What The Managers Said
mickey adams
By J Bateman
January 26 2003
A Round up of after match comments from all the managers after the FA Cup games and the two Division One fixtures.
Nationwide League Division One
Grimsby 1 Bradford 2
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"The defeat is hard to accept when it comes in the last minute of the game," said the Town player-boss. "It wasn't going to be pretty today but we tried to play at the right time and I thought we deserved something. "We now have to bounce back at Portsmouth. It will be a tough game and we will have to work hard." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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"If we had lost it would not have been the end of the season but it was crucial that we won. "We now have a six-point cushion between ourselves and Grimsby. It takes the pressure off us for a short while. "It will be a fantastic achievement if we do survive because of the injuries we have had and the financial implications at this club." Nicky Law In Defence Of Molenaar "I saw the ref afterwards and he said there was a fair challenge to Livingstone which led to the Grimsby player having the cut on his nose," "Livingstone then put his forearm into Bob's face. It was a definite sending-off." |
Preston 1 Nottm For 1
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"We were fortunate today. There've been other games where I've come and said we deserved full points, but we didn't today. I think a draw was fair and it was perhaps fortunate for us, because towards the end one or two of our lads were tiring. |
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No managers comments at this time. |
FA Cup 4th Round
Brentford v Burnley
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“I look at that, and I’m choked for
the players. It was stupid of me to make the substitution that I made. One
down with twelve minutes to go, putting them under pressure, I thought,
“take a defender off and put a striker on”. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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"It was a battle but we had the luck in the second half, when we struggled to get of our half at times. "I also thought Marlon Beresford was outstanding and his save on the line was world class. "We defended well and got them a few times on the break at the end there. "We showed a lot of resilience though and lesser teams would have gone under. "It was played in difficult conditions, with a strong wind and a pitch not conducive to passing football. "But we're in the hat and it's nice to be there. "We'll be looking for a home tie and full house at Turf Moor." |
Gillingham 1 Leeds 1
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"I’m well pleased," "It was a good battle with a few incidents in the game. "I’m pleased that we have got something out of it. If we hadn't, it would have been a travesty because we certainly deserved something out of the game. "So we are in the hat for the next round and that’s good news. It keeps the run going and it keeps the confidence high. Let’s now take that up to Preston next week. "I’m a little bit disappointed because I felt that had we had a little bit more quality in the first half with our end product – we could have scored two-goals. "We had a great chance right at the death and there were other opportunities where we have probably made the wrong decision with our passing. "I’m a little bit disappointed that we didn’t win it. But I would have been really disappointed if we had lost the game. "All in all I’m delighted because the effort was there again." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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No managers comments at this time. |
Norwich 1 Dagenham & Redbridge 0
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No managers comments at this time. |
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"At the moment I am very empty to be honest - and
understandably so," "I am just stunned.
"It was always going to be hard. We knew that when we came here. Norwich have only been beaten twice at Carrow Road in the league this season and that is why they are up there in the top five. "I always felt if we could keep them out in the first 20-25 minutes, we would have a chance. "Tony Roberts made some great saves, but I thought we defended well when we had to. I think we matched them man for man all over the park and we had some chances of our own at important times. "Everybody who witnessed the game would not have denied us the opportunity of a replay, because we had earned it." |
Rochdale 2 Coventry 0
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"We thought long and hard going into this game, of how we could approach this one and get the best out of our players.
We changed it around and I had to wheel myself out because I thought I could do a job for us and I'm absoulutely delighted." |
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No managers comments at this time. |
Sheff Utd 4 Ipswich 3
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"I've got to take my hat off to the lads, they don't know when they are beaten. I thought Ipswich were in control until we scored the first, second and third goals - I suppose that's the magic of the FA Cup. "When they drew level they must have thought that they would go on and win it but the fans lifted us and I couldn't fault any of our lads for effort. "Winning is a good habit and I wouldn't have been broken hearted if we weren't in the next round, some lads needed a rest and it shows with my team selection." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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No managers comments at this time. |
Southampton 1 Millwall 1
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"You cannot legislate for that; it was a
freak goal, but we can't afford to dwell on it, we have to keeping looking
forward."
"Out tactics caught them by surprise and we stopped their wingers playing which I feel you have to do against Wolves because that is their main strength." "I think that the pitch today was in a better state than it has been for a few weeks." "I can't be too critical of the players today. I asked them to play a certain way and they did it, so there cannot be too many complaints from me." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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No managers comments at this time. |
Walsall 1 Wimbledon 0
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"I was very disappointed to lose 1-0. It could have gone either way in the last five minutes, Gareth Ainsworth had a chance which I thought was going to be easy for him to score." "But having said that, the first half was poor, neither goalkeeper really had a great deal to do, Neil Shipperley had a good shot well saved." "In the second half it got a bit livelier and warmed up. It became a bit more of a cup tie with the crowd getting lively and the atmosphere was generated." "But it always looked as though one goal would win it on this pitch. It was on my mind a bit with my team selection. I was hoping Patrick Agyemang was going to get into them a little bit with his pace, but it wasn't possible for him to even run with the ball on this surface." "So we changed it around at half-time and went back to 4-4-2 and I thought we did better second half." |
Watford 1 WBA 0
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"It was brilliant, it was lovely to watch," ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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“In the second half we didn’t get going and today's result was a reality check for our players," “The FA Cup is a vitally important competition to us and we’ve thrown it away." “But that performance was rock bottom and there’s only one way we can go." “Because if we play like that against the teams we’ve got coming up we’ll get absolutely murdered." “And if our players have got any sense they’ll listen to what’s been said." |
Wolves 4 Leicester 1
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"We earned that result. The first half was very competitive and we said before the game that it would be the team who won the most individual battles that would win the game." "We didn’t allow some of the (refereeing) decisions to rattle us - neither team did. I did think at one stage that with the yellow cards flying around it could get hot under the collar." "There were a lot of meaty challenges but you would expect that in a local derby." "The second goal knocked the stuffing out of them but we had to learn the lessons from the Wimbledon game, when we went at them for 90 minutes and one lapse cost us. We had to be careful to start the second half off the right way." "It’s important whoever we get in the next round that we have a home draw. For 90 minutes today the fans got behind the players and they made a big difference." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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"We have conceded four really bad goals today and if we are going to achieve some success, either in the league or the cup, you cannot afford to concede goals like that." "I thought we were the better side in the first half, we were going about our task nicely by getting the ball out wide and getting it into the box." "But unfortunately we conceded a goal right on half time to go 2-1 down, even so we shouldn't have allowed that to affect us and knock our confidence as it did." "I told them to keep it tight at the start of the second half and be patient that the chances would come. But we conceded another soft goal early on." "I spoke to the players after the game and told them this is the time for real characters to come to the fore." "I'm looking for those characters now because we are having a period where things aren't going particularly well for us." "We need to get back to basics and do the things that have taken us to second in the league." |
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