“Moments like this are when you find out about yourself” and more injury woe – Cheltenham Town boss Wade Elliott after Bristol Rovers EFL Trophy defeat
What did you think of the game?
We actually started the game okay. They scored with their first shot and we looked a team really low on confidence after the goal. Second half, we played with a lot more spunk, which shows it is in there. We just looked really fragile after the first goal.
What did you say at half-time and were you disappointed with that?
Yes, I was disappointed with that and then we had to make a few changes. It was a bit of an ad-hoc team second half. It’s a bit of a frustration because in the second half we showed it was in there.
Did it sum it up a bit when Aidan Keena missed a clear goalscoring chance and they quickly made it 2-0?
Yes, a little bit. That’s why I’m talking about lack of confidence. That moment probably sums it up. You can’t just click your fingers and all of a sudden confidence comes flooding back. If we play with a bit of confidence and a bit of belief we have a half decent and competitive team. The only way to get it back is by doing the basics well, growing into the game and giving yourself a chance to go from there.
For 10 minutes until the game, but after that we were a bit fragile and they started getting on top then. They start winning more duels. Nothing technical or tactical, they get on top of individual battles.
You have been waiting for so long for a goal and when it comes, it’s an own goal. Does that sum up your luck?
I don’t think you can count an own goal as bad luck.
You changed things in the second half, do you feel it made a difference?
We didn’t have any defenders. When I say I am happy with the second half, the back four was really makeshift. At half-time, we are trying to cobble together a team and get 11 out. Ellis (Chapman) goes to left-back, where he hasn’t really played. We have Ben and Josh Williams as two centre-halves. We have Fez (Will Ferry) at right-back and we put Freddy (Willcox) in, who was excellent. We put Jovan (Malcolm) on, who showed something. Your worry at half-time is you are putting together a team where anything can happen, but they showed a bit of resilience and character. The back four, it was alien to, got themselves organised and had to step up. Freddy showed a bit of bite. Jovan showed us something. It’s all relative, but there were one or two things in the second half.
Jovan Malcolm did make a positive impact, so something to work on?
Yes, he’s pacey, he’s quick. We want to ask him to be direct, get at people and put them on the back foot. He definitely gave us an outlet.
10 days until your next league game, what’s the plan?
We’ll try and get the balance right between getting them in, finding a window to do a little bit of work, but they need one or two days away as well. Get their heads away, reset and then come back in on Monday and start working towards Exeter.
What have you said to them after the game?
We had an honest conversation about us showing in spells we are capable and a half decent team, but how do we put it together more consistently. That was the gist of the conversation.
Was it an angry conversation, or a normal one?
It wasn’t a normal conversation, but they’ve had their moments when they’ve been screamed and shouted at.
A lot of supporters aren’t happy with the way things are going. What’s your message to them?
We are five league games in and none of us are jumping through hoops with the goal thing or anything else. The team got clapped off on Saturday because of the nature of the performance, we had a go, we were dogged and kept going for the 90 or 100 minutes, or whatever you play. We dip below that, I’d accept people getting on our backs and being questioned. They can only keep giving everything they’ve got. For 20 minutes tonight we looked like despondency overtook us, we got a little bit flat and ragged. I’m entitled to get angry with them at that point, but if they keep scrapping and working hard and giving everything they’ve got for the shirt, I’d hope the response is like it was at the weekend.
How much is down to bad luck and how much is down to the players not carrying out what’s asked of them well enough?
I’ve just said to them in there, Bolton is the only game where we’ve come off the pitch and been properly bettered. Shrewsbury we were probably the better team in the second half, Portsmouth we were good. We should have won at the weekend and watching it back, I still feel the same. Northampton there was an 87th minute mistake. It’s very fine margins and we need to be really resilient, tough and keep putting ourselves out there until the margins fall our way.
How can Aidan Keena restore confidence in front of goal?
The easiest thing for a centre forward to do when he’s not scoring is to not keep getting in the areas. Aidan tonight, we keep asking him to get between the sticks, the chance was a yard outside the goal. If he gets between the sticks, even if the connection isn’t great, he probably scuffs it in. He has to keep being brave enough to put himself in there and he needs one to bounce off his knee, but you need to put yourself in there for it to bounce off your knee and go in. That’s how he slowly turns it around.
Have you had to pick him up after tonight’s miss?
They are all hard on themselves, and all feeling it. It’s a killer because if we’d won at the weekend, we’d have had the same start as last season and perception looks really different to how it does at the minute. We have to try and step back, the lads are in the middle of it at the minute so it feels they have the weight of the world on their shoulders. I probably need them to step back and take stock a little bit. When you look back, we are five games in, there isn’t a massive chasm or gulf, we are in every game, but how can we tidy up one or two little areas, get an extra five per cent and start winning games 1-0 instead of losing 1-0. It’s where the weekend comes at a good time for us and we can keep a sense of perspective. Hopefully get them back on Monday after being away with their families for a couple of days and then with a fresh mind set, see what the week after that brings.
Is someone picking you up, or giving you a bit of a pep talk?
No, not really. I enjoy the challenge and this is when you find out about yourself. There are loads of things we could do if we wanted an easy life, but we’ll find out what our limits and capacities are and if we are resilient in moments like this.
James Olayinka back involved after his shoulder injury, how is he and is he back sooner than expected?
Yes, he has. It was about when he got comfortable with the shoulder. When he was comfortable, he was good to go. We wanted to get him on tonight at some point and we would have done it a bit earlier, but we only had one sub left so we couldn’t do it too early in case someone else went down. He has trained for a couple of days and he feels okay with contact on his shoulder, but you can’t replicate what a game is like, hopefully he’ll be better for being out on the pitch and getting comfortable with it.
What’s Curtis Thompson done?
His back just spasmed. He woke up this morning and had a back spasm. We loosened it off a bit, but he’ll be okay and it’s just one of those things. Longy has an Achilles we’ve been nursing since pre-season, Tom Bradbury felt his Achilles, Grant felt his hamstring and Will Goodwin took an impact. There is only so much we can do about it.
The injuries have been particularly bad this season, haven’t they?
We haven’t just accepted it glibly. We’ve looked into everything. We’ve done a deep dive on all the training data, compared it to other clubs, looked at our prehab, we’ve looked at our warm-ups, the training pitches, is it too firm? We’ve been really, really objective with ourselves to see if there is anything else we can do. Sometimes you just have to accept you are on the end of these runs for whatever reason and we’ll just have to ride it out best we can until we get a spell where we can keep people fit.
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