Latest / The PCR Sports Show / Interview with Luke Steele after the NLN game at AFC Telford.

Transcript

Interview with Luke Steele after the NLN game at AFC Telford. · The PCR Sports Show

• 0:05
  OK, Luke, really tricky evening tonight, long way from home.
• 0:11
  Things started to go wrong when you first set out with the bus
• 0:14
  breaking down. But really, I think you have to
• 0:17
  say, especially in that first half, I think just outpaced and
• 0:21
  outplayed. Yeah, I think the Telford superb
• 0:24
  first half, you know, we were so close to going one nil up at
• 0:27
  half time, the score just before the break.
• 0:32
  I, I it's the best pitch obviously in the league and they
• 0:35
  have so much pace and they have really good rotation.
• 0:39
  And I think it was it was tough because we sat off them more
• 0:43
  than usual and probably respected that.
• 0:45
  In the second-half we tried to change it but they moved the
• 0:48
  ball so well side to side, obviously crooked.
• 0:50
  He was making a few good saves, not loads, two or three good
• 0:54
  saves and obviously we defended quite well, got the goal.
• 0:57
  Brilliant to see Theo get his first goal for the club.
• 1:02
  But yeah, I thought they were superb first half.
• 1:03
  I think it's one of the best sides I've seen at this level.
• 1:06
  And this is, you know, our technically our fourth season
• 1:08
  but our third full season. Yeah.
• 1:12
  But it's tough because I think on the other side of that, we
• 1:16
  had moments where we could do better with the ball.
• 1:19
  I think you're right. I think we were completely
• 1:22
  outpaced and outplayed, especially in the first half,
• 1:24
  but so close to going in, like you say, 1 nil up.
• 1:28
  Another disappointing thing for me tonight was that keeper
• 1:31
  unfortunately went off with a hand injury.
• 1:34
  I think it was, but we really didn't test the standing keeper.
• 1:38
  They they didn't have a standing keeper on the bench so one of
• 1:41
  the outfield players went in goal and we didn't really test
• 1:43
  him at all, did we? No, I mean, it's a strange one.
• 1:46
  I thought I haven't seen it because of, you know, the seven
• 1:48
  Subs who usually have a sub goalkeeper now.
• 1:51
  But it happened to us last year and I thought that the first
• 1:53
  thing that's going to happen, they will defend so much better
• 1:56
  because they will all have that warning of we've not got a real
• 1:58
  goalkeeper in goal. But straight away we've gone and
• 2:01
  tested him and we've scored. So, you know, I I don't fully
• 2:05
  agree with that until the second-half. second-half, we've
• 2:07
  had chances to pull the trigger. But again, they've they've
• 2:11
  defended and dug in deep at the end at a really low block.
• 2:13
  And you know, it's, it's tough to beat.
• 2:15
  But yeah, you know, it's, it's such a weird situation.
• 2:20
  Obviously it comes someone and comes in that's better with his
• 2:22
  feet. But you know you expect to test
• 2:24
  him, especially from crosses. What did you say to the boys at
• 2:27
  half time? Because we were close to going
• 2:29
  in ahead that suck a punch again.
• 2:31
  The late goal seems to happen to us quite a bit this season.
• 2:35
  What did you say to the boys at half time at?
• 2:37
  Half time we had to be real, you know, we were the second best
• 2:40
  side in the game and even if we were winning one nil, we had to
• 2:44
  change it. So basically Nigel, we go full
• 2:47
  on press, so when they're playing out from the back we're
• 2:49
  full on press. So basically it's man to man.
• 2:52
  So then if they want to risk it they can, but we're really
• 2:56
  pushed up high against them like we did against say Buxton last
• 2:58
  year and all the teams that have good possession doesn't always
• 3:01
  work. Scunthorpe and Kidderminster
• 3:02
  didn't work of course, but we went full on press and then
• 3:07
  obviously they had to try and play the out ball.
• 3:09
  We've just spoke then and ended up the two goals came from, you
• 3:13
  know, mistakes really on the turnover when we're in
• 3:15
  possession. So just got it because I've said
• 3:19
  this so many times this season and I haven't said it over The
• 3:22
  Four Seasons about giving cheap goals away.
• 3:25
  Not really because I've seen, you know, 25 seasons and this is
• 3:29
  a bad, really bad run of cheap goals.
• 3:32
  How you cure that or how you get better from that is, is tough
• 3:35
  because that individual, he can't necessarily be replaced,
• 3:38
  which it's not what we want. But you need character and you
• 3:43
  need resilience to to to overturn that.
• 3:45
  Because if you don't make individual mistakes and you
• 3:48
  know, you still defend your box, well, you can hang on and be one
• 3:50
  nil up and then you might still concede chances.
• 3:53
  But yeah, so it's obviously disappointing when you concede
• 3:56
  like that. And that press was evident and
• 3:58
  especially when Ben Mensah came on for Sam Bailey, that seemed
• 4:03
  to bolster us up a little bit and we started to play a little
• 4:05
  bit of football. But then the sucker punches with
• 4:08
  the goals, the mistakes, and all of a sudden we're 31 down and
• 4:11
  there really was no coming back from that, was there?
• 4:14
  Well, we kind of did. We got the penalty.
• 4:16
  We had the, you know, I think it was clear they went so deep
• 4:20
  because they expected to concede again.
• 4:21
  We were 32 with over 10 minutes to go with the added time.
• 4:26
  And yeah, we expect to to kind of create chances.
• 4:30
  And like I said, they did what we've done over and over again
• 4:32
  in this league, which a lot of people don't quite get, which is
• 4:35
  frustrating, but is to sit in your formation and let the
• 4:39
