Aitobs
|
|
« on: October 07, 2017, 21:41:14 pm » |
|
Below, I've transcribed the somewhat testy interview between BBC Radio Northampton's Tim Oglethorpe and Cobblers captain Marc Richards, after the Cobblers' 0-6 loss to Bristol Rovers this afternoon.
TO: Well Marc, no hiding from the fact that was a miserable afternoon for the Cobblers, what are your thoughts on that?
MR: Bitterly disappointed with the result, obviously. Second half was far, far below where we’ve set standards in recent games, and we can’t collapse like we have done, having gone down a man. We need to keep our shape stronger than what we did and obviously force them to make errors when we can. When you’re a man down it’s difficult, but that’s no excuse and you can’t collapse like that.
TO: We thought at half-time you might have a lifeline. Matt Ingram had saved a penalty just before the break and you were only a goal down. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has been talking about it not being a good first half performance as well as a bad second one, but at half time you were still in with a shout, weren’t you?
MR: We still had a number of half-chances in the first half. I thought it was an even first half, they didn’t really create too much, I think Matty made too many saves in the first half and we had a couple of half-chances so pretty even first half, might not have been pretty but second half was far, far below where we’ve set our standards. As players we’ve got to take all the negative comments and everything that comes with getting beaten 6-0 and the only way we can rectify this now is to work hard like we have been on the training ground and try and get a positive result next weekend.
TO: The results haven’t been great recently. Was there a lack of confidence in this Cobblers squad going into today’s game? Was that part of the problem this afternoon?
MR: No, I don’t think there was. I think we’ve got a confident group. We’ve got a good group, and things just aren’t coming off for us at the moment for one reason or another. It’s just not clicking on a regular basis, we’re playing in patches really and it should be a lot more consistent than what it is.
TO: It’s such a contrast between how it started with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink- he had two wins and a draw in his first three matches. It’s gone downhill since then. We’re struggling to under understand why that is, Marc. Can you put your finger on why that is? Is it because the quality of the opposition has been so high in recent games?
MR: Well if you look at the league table, we’ve played most of the teams in the top half, but that shouldn’t be an excuse. It’s not an excuse. We should be on a better run than what we are on. The first two games under the gaffer we had excellent results, and we should have taken confidence from that. There is no reason why our confidence levels should be lower than where they are. It’s not a confidence issue. We’re not hitting the back of the net on a regular basis at the moment but I don’t think the strikers that we’ve got are lacking confidence. Myself, Revs, Longy, Sam Hoskins, whoever it is that plays up top, we’ve got a confident group, so I don’t think confidence is an issue.
TO: Is it the case though that because the goals aren’t coming, maybe when the chances do come along, they’re being snatched at? There was a lovely lay-off by you today for Dean Bowditch and he dragged his shot wide, if the goals were flowing maybe that would have gone in, he would have made a better strike of it?
MR: Possibly. You’ll have to ask Deano that. I don’t know what he saw at the time. Deano’s a good player and he’s a good finisher, I see it on a regular basis in training. There’s no reason why Deano should be low on confidence and I don’t think he is. At the time, he might have had time to have another touch and to take the ball a bit closer to get his shot off but at the time he probably thought it was best to have a first-time shot and unluckily for him he scuffed it wide but there’s been a couple of opportunities like that today. Players snatching at shots, it’s just one of those things.
TO: It didn’t help that Alex Revell, as you’ve alluded to, got sent off in the second half. Is the view that he should have got a red card, or is he protesting his innocence? It looked to be a fairly clear-cut offence.
MR: What is a clear-cut offence?
TO: Well, an elbow into the face. It appeared to be, I’m not sure.
MR: I was really close to it and he’s not the type of person to swing an elbow like that. He’s a big guy, and he uses his body and he uses his arms to try and hold players off and I think that’s the case. He’s tried to hold the centre-half off by putting his arm behind him, he’s caught him in the face but I don’t think it was intentional, I certainly don’t think there was a swing of an arm in the direction of the centre-half and for me it’s a little bit harsh. He’s caught him, but it’s accidental.
TO: What about your work with Alex Revell? You’re playing as a two up front, you started as a two today before Revell was sent off. Do you think that is working? You know how it is when people are not enjoying what they are seeing from the Cobblers- you get criticism, and some people are saying that you’re too alike as strikers to play as a combination up front. It’s not your choice to play yourself alongside Alex Revell, but what do you say to people that say you’re a bit too similar to be playing as a double act up front?
MR: I think Revs started on the right today.
TO: He did, but he came inside, and for quite a bit of the time today and indeed under Justin Edinburgh, you were a forward duo, weren’t you?
MR: Yeah. Maybe we are very similar. It’s a tough question because as much as I like playing with Revs, and I think he likes playing with me, we do work well in training together and we do look to link up. There was a close call in the second half where the cross has just gone flashing across the goal and he’s nearly got on the end of it, and its little instances like that that we need to try and create for ourselves. People have an opinion, and it’s a tough question. It’s a tough question.
TO: If you were winning games week in, week out, these questions wouldn’t be asked.
MR: Yeah. It’s a question that wouldn’t be asked if we were on a good run or winning games on a regular basis. Or scoring goals. If both of us score today, then no-one asks that question.
TO: And finally Marc, looking ahead to next weekend, Wimbledon come to Sixfields. They are struggling for points, it’s important that Northampton get back to winning ways quickly before they get too embedded in those lower places in League One?
MR: The good thing is we’ve got loads of games coming up, and there’s loads of the season left. The lads shouldn’t be in a place where they’re not confident going into games. The gaffer installs that confidence in us in training, he wants the lads to go out and express themselves and really enjoy what they’re doing. There are some big games coming up now, games that we should be looking to take points from, and the quicker we do, the sooner we can start climbing up the table.
TO: And finally finally, you’ve got a week now, it’s the first week off in inverted commas you’ve had since August, a chance to regroup and in a sense start again?
MR: We’ve had ten games in a month and it takes its toll. Our injury list at the moment is quite high. We’ve got a number of injuries, but that’s why you have a big squad, and the squad that we’ve got should be able to cope with games like this today. It’s on to the next.
TO: Thanks, Marc.
[Cuts back to live broadcast]
Caroline Densley: Rico there, kind of admitting it’s not really working with him and Alex Revell there, Tim?
TO: In as many words, that’s what he said. Revell and Richards were paired together during the Justin Edinburgh reign, and it hadn’t worked. I’m sure I’m not the only person who thought- “that will never be tried again”. I’m flabbergasted that it has been. They were together, Richards and Revell, for the final league game that Edinburgh was in charge. It didn’t work then. It was a 4-1 home defeat to Peterborough. I’m just staggered that it’s been tried again.
|