Boss Kieran McKenna says Town’s process around penalty shootouts will be reviewed, the Blues having exited three cup competitions on spot-kicks over the last year, this evening’s Carabao Cup first-round loss at League Two Bromley the latest.

George Hirst and Ali Al-Hamadi missed for Town as the Ravens ran out 5-4 victors following a 1-1 draw over 90 minutes, their first ever win in the competition they entered for the first time last year.

“Frustrating to go out of the competition and never a nice way to go out of the competition,” McKenna said. “There were some good bits in the game, some things that we can do better, for sure.

“We certainly had enough chances over the tie to go through and if we were more clinical then we would have won the game.

“When we didn’t go and get the first goal in the first half, it’s really important that we didn’t give one away and set pieces were always going to be the big threat tonight.

“So we’re really disappointed to concede from that and we need to do better just before half-time.

“But I thought the urgency to go and chase the game in the second half was good. We had enough chances to win it, for sure. And if we take one of our chances at the end, then we’re probably saying it’s a good comeback win.

“We still need to improve, there’s no doubt about it. The group is not where we want it to be yet and while we’re still working on that, we’ve got to fight for the points, which continues on Sunday, and we have a lot of work to do to be the group that we want to be this year.”

Asked why the group isn’t where it needs to be at present, he added: “There’s a lot of different areas. We have a smaller group in depth than we would have wanted. Certainly shorter in some positions than a team in our position would want to be.

“We have players coming back from big injuries, who are getting their first minutes. Chieo [Ogbene] may be an easy example but there are other boys who had surgeries and other issues at the back end of last year who are trying to work their way back into fitness and sharpness, but are having to do it in competitive matches, which is a challenge.

“We’ve got players arriving at the club, who aren’t ready to compete for us yet. We’ve lost a lot of players and we’ve got players who want to leave the club, so we’re not going to be at our best yet.

“But I really believe that if we work in the right way, if we take the lessons as they come, if we work day-by-day in the right way, then we can build a really good team again here this season, so that’s what we’re going to try and do.”

Quizzed on how challenging that is for him, McKenna smiled: “There’s no sob stories, we’re blessed to be in the position that we are. It’s been a challenging summer. For the club, there’s been a lot of change every year, moving divisions and a lot of change when you have a relegation season, maybe especially for us with the speed of that climb.

“There’s a lot of change and a lot of situations to manage, but that’s the job. It’s a privileged one and it’s up to us to do the best that we can with that and we have to keep working hard day-by-day, do the right things and if we do that, then I believe that we can build a really good team here and have a really good season.”

Tonight’s on-penalties loss follows last year’s second-round Carabao Cup exit to another League Two club, AFC Wimbledon, who won 4-2 in that shootout after a 2-2 draw, while Town were knocked out of the FA Cup at the fourth round stage by Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, losing 5-4 the sides having drawn 1-1.

Historically, the Blues have won only five of 18 shootouts in which they have taken part in all competitions.

McKenna was asked whether the three losses over the last year is just chance or whether Town’s approach to penalty shootouts needs to be addressed.

“I think we need to reflect on it, to be fair, as a staff and as a group. We do practise our penalties, we practised them before today.

“You can get tails or heads three times in a row, so maybe it’s that, but I wouldn’t like to hide behind that. I think we probably need to do a little bit better on something in our process. It’s something that we’ll review because that’s three shootouts in a year, which isn’t a lot of fun.

“The next one possibly will be for the FA Cup and, yes, being honest, we need to look at our process and see if there’s anything that we could possibly could control in terms of things we could do differently.”

Photo: TWTD

Carberry added 00:07 - Aug 13 Review our process around penalty shootouts - this is getting crazy now.
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brianbull added 00:08 - Aug 13 How about beating the team in front of you over 90mins so it doesn’t go to penalties!
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ChrisR added 00:18 - Aug 13 Easy , dont ever let Al Hamadi or Jack Taylor ever take a penalty ever again .
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armchaircritic59 added 00:22 - Aug 13 I think a fair bit of what KM says above is true, but we seem to be in a bit of a mess right now. Not enough quality players in one or two positions, others out injured, others making their way back from injuries and yet more others new to the club ( In Jens case not new, but needing time to get 100% match fit). On top of all that we have a couple of players who's situation is being " managed ". As I've said in one or two other posts, it's going to be an interesting last 18 days of August, and few hours of the 1st September!

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Booga484 added 00:27 - Aug 13 Looking at putting greaves on with 10 minutes to go when we need a goal spoke volumes. Though obviously there were 2 keepers on the bench.. There is no plan B. There never has been. Everyone knows how we play, and how to work around it. We're not a surprise package anymore, time we learned some new tactics to get us over the line when we need to. Most of our team look a shadow of their former selves. I hope we don't get found out against Southampton Sunday, or these thread comments could start getting ugly..

