After Middlesbrough’s 4-0 defeat to Doncaster Rovers, Rob Edwards didn’t hold back
Rob Edwards delivered a brutally honest appraisal of Middlesbrough’s defeat to Doncaster Rovers, saying his team disappointed fans on Tuesday evening.
Boro were thrashed 4-0 by the League One side in the first round of the Carabao Cup, despite the fact that the visitors made 11 changes from the team that won the league at the weekend. Edwards made five changes to his team and went out aggressively in an attempt to establish momentum.
However, his team was second-best all over the pitch, and while they had a few chances of their own, they were ultimately bullied and beaten far too easily by the League One club, who are now flying high following last season’s promotion.
Afterward, an honest Edwards stated: “I’ve spoken to the lads, and they know precisely how I feel. The first thing I’d like to do is thank our supporters for joining us tonight. We failed to uphold our end of the contract.
“I believe we had a 15-minute period in the first half where we lost control of the ball and gave it to them too much. Then, our pressing was non-existent. They suddenly found themselves two goals ahead. We obviously needed to make some adjustments at half an hour and 35 minutes in, and it looked like we were going to get back into it and find a way through quite a few times, but our last third wasn’t good enough.
“I believe that if we had stayed another half hour tonight, we would not have scored a goal. We had numerous opportunity to squeeze the trigger and shoot but didn’t.
We were gaining momentum in the second half at 2-0, had a great one-on-one opportunity, and the goalie made a wonderful save. “The third goal. I had to look at it again; it appeared soft. What was disheartening was that it appeared that some heads had dropped, which could not have happened.
When asked if he had learnt anything from the game, he replied, “I learned a lot. I believe we just need to reveal one part of ourselves, the aspect we saw on Saturday. We witnessed a different part of ourselves tonight. I learned a lot tonight, which is not acceptable. “They understand how we feel.
Doncaster came here and played quite well, although they made numerous changes, a full team of changes, and rightly won the game. That is not acceptable. We realize we need to do more. All of the guys are aware of this. Tonight does not change that. It may highlight one or two points, but it has no effect on the overall situation.”
Despite the nature of the defeat and the chastising scoreline, Edwards adhered to his word and led his team in a lap of respect for those who had bothered to remain so long.
When asked for his message to disappointed Boro fans, Edwards replied: “I’d really just like to thank everyone who came out, and thank them for sticking with us. We’ll work incredibly hard to turn things around soon.
Leave a Reply