Sinnott Speaks: We were way below our standards… the fans deserve better

Altrincham FC manager Lee Sinnott gives us the inside track on the Robins’ progress this season in the Vanarama National League. Here’s his latest column for Altrincham Today.

I won’t talk much about last Saturday at home to Braintree Town but it’s safe to say that it was way below the standards we’ve set as a team, and that’s putting it politely!

Apart from Ryan Crowther’s runs in the second half and Simon Richman in midfield, there was nothing positive to take from the game other than the scoreline not being worse than it was.

We could only use the result as motivation for the upcoming fixtures we have coming up. But the fans deserve better than a performance like that and we have to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.

Saying that, the players showed guts and a fighting spirit to bounce back away at Lincoln City this Tuesday just gone. I was pleased with how the players performed.

All the ingredients that were missing in the match against Braintree were there in abundance against Lincoln. It showed what the players were capable of all across the pitch.

I said to them after the game that they took a babystep in my view to making up for last Saturday. A big thank you to the 41 Alty fans that made the trip to Sincil Bank, a fantastic turnout considering the circumstances and I’m pleased that we took a point home for you.

Watch Luca Havern’s shot cleared off the line at Lincoln:

We also had another positive result this week. I’d like to extend my congratulations to George Heslop, Chris Adams and the Altrincham Youth Team who defeated FC United of Manchester 3-2 in the FA Youth Cup first qualifying round at Broadhurst Park.

We’re always looking at our youth team to see if anyone is worth bringing into the first team squad. It’s a big jump from the youth team to the first team, but it can be done and if we feel they can handle the step up in physicality and the technical aspect of National League Football then we’ll be looking at bringing them into the fold.

Tomorrow we travel back down south to play Boreham Wood. They are coming off the back of a fine win in midweek against Torquay, but currently sit below us in the table. They’ll be confident of getting a positive result and it’s an important game for both of us.

It’s about time we started picking up maximum points on the road but it won’t be easy. It’s up to us to instill our gameplan on them and doing what we’re capable of.

Pictures: Michael Ripley