Tuesday night concluded a miserable Bristol Street Motors Trophy campaign for Cheltenham Town after an embarrassing 4-0 loss at home to West Ham United Academy, with assistant manager Adam Murray not holding back in his assessment of his players.
The Robins, who reached the semi-final of the competition last season – narrowly losing on penalties to Plymouth Argyle, were already eliminated prior to last night’s fixture. A dismal performance against Bristol Rovers resulted in a 4-1 loss at The Memorial before the struggling League One outfit were swept aside by League Two Newport County in a 2-0 defeat.
Despite a respectable rise in form regarding the league, Darrell Clarke’s side were handed a significant blow in the FA Cup on Saturday when they were completely dominated and ruthlessly picked apart by an out-of-form AFC Wimbledon on Saturday, disregarding the gap in their respective divisions.
Furthermore, hoping to put things right and provide those fringe players with a crucial opportunity to make a statement, Clarke and Murray fielded a weakened side to take on the young Hammers.
Evidently, those picked couldn’t deliver or merely perform the basics to their new bosses in yet another disappointing affair for the Gloucestershire side.
In truth, some of the blame needs to fall on the new Head of Recruitment Russell Milton. At this current stage, Cheltenham have an absurd 28 senior pros contracted, which is far too big for a club of their stature whilst meeting the demands of operating as a League One club.
The phrase ‘quantity over quality’ is very much at play here. In a post-match interview conducted by Gloucestershire Live’s Jon Palmer, Adam Murray stated;
“There are a lot of players here, way too many players. That’s part of the problem of why the team has found itself in the position it has.
There is not an identity and the thing that’s got this club success over recent years is having an unbelievable identity and togetherness, hard to beat and that’s probably gone missing a little bit.”
Emphasising his point on missed opportunities, the former AFC Fylde boss commented;
“The manager is giving people opportunities to step up to the plate and be part of the journey. If people can’t step up, or won’t step up, they don’t be part of the journey. It’s pretty straightforward for us in terms of our thought process and what we need to do to get to where we need to be.”
Cheltenham Town host Wigan Athletic at the Completely-Suzuki Stadium on Saturday where they will be looking for a reaction on the back of two below-par performances.
Writer’s View
Adam Murray’s post-match comments certainly give food for thought but also reiterate what many Robins supporters feel, and that a large portion of the squad is not up to the standard of League One football.
A prime example of this relates to recruitment. Cheltenham Town loaned in seven players, where only five are permitted in a match-day squad. At this current stage, only Owen Bevan and Nathan Butler-Oyedeji are gaining minutes in the league. Many players are surplus to requirements, and a huge clear-out is on the horizon as January approaches.
Be the first to comment