  others make mistakes, give the ball away and be in the
• 4:41
  counterattack side. So it's easier to do that than
• 4:45
  people think. And and when you're defending
• 4:47
  the lead, you can do that. And we just didn't we didn't put
• 4:51
  enough in like we we didn't put enough quality into the box.
• 4:55
  And obviously the shots that we had on target were two tame on
• 4:58
  wide and, you know, fair play to them because they defended that
• 5:01
  box really well. And you did come back into the
• 5:04
  game at the end, the penalty Josiah Dyer brought down just as
• 5:09
  he was going to pull the trigger.
• 5:10
  I think a little bit of shock. The fans didn't really think it
• 5:14
  was a penalty, but Elliot stuck it away really well and you're
• 5:17
  back in the game all of a sudden.
• 5:19
  Yeah. I mean, I think if we're honest,
• 5:20
  I think we had a clear penalty with Theo before that and I had
• 5:24
  a quite word with the official, you know, body language tells me
• 5:29
  that it was a penalty and we'll have to see that again.
• 5:32
  I'll be the first to say. And then obviously if you get
• 5:34
  one like that, it's usually a sign that there's been a
• 5:37
  previous mistake. But that's fine.
• 5:39
  You know, it happens in football.
• 5:40
  It's both ends. And yeah, Elliot's stepped up to
• 5:42
  take it and we've got plenty of time to get back in that game.
• 5:44
  So it's, although I've, I've said that they're one of the
• 5:47
  best sides that I've seen at this level, I still think on the
• 5:50
  night and in the circumstances we can get something out of the
• 5:54
  game. So it's disappointing.
• 5:56
  And need to just talk about this at the end altercation over by
• 6:00
  the the bench looked for a few seconds looked a bit like an ice
• 6:03
  hockey bench clearance. But that was that was handbags
• 6:06
  really wasn't it? It it was just desired.
• 6:08
  I going into the bench and and a little bit of barging.
• 6:12
  It was Theo who went into the bench, obviously went to grab
• 6:15
  the ball and, you know, one of their staff fell over, you know,
• 6:20
  and then caused the following. But again, I've seen many
• 6:24
  seasons, I've played different countries and that's what
• 6:26
  happens. And, you know, this country is
• 6:28
  usually one of them where we say, no, we don't want to get
• 6:30
  into all that. But they're trying to buy time.
• 6:31
  They're under cost, they're under pressure.
• 6:33
  They're trying to do their bit by, you know, causing that and,
• 6:36
  and wasting time. And you know, it's it's
• 6:39
  obviously calm the game if anything, because it stopped the
• 6:41
  tempo. So yeah, it's just one of the
• 6:44
  things that. Happened and, and just finally,
• 6:46
  just as you're coming off the pitch and and clapping the fans
• 6:49
  has a couple of home white fans, sorry, who weren't really happy,
• 6:53
  had a bit of a, an altercation with them.
• 6:55
  What was all that about? No, it's just a guy who was, I
• 6:59
  think he was intoxicated. And you know, people say stuff,
• 7:01
  so everybody's entitled to opinion.
• 7:03
  I was amazed by how many people we had here.
• 7:05
  I think we had nearly 20 maybe was there, I don't know the
• 7:09
  exact #1520 people, which is great.
• 7:11
  It's, you know, to, to travel this far on a Tuesday night in
• 7:16
  the pouring rain, It's, it's amazing.
• 7:18
  That's why you want to see your side get the result.
• 7:21
  But yeah, I think it's, you know, it's when, when people use
• 7:26
  words like passion and that it's just a throw away comment
• 7:28
  because you can't say that my players over this time and, and
• 7:32
  Michael's players have, have ever lacked passion.
• 7:34
  Sometimes people think it's a boxing match or a wrestling
• 7:37
  match. It's not.
• 7:37
  It's football and, you know, you get that passion in the run in
• 7:40
  the and they've been unbelievable.
• 7:44
  They've been unbelievable season after season with, you know,
• 7:46
  with our budget and stuff in the past and we've been so lucky and
• 7:50
  this club hasn't seen many tough times.
• 7:52
  It's it's, it's difficult to say because they haven't seen the
• 7:55
  tough times, Nigel. And and you know, is this a
• 7:58
  tough time? Yeah, it's quite a tough time
• 7:59
  because you're right near the bottom of the table, if not
• 8:01
  bottom tonight after 6-7 games, but it's not catastrophic by a
• 8:09
  long way. You know, if the, if you if
• 8:11
  you're somebody on the outside commenting on our club, they
• 8:14
  laugh and say you're in dreamland year after year.
• 8:16
  So we've always said that, you know, I've tried to be real with
• 8:19
  people and, and say about what the club should do and sustain
• 8:23
  and, and, and things like that. And you know, if there's a real
• 8:25
  growth in the club, especially with the fans and, and, and
• 8:29
  market inside of it, then other things can be, you know, can go
• 8:32
  up as well. But people are doing so much,
• 8:35
  they're working so hard. The staff, obviously Tim, you
• 8:39
  know, he travels everywhere and he loves it.
• 8:41
  And he, the improvements to the ground are just so inspirational
• 8:44
  to everybody. But everybody course, you know,
• 8:47
  looks to the players to, to produce on the pitch and get,
• 8:50
  get 3 points on a Saturday. So we want to bring that as many
• 8:53
  times as we can and even if it's Nick in drawers away from home
• 8:57
  and things that we're that team. So we want to bring that as much
• 8:59
  as we can because these fans have been been brilliant, you
• 9:02
  know, and there's not loads of them, but they do bring passion
• 9:06
  and that and that's for sure. Thank you for talking to us
• 9:09
  tonight, like lots going on difficult night but good luck
• 9:12
  for Saturday we go again. Cheers man.