Gannon laments his naive Hatters
BOSS Jim Gannon lamented his ‘naive’ side, as The Hatters were held to a drab 1-1 draw with struggling Hereford in the National League North on Saturday.
Despite the visitors coming into the Edgeley Par clash winless in six, the Bulls took a secondhalf lead through midfielder Craig Dinsley’s header – before striker Frank Mulhern spared County a second successive home league defeat with a penalty ten minutes from time.
But the hosts were met with boos at the final whistle from a small section of the disgruntled home support as County still struggle to piece together a winning run in the league – and Gannon admitted that ‘a lack of quality’ hampered The Hatters on the day.
He said: “There was a real lack of quality in the final third, summed up by our set-pieces and corners. We’ve got players not delivering into the right areas and we’ve got players acting on impulse as opposed to applying what we work on in training. We had over ten corners and failed to threaten at all, which is the disappointment for me.”
Hereford, backed by a healthy following of over 200 in the two sides’ first clash in five years, set their stall out early – deploying a five-man defence to stifle the expectant hosts.
The away side took the lead against the run of play ten minutes after half-time, but Gannon directed his ire towards his own players.
“Credit to Hereford, they’ve come with a game plan. We were very naive for the most part and then we don’t stick with our men when Hereford do get chance to whip it in.”
“We huffed and puffed without any real quality My biggest disappointment is that I didn’t see what we work on in training. I don’t see today as a reflection of my work - we have players rehearsing so well and then not performing.”
A hoarse Gannon admitted that he grew frustrated throughout the affair with his side “repeatedly failing to follow instructions”, as County dominated the stats in terms of both possession and corner count without testing the visitors.
The home side racked up over ten corners during the course of the game, but repeatedly delivered the set-pieces well over the crowded penalty area and away from danger – and Gannon admitted that a number of his squad were “not taking in” the instructions provided both in training and from the sidelines.
“I’m sure the fans in the stand behind me will be sick of hearing me shouting, but I find myself repeating myself over and over - whether that’s through players not understanding or just ignoring me and that’s the concern.”
“We dominated possession but there was a real lack of quality. It was summed up by two critical aspects in our delivery and crosses.”
“We were very naive, and on top of that the goal is just poor. We can go back to Ben kicking the ball straight out, then our forwards giving it back away and finally a free man to head it home.”
County now turn their attention back towards the FA Cup, with the visit of neighbours and fellow National League North side Altrincham this Saturday to Edgeley Park in the Final Qualifying Round.
A place in the first round proper is up for grabs, but Gannon parted with a warning shot towards his players who he claimed ‘weren’t listening’ to instructions.
“We worked really hard to get back into the game on Saturday, and got something but a lot of energy had been expended by that point and you have to say Hereford would have been disappointed to lose the game.” I can give as much information as possible to the players but how they absorb it is up to them - and if it isn’t being taken on board then that’s something I need to address.”