CHRIS IS LUCK-Y HE’S NOT JIMMY!
IT MAY not have quite been a perfect start to life as Bury boss for Chris Lucketti but at least his team weren’t booed off by their own fans.
That’s exactly what Northampton endured, as Lucketti’s opposite number Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was forced to defend his players, calling the boos unfair and urging the supporters to blame him, as the Cobblers’ goal drought extended to over 400 minutes.
Both teams – still trapped in the relegation zone – had chances, with Bury’s Michael Smith going closest to a winner when his late header was scrambled clear by home keeper Matt Ingram.
Despite securing a point to end a run of three straight defeats, Northampton still slipped to third bottom.
And the home crowd voiced their frustration after yet another blank.
Boss Hasselbaink said: “It was a muchimproved performance after losing at Plymouth in midweek.
“We deserved to win because we created a lot more. So it’s not nice when we walk off with boos.
“It’s not fair on the boys. They are wearing the shirt proudly for the club.
“Bury are in the bottom four but so are we. And they have a new manager so they had extra motivation.
“I do understand the fans’ frustration but if there’s someone to blame, blame me. Don’t blame the boys, they’re doing everything in their power to get it right. “When that stops, we have a problem. But if we keep performing like this we’ll win more than we lose.”
Bury upset league leaders Shrewsbury on Tuesday night and the following day named Scunthorpe’s assistant manager Lucketti as their new permanent boss. And the new man believes there is plenty for him to build on. Lucketti said: “We were unfortunate not to get the three points but I think a draw was a fair result.
“They had a few chances but their keeper got man of the match and that’s testament to how we played second half.
“That’s a second straight clean sheet for us and that has to the basis where we start from. You have to start keeping clean sheets and build from that because we know we’ve got goals in the team.”
The Shakers started well with Smith firing over before Mihai Dobre tested Ingram.
Northampton then got on top, with Leo Fasan denying Marc Richards before Matt Crooks blazed over.
Fasan also tipped over a Matt Grimes free-kick while Leon Barnett headed wide from the corner.
But Rohan Ince spurned a great chance on 52 minutes when his shot was tipped over by Ingram.
Chris Long and Crooks went close before Northampton defender Ash Taylor misjudged a header back to Ingram with ten minutes left.
Smith headed over the stranded keeper but he scrambled back to claw it off the line.