'We tried to hard' - Crawley Town manager Rob Elliot after Wycombe Wanderers defeat
New Crawley Town manager Rob Elliot lost his first game in charge 1-0 at Wycombe Wanderers. Here are his thoughts after the game
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00:00It's defeating your first game in charge, but can I get your overall assessment of the game first?
00:04Yeah, I thought we handled the first 5-10 minutes well in terms of away from home. We put a lot of balls in the box.
00:10I thought we defended the set-piece as well, etc. Things that we asked the lads to do.
00:14It probably wasn't as clean as we're used to in terms of the possession.
00:17And you've got to give credit to Wickham, they really stepped on and made it hard for us.
00:21And I think probably overall it was a little bit disjointed, which you'd expect.
00:24I'm not going to expect after two days that the lads absolutely get what we're trying to do.
00:29But I think the biggest thing for me is when I look at them, the work rate, the energy they put in,
00:32their desire to keep going was really, really good.
00:35And I think that gives you hope.
00:37I said that to the lads, if you've got that work rate and that buy-in, that energy, we'll be fine
00:41because the talent they've got and the way we play will always come through.
00:45But yeah, it's a tough place to come at any time.
00:47And I think the thing for me personally is I've seen that there's a group of lads there
00:52willing to do anything they can to help and work and help the club.
00:56And me as well, which I thank them for.
01:00It would be nice if we created a bit more.
01:01We worked on the crossing and the zones and everything like that.
01:04But it's football's moments.
01:06We hit the bar from things we've worked on in terms of Harry getting round the back
01:09and that hits the bar, doesn't quite happen.
01:11And then obviously you get punished on a second phase.
01:16Ideally, we'd have lauded the perfect start and the perfect performance,
01:19but that doesn't just happen.
01:21It comes from work and time and all the little things that we can get into the players.
01:27But all I can say is for the first two days, the players have been fantastic in terms of
01:32the reception and trying to understand what we're doing.
01:35And I know we'll get better from today.
01:38Yeah, obviously it's a league fixture and we're hunting points.
01:40But ultimately, I suppose it's almost like a training session for yourself, isn't it?
01:43Trying to get your view on the lads in a game.
01:47I suppose you can do it in training ground, but you're 11 v 11 against your own squad.
01:50So it's the first time you've probably been able to see the lads properly in a game.
01:53So is that going to be useful for yourself, do you think?
01:55Yeah, definitely. It'll be useful for the lads because now we can review and explain
01:58what we're trying to do and they can see it in real life.
02:00They can see it and feel it on the pitch.
02:03And I think also we come in Thursday, which is a matchday,
02:07sort of the recovery day after the game on Tuesday.
02:10And then Friday, matchday minus one.
02:11So you can't do loads, but the lads thought their energy levels were excellent.
02:14So you can obviously tell there was no sort of legginess, I suppose, from that.
02:19But yeah, like game Tuesday in the cup,
02:21which then gives players who didn't play today an opportunity to impress,
02:24which is obviously good.
02:25And it gives us a couple of days to really assess the boys on the pitch,
02:28where we want to see them and their traits and their triggers.
02:31And it's going to take time for us to really understand the lads.
02:33But for me, from what I've seen for previously and what we've seen initially,
02:37I think we'll be absolutely fine.
02:38I think it's one of them ones where we just have to stay together and not get too low
02:44because the result didn't go our way.
02:47In the same sense that when we do get it right and we do hopefully start building
02:50and kicking on, we don't get too high and get carried away either.
02:53But yeah, other than that, it's the first game.
02:56Loads to assess and we'll take it from there.
02:58You can tell a lot of it's confidence, isn't it?
03:00I think if Harry scored that chance in the first half that comes off the underside of the bar,
03:04it probably is a very different game.
03:05You can see at that point the lads are full of confidence and sort of by 60, 70 minutes,
03:09maybe there's a little bit of frustration setting in.
03:11So is it a case of when that one goal does come, you know,
03:14we're going to start sort of clicking a little bit more, do you think?
03:16Yeah, I think so.
03:18I think it's like anything, you know, goals, wins and that breed confidence.
03:21But the lads should take confidence in what they've done already this season,
03:24what they've done over the last 18 months or so.
03:26And that's the thing I said to them in there, I was like,
03:28don't be too disheartened because, you know, the ball, second phase,
03:31it's come in the box and it's come back across and we can clean it up.
03:34We want to protect the middle of the goal, I get that.
03:36But it's not like we've been completely picked apart at times, you know.
03:39Yes, we know they're going to turn it on the channel and they're going to be physical
03:42and they're going to put the ball in the box.
03:43But we dealt with that well.
03:44It's just a couple of things that we need to smooth up on.
03:46And obviously in possession stuff, we'd like to have had more control.
03:49But ultimately, you know, slight changes in what we're trying to do
03:52and the opposition as well in the way they defended made it harder.
03:56And yeah, there's nothing we can change now other than look, assess and then go again.
04:01Yeah, when we're done on Tuesday night, potentially a chance for you to sort of assess even more of the squad.
