Archived News from April 2002
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GARRY THOMPSON REACTION
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GARRY THOMPSON REACTION
"I've Learned An Awful Lot Today" http://www.bristolrovers.co.uk Rovers boss Garry Thompson says that today's disappointing performance at Field Mill has taught him an awful lot about his players. "I've learned an awful lot today," said Thompson, "There are certain players here fighting for new contracts, and if they want them, they're going to have to fight an awful lot harder than that. "I said that the next four games were important to bed something down for next season, and if players want to stay here, they need to show that. We came here, we never took the game to them and we didn't impose ourselves on them and it was very disappointing." Thompson did though have positive words to say about one player - Justin Richards - who made his debut for the season midway through the second half, "He was the one pleasing thing that came from the game," Thompson added, "It was nice to see the Rovers fans applaud his name when the teams were read out, because his confidence is low, and when he came on he showed some good stuff. He didn't know he was going to be involved, but I needed a willing runner, and he gave me that option. "He came on, he backed into his marker a couple of times and got the ball down. I was delighted for him - it was only for 20 or 25 minutes, but it was a start. He'll get another chance before the season is up, as will a lot of the fringe players. That's what I want to use these games for, to look ahead to next season and to work out which players are going to be in my plans." Although the half-time score was 0-0, Rovers had hardly threatened the Stags' goal at all during the opening 45 minutes, "We said at the break that we needed to retain the ball more, and to be fair, we started slightly brighter after the break. But then the ball bobbled with Lewis Hogg and it was 1-0 and then Che came charging out for the second, got caught out, and we were 2-0 down. "The difference in the game though was that they had a centre forward who was prepared to chase down every ball and lost causes, and if you've got players like that, then you've got a chance. "We've got to stop giving the ball away, and start supporting our forwards. We can't keep clearing the ball and watching it come straight back at us because it will eventually catch you out. "I'll be sitting down with my staff next week deciding which players we want to keep and let go. We have three more games, we'll move on and learn from this one, but as far as one or two players are concerned, then unless they change quickly, then my mind has already been made up." |
Latest | April 2002