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emergencylime added 00:37 - Aug 13 A big test for Kieran & his staff this month. The perfect storm of Premier League hangover impacting confidence and morale, recruitment sagas and rejections, injury woes, Captain fantastic heading off after Luongo is let go. The list goes on. No panic yet as we’re only 2 games in, but the next 3 weeks are pivotal. We can’t spend months bedding in last-minute additions and figuring out the best starting XI or it’ll be too late for a promotion push.

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jas0999 added 01:02 - Aug 13 Pathetic. Should never have got to penalties against a league two reserve side. KMc getting out of his depth sadly. We should WIN the game.
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raycrawfordswig added 05:28 - Aug 13 You are full of it .
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Maccaisgod added 05:35 - Aug 13 Jas0999 - McKenna out of his depth playing Bromley. WTF are you smoking ?
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JewellintheTown added 06:44 - Aug 13 We're all mad, & rightly so, but some overeactions & drama queens as usual KM is right. Situations not ideal. He's on it, he's getting it sorted, so give him the respect, space & support to sort it. He's got enough drama to sort in the dressing room, he doesn't need the armchair experts being offended & giving him grief & not support. He's got us where we are & exceeded our expectations so give him the respect & support & credit to sort the situation out. Going through an evolution transition isn't always an upward curve.

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stiffy501 added 08:00 - Aug 13 How about learning to shoot, create chances and finish them, actually do something from corners / set pieces theres a start
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BlueRuin69 added 08:10 - Aug 13 At this point in time we are an utter shambles, how did it come to this. We will finish midtable as the bubble has burst and our premier league experience has destroyed us. So many poor expensive signing 22million on Philogene etc and none of them as good as Broadhead, who is on his way to a rival, utter madness. Morsy allowed to leave etc etc etc.
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 08:46 - Aug 13 I don't get the "Allowing Morsy to leave" jibe that often appears. Sam was nearing the end of his playing career and had the chance of one last big payday in the Middle East. Should we have stood in his way, or thanked him for all his efforts and wished him well. I know which one I would choose. Teams evolve, and we are now in the process of trying to fill that void.

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dubblue added 10:01 - Aug 13 Agree on the above point re Sami he struggled last season in the premiership so could not see featuring except as an occasional player next season if we are promoted, so while sad to see him leave he deserved the chance to take a more lucrative contract. As for lessons learned one obvious one is not to let Al Hamedi near the penalty spot ever again, assuming he stays!! Think we should all chill out in these sultry August days about McK being out of his depth it is far too early for such speculation

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TimmyH added 11:09 - Aug 13 Just keep AHH and Taylor out of them, job done! Can't see AHH being here much longer to be honest.
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howsey51 added 11:15 - Aug 13 Steve, I think we agree it wasn't bad timing for Morsy to move on for a payday at the end of his career. I just think it would have been ideal to have had more cover in plenty of time for the start of the season as we are left with really 2 fit midfielders now. The recruitment has been suboptimal.
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darkhorse28 added 11:51 - Aug 13 Carberry, exactly, this isn’t a process issue, it’s simply mentality, and belief. And if you don’t have those answers, say the word process, we had the right players taking them, Walton seemed well briefed too, we didn’t have the extra belief required and confidence. Like throwing Omari under the bus, KM seems to struggle to acknowledge his failings, that’s so far from elite. Staring to think Sam and Chappers and Burgess etc were the motivational tour de force during our success. McKenna is an excellent coach, but his man management, talent ID and ability to be nasty if it’s required, are seriously lacking. He won’t be as bad as some will say if it go’s south from here, and we owe him a huge amount.., but he was never the cult like god figure many built up born of fantasy. He spent all last summer and before speaking to Palace, Brighton, Man Itd and Chelsea, and he agreed terms with Brighton.., we paid him a fortune to date. I think a lot of players lost some respect for him at that point. And the hypocrisy he has towards players doing the same isn’t going to build trust. It’s just rank hypocrisy.., and if I was Omari id be telling him so!!! ‘You were half way to Brighton gaffer, and stayed for a champions league level salary’ - not the best leadership example and commitment to the group. Motivation and belief in the group has been lacking ever since.

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MickMillsTash added 15:58 - Aug 13 If Cajuste/ Akpom bugg@r around with whom they sign for - sign after the season has started and aren't match fit - do we pay them less? Our signings in the last 18 months have been ropey compared to previous seasons - OK last year was tough but Al-Hamaid, Grieves, Phliogene, J Clarke, Szomidics, Ogbohne, Palmer all have question marks over how useful they will be this season. New signings may not be the answer - getting the best out of the 10Million£+ players he have assembled definitely is!

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Cakeman added 17:30 - Aug 13 I’m no expert but how about picking your strongest Eleven from the start?
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Linkboy13 added 18:52 - Aug 13 Don't think Morsy was the only player who struggled in the Premier league players much younger than him contributed far less. Don't know how Cajuste was only 36 votes behind Delap for the fans player of the year but i suppose after all it's just a popularity contest. Don't get me wrong Cajuste is a good signing for the championship but the facts are no Premier league club has acquired his services.

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