Russell slates ‘negative and lazy’ Clan and demands harder work
GLASGOW Clan head coach Pete Russell couldn’t hide his disappointment after watching his “negative and lazy” side fall to a 4-1 defeat against league leaders Belfast Giants at the weekend.
While the first period yielded nothing by way of goals, both sides carved out a number of chances to test either goalie, but to no avail.
The Clan have struggled in the second period in a number of matches this season and it was no different here with the Giants scoring three of their four goals in a dire middle session.
And Russell didn’t hold back after the match as he pinpointed where the problem lies.
“That was the same old,” he confessed. “The second period was negative and lazy.
“You can’t do that. The fans, the club and the dressing room all deserve better than that. It just wasn’t good enough.
“Giants are a good team and there’s a reason they’re sitting where they are. And they will be right up there at the end.
“You could say for 40 minutes we played with them but we never played with them in the second period. The bottom line is the consistency is not there.
“We have to be better than a 50 per cent team and you’ve got work hard to do that, stay in games at the right time and get goals at the right time. It’s not about individuals, it’s about the group.
“That’s the fourth or fifth time we’ve lost games this year due to the second period.
“It’s not good enough for me and not good enough for the hockey club. It’s that simple.
“We have to do better than that. We have to learn to be consistent and learn to work hard.”
Clan will be looking to return to winning ways this weekend as they welcome Coventry Blaze to Braehead arena on Saturday. Face-off 7pm.