Gaffer's thoughts after the Barnsley defeat
Micky Mellon was left disappointed as Shrewsbury fell to a 3-0 defeat at home to Barnsley. The loss leaves the club in the relegation zone and the manager was disappointed with the goals his side let in:“Everything we did at Cardiff we didn’t do today, we didn’t press or have the shape or organisation. The goals we gave away are appalling and we didn’t keep the ball well enough. The movement off the ball wasn’t good enough and we were too slow giving the ball away far too cheaply, it is incredibly frustrating.”
“The first goal is a straight ball down the middle and we don’t win the header as we should. The other centre back didn’t cover and because of that we go behind. The second goal we had four or five players on him and he still got away to score and for the third goal we give them a free header. We never got going at all.”
The 43-year-old felt Shrewsbury had chances to get back into the game but understands the disappointment coming from the stands:“Missing the penalty before half time was a big blow because it could have motivated us to get back into the game but there is no point reflected on missed chances. Maybe if we scored we could have got back into it but we will never know.”
“We got beat at home so I expect disappointment absolutely. The fans expect us to be able to perform at home and show some consistency but we are failing to do that at the minute. I completely understand the fans being frustrated and we just have to keep pushing to improve.”
The manager and players stayed in the dressing room for some time after the match to have a passionate discussion about how to get results back on track:“We just had a talk and we need to come out of this defeat knowing what we have done wrong. I didn’t scream and shout because that is no use if the players don’t understand what they are doing wrong. The annoying thing is the lads told me what they had done wrong when we had the talk and it is annoying that they couldn’t do it on the pitch.”
Despite Shrewsbury now sliding into the relegation zone, the former Barnsley boss insists he is not thinking about the drop:“I always take it each game at a time and just focus on the next fixture. I don’t ever get carried away or think too far ahead and I won’t be doing that now. We need to do better in the next match and learn from the defeat and hopefully we will be able to do that.”
“I believe we have a good squad who are more than capable of competing at this level so I don’t think we need to rush into recruitment again. The lads have let themselves down today and didn’t play anywhere near the levels we have set in previous games. It is my responsibility to try and get us to be more consistent and I will be thinking of ways to do that in the next 24 hours because being consistent is essential.”