‘I wouldn’t expect players with that attitude at this club’
Hawks interim co-boss Cliff De Gordon delivered a stark message to some of his squad in the wake of a dismal finalday defeat.
Relegated with two games to go, the club bid farewell to the National League South with a 5-0 caning at Torquay last Saturday.
Hawks conceded three goals in six first half minutes and trailed 4-0 at the interval on a sun-drenched English Riviera.
It was Hawks’ heaviest defeat of a miserable campaign, and De Gordon was in no mood to sugarcoat the performance of some of his first team regulars.
“A few of the lads had checked out…it was like a horror show,” he declared.
“I wouldn’t expect players with that sort of attitude at this club, but it was. It wasn’t good watching the first half, not good at all.
“The lads need to take a good, long look at themselves and think ‘is this the right profession for me?’ because if it is, they’re not going to get far on that kind of performance.
“They have to be realistic - do they really want this? It’s up to them.
“We were relegated a few weeks ago but I still expected them to put in a shift.
“The quality this club desires, some of them are falling a bit short.”
De Gordon exempted three teenagers for any blame - 17-year-old Preston Woolston, making his second first team start, and halftime subs Amadou Jallow, 18, and Taylor Crook, 19.
All three are members of the Hawks’ under-23 squad De Gordon was co-managing alongside Ross Betteridge and Richard Pope prior to getting the call to step up in early December when Steve King’s disastrous 11-game (and two points) NLS tenure was ended.
Those youngsters are the club’s future and De Gordon said: “They done themselves proud today, and have put a few of the first teamers to shame.
“Their effort was exactly what was needed, that’s why we made the changes at halftime.”
In an open letter to supporters published last Friday, Hawks chairman Derek Pope said the appointment of a new head coach would “shortly be announced.”
The quality this club desires, some of them are falling a bit short