04:05So is that something you're really looking forward to sort of, you know,
04:08making some changes or not necessarily?
04:11But again, another chance for you to sort of put your stamp on the team?
04:14Yeah, definitely. I think the lads need an opportunity for the lads.
04:18Obviously, they've taken on the detail.
04:20We maybe didn't get as many minutes as they would like or weren't on the pitch.
04:23And I think it's fair for them to get an opportunity as well.
04:25So then it gives us a chance to assess everyone with a little bit of extra details.
04:29Hopefully a bit cleaner in what we do as well.
04:31Yeah, and a first chance for you to meet the Crawley fans today.
04:33What did you make of them?
04:34They were fantastic. The reception I got at the beginning.
04:36And then obviously I think you can tell why this club is so special in terms of the journey we're on.
04:40That even when they win over at the end of the game as the players and the staff,
04:43they've still got to give us a brilliant reception.
04:45I think they understand as well.
04:46You know, I've spoken to a lot of people, fans in the club, that this is going to be a long journey.
04:50This isn't the case that we're going to turn it around and win every single game in a row.
04:54We're stepping up to a big level and we need to make sure that we keep working hard
04:58so that come April, May next year, that's when you see the rewards.
05:03And I think for the fans I just want to say thank you from everyone for the introduction
05:07and obviously especially the warm welcome after the game because it means a lot.
05:10It keeps the spirits high and it shows that what the lads are doing is spot on
05:15and that in this one or three or four games, whatever it may be,
05:19obviously one game for us, it's not panic stations.
05:21We just need to reset and go again.
05:22Thank you, Rob.
05:25The second half seemed to have more control in possession than that.
05:28What did you say to the players at half-time?
05:30Just a couple of changes.
05:32It wasn't loads.
05:33Do you know what it is, and I think I'll give this to the lads,
05:35is that I think they were trying so hard for us to try and implement it
05:38that maybe we got carried away from going back to what we're good at in terms of controlling the ball.
05:41We just asked them to move the ball sideways a bit more than we normally would
05:44in terms of going from one side to the other, switching the play.
05:47And a couple of little things, but ultimately I think when the first half got through
05:53and the lads settled down, they settled back into their routine, they were excellent
05:57and we controlled the ball.
05:59We wanted to hurt them in the final third more.
06:01Big Tolik, when he came on, was a big threat and a presence,
06:04and Swanee worked hard for the team until then and we got a couple of opportunities for him.
06:07But, yes, it's a case of that football's not just one half, two half,
06:11it's over the course of 90 minutes.
06:13And I think today, probably maybe a little bit of lack of confidence
06:16or a bit of uncertainty with the new manager.
06:18You say Harry's shot goes in and we defend the goal a little bit better,
06:23and probably them two moments made the big difference.
06:25Jojo didn't have loads to do in terms of saves.
06:28He made a brilliant save when they turned us over.
06:31But other than that, he never really felt like he was under siege.
06:33It's just the little moments that we work on to get better at.
06:37We saw Joy come off. Is it too early to tell what injury he's got?
06:41It's probably too early. He has been struggling with his ankle and fair play to him
06:45because he kept training and he'd come through it, but I think he landed awkwardly.
06:49So I think it's a case that we're just assessing to see how he is.
06:52He's obviously had an ongoing issue, so it might be that he's just irritated a little bit
06:56and we'll take it from there.
06:57I thought you were very impressed with Charlie when he came on.
06:59He looks as a player that the fans haven't seen much of this season so far,
07:03but he did really well.
07:04No, I know Charlie really well.
07:05One, because he's at Chorlton and two, because we played against him a lot
07:07and he's an exceptional young man.
07:09His work rate and his energy and his ability to play is a really exciting prospect for us.
07:16He gets his chances, Joy gets injured, but all you can ask is to go and do what he did.
07:19I thought he was exceptional. I thought he was excellent.
07:21I thought he led the team and he drove us forward.
07:24From what you've seen, the early shoots of it, are you happy with where you are?
07:29Yes, more than happy. I wouldn't be here otherwise.
07:31If one game doesn't change any of that, and I think we mentioned it before,
07:35you can't get too disheartened or too low,
07:37because the first game away to a team that's third in the league doesn't go exactly our way.
07:41But ultimately, we know we can get a lot, lot better than that.
07:44I think the lads probably felt that.
07:46But we know that it was through probably a bit of energy trying to do the right thing
07:49probably for myself and the coaching staff.
07:51And the lads tried to impress, I suppose, maybe a little bit.
07:55And we just maybe first half got two carried away, went forward too quick.
07:59But when it settled down second half, we saw that nice routine, keeping the ball.
08:03Obviously, teams at this level, the strikers, the forward players, have obviously gone up a level again.
08:07It's going to take time to adapt to that.
08:09Like you said, I'm not going to sit here and get emotional and get too low.
08:12I think it's just the consistency that we'll keep working with the boys on.
08:15Brilliant, thanks Rob.
08:16No worries.
08:18That worked.