I’ll find solution to poor run says Jim
SOUTHPORT boss Jim Bentley couldn’t hide his frustration following Saturday’s 4-0 home defeat to Kings Lynn.
The Port are on a dismal run of form, having lost five on the bounce in all competitions.
And they followed up Saturday’s loss with another act of festive generosity when they squandered a two lead on Boxing Day, eventually losing 3-2 to Curzon Ashton.
The Port are now without a win since beating Buxton 1-0 on November 25.
Bentley is keen to find the solution to the Port’s loss of form.
He said: “We put four past them (a 4-1 win over Kings Lynn on September 9), they put four past us.
“Very disappointing and it just shows you what can happen in football.
“We had that spell in November when we were looking really good, we were winning games and then suddenly we came off it a little bit.
“There’s been no real system change, there’s been no real change in formation for the players.
“What got us those results was we were compact and did the basics well.
“We stopped crosses, we got tight in the box and we cleared our lines.
“Sometimes it’s not pretty but I’ve said from day one about defending. Our last away win was Buxton and we gave them very little on the day.
“But where we were giving our forwards something to go for, we’re now hitting balls down into the floor, it’s getting picked up and they’re countering on us.
“When the ball goes wide I talk about protecting centrally but today I saw a ball crossed in that was far too easy to be crossed in.
“Ultimately when you’re defending your priority area which is the six yard box, it’s all systems go with the runs that we were on, we were doing that because they’re the basics.
“Suddenly it’s an easy cross into our box and it’s a free header from six yards.
Despite the current poor run, Bentley insists no stone is left unturned when it comes to match preparation.
He continued: “I have to find a solution - is it because we’re not good enough or do we need more information or do we need more work as individuals?
“We’re very thorough in what we do. We went through with them on Thursday what to expect, where we could hurt them and what to expect.
“We’ll always paint a picture of what to expect, where their strengths and weaknesses are.
“I’m the manager and ultimately I’ll get criticised for it, I’ll get asked ‘why didn’t you pick him or him’ - everyone will have their own opinion.
“But we haven’t gone away, there’s no different information that we’ve given them.
“We’ve been solid and compact, we’ve had banks of four, we’ve had a threat up top, we’ve been good on the counter attack and we’ve been quite efficient.
“But for whatever reason we’ve gone away from that.
“That’s why I’ve just had a long chat with them (the players) to see what their feedback is.
“But how do you go from November to December? The message has been the same.
“Today I saw a ball go out to the right and there was no pressure on it at all.
“If I go back to the games we’ve won I’ll see players getting marked in the box.
“We’ve got to go back over the last few weeks to see what’s gone on. There’s no real different personnel, there’s no different information to what we do on a Thursday or a Saturday.
“But we’ve got to do the basics better and that includes clearing your lines.
Some people might want to see the ball brought down and play it out but I’ve said from day one, just be good defenders.
“So if we’re not stopping crosses and we’re not clearing our lines or getting tight in the box then the game becomes difficult because you’re giving teams a leg-up”.
Despite the current run, Bentley says there’s no panic, more a case of calming trying to find a solution.
He added: “There’s been no ranting and raving from me, we’ve got to be constructive.
“We’ve got to iron things out. Some valuable things have been said.
“But we’re very disappointed because we haven’t served our fans well .
“If I look over the game I’ll probably see the same amount of chances for both sides but they were more clinical.
“We’ve actually played some alright stuff. Now we’re not as solid at the back but we’re probably playing better football going the other way and creating opportunities so we’ve just got to marry it all up”.