Danny Schofield felt Rovers lacked all the key attributes in their performance as they fell to a disappointing defeat to Harrogate Town.
Speaking to the media following the 2-0 loss, Schofield pointed to a lack of intensity in his side as they turned in what he termed one of the worst performances of his tenure.
Schofield on how the game played out:
“It’s bitterly disappointing. The performance was very poor and I’ve not said that many times this season. I think when we’ve suffered a defeat, I’ve seen a lot of positives in our performances. But I’ve got to be honest, and I was with the players, and I’ll tell you exactly what I said - there was a lack of energy, a lack of intensity and a lack of quality all the way throughout the game.
“It’s disappointing for me to say that but I’ve got to be honest and I felt that’s what it was.
“I felt a real good energy and positivity before the game in terms of the point we took against Stockport. I felt the players were in a really good place but we didn’t perform in this one.
“We’ll reflect on it, we’ll watch the game back and analyse it. And I’ve asked the players to do the same on their own individual performance.
“I’ll take responsibility but we’ve all got to be accountable for performances like that - staff, players, everybody together. We’ll do that and we’ll go again.”
“I’ve not felt as disappointed after a game as I do this one. I’ve always seen signs we can be in the game or win the game. I felt there was a bit of anxiety in the players and I don’t know whether I’m digging too deep with that one. That’s a concern and something I’ll have to address.
“I felt they deserved the win. I think our performance was low and I’ve not said that many times this season. We’ll work out why that was so poor when we analyse the game then reflect with the players and move on.”
On failing to build on the draw at Stockport:
“It is a surprise because there was a lot of positivity. We met at Cantley Park for the pre-match and the final meeting before this game and I felt a lot of good energy about the place.
“The players really connected, as they always are. They’re good players, they give their all in football games.
“I’ll look again at the stats. I’m surprised and disappointed but the performance didn’t deserve anything.”
On concerns over a lack of goals in recent games:
“It is a concern and one we need to address. We’ve worked a lot on it, spoken a lot about it, worked on it in training sessions and we need to keep improving in that area.
“Everybody needs to be accountable and it’s not just the strikers. It’s everybody trying to contribute towards goals - goals from set plays, runs from midfield, shots from distance. We need to be capable of scoring all types of goals and at the moment that’s not happening.”
On the reaction of supporters following the defeat:
“I understand and I’ll take the full criticism for a performance like that. I understand the fans’ frustrations and disappointment because it’s the same as mine. They’re free to voice and criticise the direction towards me and the players. We’ve got to be strong enough to take it and try to turn the criticism more into positive support. We’ll only do that by better performances and results.”
On reflecting on his own performance:
“The reason I’ve been employed by this football club is to try to build a way of playing football, an identity, a style. I always have full belief in myself. Am I self-critical? Yeah, probably too much. I take a lot of responsibility for things.
“I just continue working as hard as possible, continue coaching the way I believe football should be played and trying to get to that end product.”