Reds keen to shake off negativity: Gray

Boss praises side despite draw against 10-man Linfield

CLIFTONVILLE boss Barry Gray has revealed that his team talk ahead of Saturday’s feisty draw with Linfield began with an apology to his players.

The Reds chief rebuked his own “poor management” in the aftermath of last week’s stalemate with Dungannon Swifts and asserted that negative vibes were of no benefit to his team.

The Solitude side reacted with a committed display against the Blues that — Joe Gormley’s headed goal aside — lacked any serious bite against a team that looked there for the taking in the aftermath of Jamie Mulgrew’s first-half red card.

Linfield’s inspirational skipper was given his marching orders for a 26th minute challenge on Jay Donnelly that neither boss felt merited a dismissal and, as frustrated as Gray was to see his men slip to Michael O’Connor’s late leveller, he was determined to look on the bright side.

“I can’t fault anyone for the shift they put in, there was a massive amount of hard work that went into that performance,” he said.

“It’s massively frustrating CLIFTONVILLE: Brush, McGovern, Ives, Breen, Harney, C Curran, Garrett, McDonald (McMenamin, 77 mins), Catney, Gormley, J Donnelly. Unused subs: Neeson, White, Bagnall, Lavery, Maguire, A Donnelly.

LINFIELD: Carroll, Robinson (Stafford, 89 mins), Callacher, Waterworth

but there’s no point in existing in a bubble of negativity — other people will do that for us and piece the jigsaw together of things we didn’t do or things we did wrong.

“I actually spoke to the players before the game and apologised about my own negativity last week, which was poor management on my behalf.

“We went to Dungannon, didn’t play overly well and got an equaliser at the end.

“I should have focused on the positive of getting something that we arguably didn’t deserve, rather than focusing on the negative of the performance.

“The players had Tuesday night off from me, I was away, I had to step back and focus on everything.

“Ranting at them might make me feel a bit better but it doesn’t do them any good. Other people can be negative about us but, in terms of our group, (O’Connor, 69 mins), Cooper, Clarke (Millar, 79 mins), Kearns, Mulgrew, Mitchell, Quinn, Casement. Unused subs: Deane, Fallon, Smith, Garrett. Referee: Arnold Hunter (Maguiresbridge)

Man of the match: Andrew Mitchell Match rating: 8/10

everything we do is about us and for us, so I apologised to them for that.

“We got a good reaction against Linfield and, as disappointed as we are to drop two points at the end, it’s not the worst week we’ve had. Nobody died and we need to build on the positives that there were because I think one win can just set us off. We’re not far away.”

Gray had sympathy for opposite number David Healy’s furious reaction to Mulgrew’s dismissal and, though he joked he was “shocked and delighted” to see the red card waved in the Linfield midfielder’s direction, he added: “If it had been one of my players sent off for that, I’d have reacted just like David and gone buck mad too.

“I don’t think it was that bad a tackle. It was a foul and a free-kick but, personally speaking, I don’t think players should be sent off for that.”

Healy was proud of the battling qualities his players displayed throughout what was an ill-tempered scrap littered with flashpoints, confrontation and rough-house tactics from both sides.

“I thought we were the better side before the red card and the better side after the red card,” he said.

“For the referee to make a decision like that — and it’s not the first time we’ve had problems with this referee, or even the second — is huge and completely changes the game.

“There were other challenges that went in that were much worse than that and they didn’t receive red cards or even yellow cards.

“I’m proud of my players for how they stood up to everything and how they kept going.

“I told them afterwards that it’s a better performance and result than against the Crues last week, because this is a very difficult place to come and to play the majority of the match with 10 men, then fall behind but still fight back to equalise, it says a lot about us.

“In fact, we even had a couple of chances where we could have gone on to win it where you’re just hoping we make the right decision or pick the right pass, but I can’t fault my players.”