessons from today, and make sure that it doesn't happen again and we're better next time, but I also think talk is cheap. And I've done enough interviews, and enough chats in the changing room and spoken about how we've got to be better and talking about it's one thing doing it, it's another. We've got to start doing it.
DK: Yeah, Tuesday's an important stepping stone, not only to retain it (Suffolk Premier Cup), but also like we've said to bounce back from today.
TR: Well that's the positive about football, you play on a Saturday sometimes you play on a Tuesday and then you play on a Saturday, sometimes the Tuesday game can be tough with the turnaround and you might have a few knocks etc, but equally when you've had a defeat on a Saturday sometimes it's nice to get that Tuesday so you haven't got to sit. You haven't got to dwell on this too much, I'd rather have a game on Tuesday, now the lads won't have too long to dwell on it and it's about now going out Tuesday and putting on a better performance than we have today.
Here we were trying to pass our way out of defence instead of just clearing the ball. Okay if you are Man City but not at our level.!!
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