Nowhere near good enough Duff’s apology after limp loss
CHELTENHAM Town’s 1,000th Football League game ended in a sorry 3-0 defeat at Lincoln City - described as “nowhere near good enough” by manager Michael Duff.
In a dismal display, the Robins were 3-0 down after 19 minutes after a flimsy effort at the LNER Stadium.
It was also Duff’s 200th match in charge, but any hopes of a celebratory afternoon were dashed as Morgan Whittaker scored the first of his two goals in the fourth minute after the away defence was split open by Lewis Fiorini’s pass.
Aston Villa loan midfielder Aaron Ramsey was cautioned for simulation in the eighth minute after latching onto a pass into the penalty area from Kion Etete and it summed up Cheltenham’s afternoon.
Fiorini hit the post in the 10th minute and Owen Evans saved a free-kick from Liam Cullen before he was beaten for a second time in the 17th minute when he did well to parry a shot from Cullen, Will Boyle blocked his follow-up, but Scully fired in at the third time of asking.
Whittaker’s second was a long-range shot into the bottom left corner two minutes later, with Evans slow to react.
Cheltenham had one clear chance to pull one back in the second half when Etete seized on a loose backpass and rounded Jordan Wright, but his shot towards an empty net was weak and trickled against the near post in the 66th minute and Lincoln’s goal was not seriously threatened thereafter.
“I’ve had to apologise to the supporters, who have come a long way on a bank holiday weekend.
“It’s not been us very often so you have to be careful because they have been lauded last week for breaking records and things like that.
“We got better in the last 20 minutes, but they are 3-0 up at that point. It would have been interesting if Kion (Etete) had scored when he went round the keeper, but it summed up the day. “We tried something different, but we have played every formation in football today.
“Ultimately formations, if players don’t want to have the intensity to run and a mindset of being dogged and hard to beat, because that’s what we’ve been all season and why they’ve been told how great they are all season.
“Sometimes they need to recognise, we haven’t been poor very often this season and that was one of them.
Duff said he considered making changes before half-time, but made one at the break, reverting to 3-5-2 with Lewis Freestone replacing Ramsey.
“It was AJ (Aaron Ramsey), the youngest player, but we could have made three subs after 20 minutes, it was that bad,” Duff admitted.
“Ultimately, we’ll pick the bones out of it and not get too disheartened. It was a poor game, but you are going to lose games when you go up a level. It was the manner of the defeat that was more disappointing.
“Even if people said we are safe, we’d be on the beach, there was an intensity to what we are doing.
“Today we came off it and it looked like an end of season performance, which we haven’t had.
“I don’t want to tag it with that because we’ve been safe for quite a few weeks now and they are allowed a bad day every now and again. Unfortunately for the fans, they won’t appreciate that and I get that.”
Duff admitted he was angry at halftime, with raised voices in the dressing room.
“They know the standards they’ve set. We don’t have to scream and shout. They know the levels,” he said.
“There were a few voices raised, but sometimes you have to credit the opposition because they were good, but we made it very easy for them and they didn’t have to do a lot to win the game.
“I give the players three or four minutes anyway. There were definitely voices raised before I even went in there.
“The players aren’t stupid and it’s not through a lack of effort.
“They didn’t turn up today and just think they’ll sunbathe and pass the ball and not do any part of it.
“We’ll have a look at it as a staff and this isn’t me putting it all on the players. We might have got it wrong.
“It’s hard for me to reflect now because the overriding emotion is disappointment because of the scoreline.
“There needs to be a measured approach, rather than an emotional decision where I just say all the players are rubbish because I don’t believe they are.
“We are 13th in the league. I don’t know how we are still 13th, but we are.
“There is an honesty within the group and they know that’s not acceptable.”
Lincoln City: Wright; Bishop, Poole, Jackson, Robson; Whittaker (Sanders 79), Mcgrandles, Fiorini (Sorensen 83); Cullen (Hopper 73), House, Scully. Subs not used: Adelakun, Marquis.
Cheltenham Town: Evans; Long, Raglan, Boyle, Hutchinson; Ramsey (Freestone 46), Colkett (Sercombe 76), Wright, Chapman (Bonds 65); Etete, May. Subs not used: Flinders, Pollock, Lloyd, Brown.
Attendance: 8,672 (209 away).