No theatrics at County for Jim
COUNTY boss Jim Gannon reflected on “great drama” as his side got back to winning ways with a last gasp Edgeley Park winner on Saturday – before issuing a stark warning over ‘fair play’ to his side.
Substitute Nyal Bell headed home a stoppage time winner at the Cheadle End as County eventually overcame visitors Dagenham & Redbridge in the National League but Gannon was left unhappy with an incident involving his own striker Frank Mulhern.
With The Hatters being left frustrated by the away side, led by former England boss Peter Taylor, Mulhern tumbled to the ground midway through the second half looking for a penalty kick.
The officials waved away the appeals, but stopped short of booking Mulhern for simulation after the “theatrical” fall and Gannon responded by replacing the number nine moments later.
The former Port Vale chief has crafted a relationship during his managerial career of instilling fair play into his sides; with County winning the Fair Play League last season as well as the National League North.
Gannon and Mulhern exchanged words upon the striker’s replacement, and although the pair shook hands at full-time, the the Irishman left Mulhern in no doubt as to what was expected at Edgeley Park.
“I had an issue with how Frank flamboyantly fell. He got trod on, which is fine - but I don’t like that. We’re better than that, we’ve got more class than that.
“I’ve said as a manager, I don’t want to see that, and if I see that then you’re coming off,” explained Gannon. “Us and Dagenham are the two sides with the best fair play records in the division, because there’s two managers who instil good virtues into their sides.
“We don’t have the ‘benefit’ of the nonsense that is VAR at this level, so if you get fouled, react and go down. That isn’t against any ‘fair play’. But I don’t like the theatrics from anyone, including our own players.
“I’ve told the lads that they’ll be coming off if I see things like that, and that’s all there is to it - but Frank is fine, and he worked hard on the day.”
Gannon did heap praise on a “much improved performance” from his side following a 1-3 defeat to Woking the week prior.
The last-gasp winner from Bell now shows a National League of record of just one defeat in County’s last six outings, with three wins and two draws accompanying that tally.
“We were much better. We were always knocking on the door.”
“It’s always great drama when you score late on, and it was great for Nyal to get a shot of confidence with the goal. As a football fan, that was a much better watch than many of our games at Edgeley Park this season.”
“Dagenham will be disappointed, but we asked a lot of questions of them and we made some really good decisions.”
“The brand of football for us in the Woking game last weekend wasn’t really ‘us’ - it wasn’t like the sides we’ve had over the years in my spells here, looking to get on the front foot and ask questions.”
“On Saturday, I think people would have been walking away thinking that we deserved to win, which is how we want to play all the time.”
‘I had an issue with how Frank flamboyantly fell. We’ve got more class than that’