Angry Altrincham boss Lee Sinnott pulled no punches as he reflected on a calamitous trip to Forest Green Rovers that ended with a 2-0 defeat and red cards for Josh O’Keefe and Luca Havern.
Alty are appealing the straight red for O’Keefe, with chairman Grahame Rowley commenting: “We felt it seemed very unjust. The tackle by Josh was not malicious, and the conditions were also a factor. They were far from ideal.”
However, Alty are still bracing themselves for the loss of their energetic midfielder, as well as Havern, for Sunday’s FA Cup second-round tie at Colchester. A decision is expected this week, but even if the appeal is upheld, the fear is the red card may be downgraded to a yellow, which would take O’Keefe to five bookings and a one-match ban.
Either way, Sinnott was fuming over a performance that began with a gift-wrapped opening goal for Forest Green inside the opening minute.
“I don’t like to come out and criticise players individually,” he said. “They knew at half-time and full-time who I was directing it at. The game was over after 43 seconds, because it set a mental seal into our team that was still there 45 minutes later.
Highlights from the defeat at Forest Green:
“People may say we made a better fist of it in the second half, but no, I’m not having that. We didn’t turn up in the first half, and I must apologise to the supporters who made the long trip down.
“It was one of those performances that really annoy you as a manager, one that stays with you a good few weeks. I remember as a player, you would maybe chew it over for a few days then move on, but as a manager, it really sticks in your throat. I’m not happy, not one bit.
“I’m looking at the psyche of the team in the first minute, the first five, first 10, first 15 and so on, and I didn’t like what I saw. They are better than that, and they know they are. One thing’s for sure – we’re going to have to be a hell of a lot better at Colchester next week.
“Just because we are coming to second in the league doesn’t mean we haven’t got the right to compete, play our football and ask questions. I know in my day, I would have fancied going to second in the league. Bring it on. Maybe that asks a question in itself, because there was none of that about our performance.
“Our defending was too powder-puff. Jon Parkin got two goals and could have had more. He was allowed the run of the park, and if you are going to defend like that, you are giving yourself a problem. We changed the system at half-time, then instigated a bigger change with 20 minutes to go, but we still moved the ball too slowly. You’ve got to move it quickly and stretch the opposition out. We had a little flurry around the 75-minute mark, but what I saw overall, both offensively and defensively, was below what we are capable of. That’s why we came away with nothing.
“You never like losing, but it wasn’t so much the result that annoyed me as the fabric of our performance. It left a completely bitter taste in my mouth.”
