“That performance was coming with a while”
As always Keith Long was forthright with his comments after Friday night's defeat. Photo: Inpho.
Waterford FC Head Coach Keith Long was making no excuses for Friday’s defeat to Drogheda United in the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division following a disappointing performance that he felt was “coming for a while” at Weavers Park.
Speaking after the game, Long said: “I don’t think that we deserved anything from the game. It was a poor goal to concede. It was a mistake and late in the game, you might as well lose the game 2-0 chasing it. We coughed up the ball and they put the game to bed with the second goal.
“It’s a poor performance but I think that it’s probably been coming for a while if I’m been brutally honest with you. The boys have done extremely well adapting to the Premier Division, but we’ve had a bit of luck in some of the games.
“Tonight we didn’t have any luck and we didn’t do enough in the space between both boxes, defending our own 18-yard box, or enough in the opposition 18-yard box. We’ve got a big month ahead and we’ve got five really, really big games against top teams. We’ll need to perform a lot better than we did tonight.”
Long added: “Drogheda are an experienced Premier Division side. They know how to fight and scrap. That’s probably something that we need to do better. I think that in those moments, we have to win those duels, we have to pick up on second balls, and play the game in an ugly way not a nice fashioned way.
“There’s no panic buttons here whatsoever. We’ve lost a football match. We’ve won 11 games and lost 10 games. You don’t go into try lose games but to lose them in the manner that we’ve done over the last two games from set plays, a mistake, not defending, not doing the basics well enough, is disappointing.
“We’ve come back after the break. We’ve had a couple of good results, we’ve progressed in the cup, and now we’ve had a couple of setbacks. One thing that we’ll try to do is try to bounce back against Shamrock Rovers on Friday night at the RSC.” Long isn’t worried despite first back-to-back league defeats since April. “We’re sitting third in the table so there’s no need to be worried, but that being said, complacency can’t set in. We’re not good enough and none of us are good enough. That’s the bottom line.
“I’m not a good enough manager and players can’t take things for granted. They can’t become complacent. We have to better and we have to try maximise every opportunity in every game. We have to work harder than the opposition. I didn’t see that from us tonight, which is disappointing.
“But there are some silver lining if you can call it that with Barry Baggley coming on and Sam Glenfield making his debut. Shane Flynn and Sam Bellis coming off the bench. These fellas will fully intergrade over the next few weeks.
“It was very difficult for Louis Jones coming in tonight. He was a little bit cold. He trained yesterday, but I’m sure he’ll get better as his loan with the club and season progresses. We’ve lost players like Sarge, Barry, Rowan and Maleace. When you take these players out, it’s going to hurt any time.”
Commenting on the transfer window, Long added: “I think that we need to manage expectations now because this is a team that just got promoted from the First Division. We’re probably punching above out weight a bit. Look at the signings that other clubs have made and look at the squads other club have.
“We don’t have that. We’ve got to bring in players that maybe people haven’t heard of like Sam Bellis, Shane Flynn, and Sam Glenfield. It’s pre-season for some of these lads. It’s going to take time for them to gel and get up to speed. People might need to be patient a bit and give them time.
“We brought in Louis Jones in and it was a tough call to make tonight with Matt Connor. These are decisions that I have to make. Sometimes you get them right and sometimes you don’t. We’ll try work with the group. The players work hard, train hard, but we need improve and try get better.
“It’s up to us to get them ready for Rovers on Friday. It’s a big game and I’m sure they’ll be a big crowd. The dynamic of the dressing room is changing a bit and we need to be patient with those players that are coming in. But there’s no need for panic or concern.”
