John Ward On The Walsall Defeat

Last updated : 27 September 2008 By Thetashkentterror

John Ward
United manager John Ward spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Derek Lacey after Carlisle's 2-1 defeat away to Walsall this afternoon, Ward talking about how the Blues have to bounce back from their third loss in succession :


" The phrase is too little, too late, we got bullied and pushed and bumped about a bit today more than I have ever seen us have that happen to us before. We needed to be tougher than we were today, just in and around the ball and just getting on with it, not just with the opposition but with ourselves.

" Even the first goal has come from a long throw-in which we needed just to get people in front and defend it. We are looking at 44 minutes or so aren't we on the clock and we have really been strong enough to deal with those things. The ending of the afternoon is that we have lost the game and I can't grumble about that result because our performance hasn't deserved to win it maybe.

" The goalkeeper (Clayton Ince) saved the penalty, he (Danny Graham) has hit the target, it is a good save off the keeper, Danny has changed his side and you find that that happens in a game. It changes the game though, of course it does, if it goes in, the same way that other things in the game will alter the outcome. It wasn't to be though, that didn't happen, it gave Walsall the lift that we would have had had the goal gone in. Danny steps up and takes his penalties, we all make decisions and we stand by them.

" No decisions on team selection are easy, you give them time and thought and consideration. I will get things right and I will get things wrong, the same as everybody else in this world. I will look at them when they have happened and see if they got them right, whether we needed one or two more, whether we got them right during the game, that type of thing. "



" There was a reason for putting Scott Dobie in instead of Cleveland Taylor, we were trying to get Scott Dobie working against (Paul) Boertien the full-back. It didn't quite come off in the way that I wanted it to, you saw Jennison (Myrie-Williams) come on and he was a different kettle of fish, a different problem, the pace coming at them.

" Which Scott has got but we didn't get that going in the game, it is not just down to Scott, that is down to other things just regarding the game, can we get the ball to people long enough and quick enough. I will look at it afterwards though and give it some thought, and see if we were right or wrong with that, or whether we should have done other things.

" I think that we got bullied and bumped about, my two centre-backs (Richard Keogh and Danny Livesey) had a tough afternoon. Not just with their form because their form is OK, they had to really stand their ground. A lot of balls were coming in quite easily to the two strikers, (Jabo) Ibehre and (Michael) Ricketts who gave us some certain problems all afternoon.

" Three defeats in a row has happened to us and we all stand up to be counted, not just me, my coaching staff and my players. Everyone will stand in there and we will be looked at next Saturday at home to Tranmere Rovers and we will try very hard during the week to get spirits up and go into that game looking forward to it and trying to get the win that we want.

" I said to the players at half-time that we needed to do better, that we had got bullied and bumped about a bit and we needed to be tougher and stronger. That is something that I have not really seen from this team since I have been at the club. We haven't really got knocked around too often, we have been able to stand our ground a bit tougher than we did today. So that is something that we have got to make sure doesn't happen again. "



" I haven't gone into any great detail with them, I think that sometimes that is wrong. Emotions are high, you saw how the last five minutes of the game the boys are trying very hard to get back in the game. There were one or two things happening, I am the same as them, I am the same as you, I am the same as our supporters. I need to give it some consideration, we will get to the boys on Monday and work the week and try to improve ourselves. Because we can't play like this again, it was too patchy, too bitty, too not consistent enough and we have got to perform better next weekend.

" Jennison and Michael Bridges, I think that they added different little bits and pieces to the performance when they came on and changed it. We had to look at something different and they were fine. Jennison has had his shot, a good shot on the break saved by the keeper and Michael has shown some good touches.

" I think that my two centre-backs were pretty tough with their centre-forwards. They had a difficult afternoon, so I am not going to beat them up or say that we can't do this and we can't do that. We have just got to look back at it, use the hindsight that we will have and try to improve what we are looking at. This is a decent group of players who work very hard, they are having a tough time at the minute and I have got to stay strong with them, try to get some good decisions for them and see if they can put some together for me.

" We have got to stick together, we will get questioned and queried over the week I'm sure. That happens in the game, people want things instantly and two or three games when you don't win then people are going to jump on you. So we will have to get ready for that, we will deal with it and the best way that we can answer that is with a good performance next Saturday, and we will try hard to do that.

" We do travel well as far as away support is concerned and we have not helped them go home with a smile today. That upsets me and disappoints me because they deserve a little bit better than they have seen today, that is something that we have got to try to get right. "