Plymouth Argyle boss accuses his side of “rolling over” in 6-0 loss to Charlton
BY KAI BENNETT
Plymouth Argyle manager Ryan Lowe blasted his side’s lack of “pride” after they shipped six goals against Charlton last night.
The Addicks moved into sixth in League One – the final play-off place – after an emphatic victory at Home Park.
Speaking to Plymouth’s official website, Lowe said: “I’ll front it up, I’m the manager of this football club and I’m proud manage this club.
“There was a lot of players out there tonight, who weren’t proud to wear the shirt. I’ll make sure I do something about that. It was an embarrassment.
“I have to front it up but I have to be careful how I say it. I’m the manager, so I need to take responsibility – albeit they need to look at themselves. It just epitomises what we need to go forward and that’s men and people with desire.
“You can’t have 10 corners and however many shots and be beat 6-0 by Charlton. We dominated possession. But we didn’t have desire to keep the ball out of our net and we didn’t have desire to score, so how do we expect to win a game of football?
“The goals that we have conceded are shambolic and pub goals. I have to give Charlton a bit of credit because they have scored six goals and I’m not shying away from that. The facts are my players didn’t show any pride, passion or desire which is what I’m all about, so I can only apologize.
“There are some comments, that we have nothing to play for and the lads are on their holidays – but that doesn’t wash with me. They’re professional footballers, they’re very well paid. We give them everything, we give them the best recovery, the best training but that just epitomised what I need to take this club forward – and it’s not people who have no desire. It’s not all of them, but there is certain individuals in there that are nowhere near the level for the football club, so I’ll have to do something about that.
“I wish the season would finish tomorrow but it’s not going to. We still have three more games to go and we can’t just roll over for any team and that’s certainly what they did tonight. They rolled over tonight.
“They will be in tomorrow at eight in the morning. They will watch it all back, they will train tomorrow and I have to just keep stamping down what they need to do.
“They don’t just represent Plymouth Argyle, they represent me and they’ll do the stuff we ask them to do because that was like a micky mouse Sunday league game on our behalf not theirs.
“I’m not singling anyone out, but you’ve just seen it again. It was like men vs boys. It was the biggest defeat and the last defeat I have like that, I will make sure of that. I’m absolutely livid inside.”
PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD