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00:01Tommy, 3-0 defeat at Woking, damage done in the first 20 minutes, but then actually quite a lot of positives after that.
00:07But obviously, you know, it's hard, obviously, with that start.
00:10Yeah, well, not really. The negatives far outweigh the positives.
00:13I mean, the biggest, never mind the result, the result, like you said, was probably done, very nearly done in the first 20 minutes.
00:20My biggest concern is Ryan Jones, and hopefully he isn't something too serious, but when they come off on a stretcher, it always doesn't board too well.
00:28So we'll have to have a look and see how he is, and like I said, that's my main concern.
00:32But, you know, sometimes you don't realise what you've got until it's not there.
00:36We obviously, we knew what we were doing in terms of changing the personnel, but we were physically, should have been, better than what we were to defend what we had to defend in the first 20 minutes.
00:49And that's where we let ourselves down. Well, the melee, it was no other thing than that.
00:52We didn't defend the box correctly. And you find yourself with a man in the claim.
00:55Yeah, I mean, you know Woking are going to put balls into the box, don't you?
00:59You know, sort of, you know, you've got to stand up to it, really.
01:02All the teams put balls in the box, but listen, they do it with long throws, they do it with goal kicks, they do it with free kicks from a long way away.
01:09It's part of the game, you've got to deal with it.
01:11And these lads got lauded over for two months when we went on a really good run, when we hardly lost the game.
01:16It's the same lads. We're not giving them different messages, we're not giving them different information.
01:21It's just sometimes, remember we played these two weeks ago and they got hurt badly, you know.
01:26Today we've been hurt badly, but that's because they've reacted in a way.
01:29And I just don't think they've shown a little bit more maturity than us in the areas and the duels that we've had to encounter.
01:37And that's something our lads have to learn very, very quickly how to manage.
01:41Yeah, I mean, obviously they've got the bragging rights today, but that's your first defeat against them in five games, isn't it?
01:45And obviously you've had the bragging rights in the trophy, so.
01:48Yeah, I mean, ultimately, look, I understand the absolute frustration of the fans because it is a local derby.
01:54And they'll be getting all sorts of grief, you know, off the people who know and support Woking.
02:00And we have to take it on the chin. We haven't for the last two years.
02:03So from that point of view, football, there's no rule in football where you can't lose a game.
02:07But the problem I've got with it is that we aided them to ably in the first 20 minutes.
02:13Like I said, it's not the goalkeeper, it's not the lads in front of the back lane, it's the lads who are defending the box.
02:18We didn't defend it well enough. And if you don't defend the box in any game, you're going to concede goals.
02:22Look at what they did. They managed to sum by a hooker by a crook.
02:26Put their bodies, put their heads, put their faces, everything else in front of the balls didn't go in their goal.
02:32Because we had enough chances in enough situations to have scored probably three goals or four goals or so in the second half.
02:38But make no mistake, I'm humble enough to know that they deserve to win the day.
02:42And obviously the negative was obviously Ryan Jones going off the stretcher.
02:45That is the bigger negative. I genuinely have forgot about the game and moving on now.
02:50So I'm worried about Ryan Jones because when he went to stand up over there, and everybody can see it, it's a bad challenge.
02:56It's a reckless challenge. He might well have got the ball first, but he's gone through him.
03:00And in every game I've seen this season, that needs to be dealt with.
03:03The fact we ended up with two yellow cards for our reaction to that, maybe shows you where we are in the people who play the game
03:10and the people who officiate the game. But I'm not going to get into trouble, I hope.
03:12But I've spoken with the fourth official quite mellowly all afternoon and some things flabbergasted me today.
03:23But then, look, I'm not going to stand here and make any excuses. We were thoroughly beaten. We move on.
03:28Yeah, so I've got to move on. You did have obviously plenty of pressure in that second half, but I would say you just wouldn't quite drop with it.
03:36I mean, I don't know how many games this season we haven't scored a goal, but there's not many.
03:40And quite frankly, I thought we were going to score a goal. I always do. I always think we're going to score a goal.
03:45I think we've got the people that do it. But I also was mindful of the minutes in the legs of the people who I rested were massive these last couple of weeks.
03:54You know, the hard games. We've had hard games against teams who were battling to stay in a division, battling to win the league.
03:58Like, these are hard games, you know, and we've got a very young core group and they're probably beyond the threshold of what they've played, certainly at senior level.
04:09And that's the boat we're in. That's the people that we have to have at this football club at this moment in time.
04:13I can't go and get players who are, you know, tried, tested and bringing them in and what they demand to play at this level.
04:21I can't do that. So, listen, I'm very comfortable where I am, where we are. Would I like it to be better? Of course I would.
04:27But I wouldn't swap positions with a lot of managers in this division right at this moment in time.
04:33And obviously with the trophy run, it's been a really busy schedule, hasn't it, with the Tuesdays and Saturdays?
04:37And that does maybe sort of catch up a bit, maybe?
04:40Yeah, I mean, yeah. But ultimately, like I just said to the players, some of these lads are finding their way for the first time in senior football.
04:47And they've probably played more games now than they've ever played in one season at this level, certainly.
04:52But again, it sounds like an excuse. It's not. It is what it is.
04:55You know, the supporters will understand if they, I mean, after they get over the anger of losing the game, they're walking.
05:00I get it. But we've got to move on as quickly as we can, because look what happened when we went to Barnet and they were second.
05:06Sorry, when we went to York and they were second. We're going to Barnet on Saturday and they're first.
05:10So, you know, we know we have to react to that.
05:14And I'm sure we will. The lads are a good group of people.
05:19They're a very together group of people.
05:21And the supporters are fantastic in terms of the support of us all season.
05:24I'm sure they'll be supporting us again on Saturday.