Boss Kieran McKenna admitted the Blues’ 3-0 home defeat to Charlton Athletic was a “terrible result” and that his team’s reaction to going behind was “nowhere near good enough”.

Having been the better side in the first half, in which Chuba Akpom hit the bar, the Blues went behind on the counter-attack to Sonny Carey’s goal on 52, then fell apart at the back and conceded again on 55 and 64 as Macaulay Gillesphey and Miles Leaburn completed the Addicks’ victory.

“It’s, of course, a terrible result for us. Makes it a really poor four days,” McKenna said, Town having lost 2-1 at Middlesbrough on Friday.

“There were obviously two different bits to the game, there’s the spell after the [first] goal, really the rest of the game after their goal where our reaction was nowhere near good enough.

“We didn’t find anywhere near the strength we needed individually or as a team to deal with the negative momentum. Didn’t do the fundamentals well enough, didn’t defend set plays, didn’t defend our box, didn’t track runs well enough. Didn’t defend our goal anywhere near well enough and that reaction was nowhere near good enough.

“There’s the other bit of the game, in the first half I thought there were a lot of aspects that were really, really good. We should score, we should be ahead against a difficult team who play man-to-man. We controlled 95 per cent of the half really well.

“And over the course of the night we had 30 shots, we should score on a normal night three of four goals tonight, quite possibly.

“We know it’s also not good enough to not be more clinical, have a little bit of luck in some situations, but we weren’t clinical enough with our execution and the bigger bit of the game, from the 1-0, it was unacceptable from us.”

As against Boro, the Blues were wide open at the back on a number of occasions, most notably for the opening goal and McKenna admitted that was a concern.

“Of course it is. I think there were some similar things there tonight that were evident at Middlesbrough,” he continued.

“We looked open on our attacking set plays, we were getting counter-attacked on our attacking set plays and then, when the momentum went against us, we looked really soft defensively.

“And the same for a 15-minute spell against Middlesbrough when the game got difficult against us.

“I don’t think it’s been the case all season, to be honest. I don’t think that’s been the problem.

“We’ve been one of the best teams defensively, we’ve given up very few chances. We’ve conceded chances from some poor moments which have been completely out of the context of the game, and there was one of those in the first half today, if I’m honest.

“But the looking open on counter-attacks, giving away big chances in a spell, I can’t think of instances of that before the Middlesbrough game, but it’s happened twice in quick succession, it’s happened with different players on the pitch.

“I’ve just spoken honestly about that downstairs, we did after Friday night as well, but it’s a quick turnaround so you don’t dwell too much, but we certainly need to address it.

“It’s a difficult league, there’s going to be difficult moments, games can change on an instant and you need to be strong in those moments, especially in our situation with our expectation this year.

“And at the moment, certainly on the last two occasions that we’ve been in [those moments], we haven’t been anywhere near strong enough and we need to do better.”

Given that, is he considering a change of approach and setting up with a more solid base and the squad finds its feet as an attacking force following the extensive personnel changes over the summer?

“I don’t think it’s that,” the Northern Irishman reflected. “I know because Friday night was a high profile game the story can be that we’re wide open.

“But our bigger challenge this year has been creating chances, it’s not been giving up chances, it’s been playing against teams who are frustrating us defensively and trying to click as an attacking unit and create chances. Defensively we’ve given up very few chances.

“Of course, in the last two games, for sure, there have been spells in the game where we’ve looked really open. Not the whole game, again at Middlesbrough it wasn’t the case for 30 minutes but once it happened and once we gave up one, we looked really open.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily a change for the whole game, we give Charlton the ball and we sit back and defend, I don’t think that’s the answer.

“Of course, we need to make sure our balance is right when we’re attacking and in a couple of periods on Friday night and in one or two moments today, when we were behind we ended up chasing the game a little bit and we ended up with maybe not the right security behind the ball.

“We need to address that, it’s a pretty new issue for us this season, but the bigger one for me is that we need to be more clinical, we should be getting the first goal in the game again.

“But when we don’t, if something goes against us, we need to be far stronger and find a way to stay in the game and give ourselves a chance to come back, give ourselves the chance to win the game late.

“More than how we start the game, I think it’s how we address it. As a team in those situations we need to find a better way of doing so, we need to give the players some things to help them with that and those on the pitch need to find more strength in that situation as well.”

At the end there were boos from some fans, which McKenna said he understood: “Of course. No complaints at all on that. They give us good support and I think they know that in the first half there were a lot of good things and we got a good reception at half-time, and I think everyone’s feeling positive in that moment.

“But the second half, where we let it get to was unacceptable and they’ve got a right to be really annoyed, as we are.”

Photo: TWTD

Tractorboy58 added 13:21 - Oct 23 Just checked and our squad is 14 times more valuable than Charlton's .. not a great return on investment is it !
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armchaircritic59 added 18:05 - Oct 23 Tractorboy58, not surprised to hear that. I have a feeling, ( I've not checked for verification, would take too long! ), that you could take about 8/10 clubs out of the Championship, add up what they're worth and it wouldn't amount to what we've spent over the past 2 years! The current problem is simple, take Charlton as a benchmark. They have a limited amount of naturally talented players, but they have a TEAM, who will fight tooth and nail for each other, just like we did for 2 seasons. We have a fair number of naturally talented players, but we don't ( currently at the very least ) have a TEAM. That is not doing the likes of Charlton down, they should be proud of their achievements so far. I'm afraid if we don't become a team soon, the game is up, and one or two other things along with it.

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IpswichT62OldBoy added 18:11 - Oct 23 It is not so much the one result, it is the accumulation of very similar performances. They have been characterised by, sloppy goals, terrible set pieces, slow ponderous football, endless shots with none on target. They play like a bunch of strangers, which actually they are, and we could have said the same last season. The managers job is to turn a bunch of strangers into a unit. I am beginning to think K McK may not be a manager but an excellent coach. Others may disagree, I am not saying I am right. But I think I am.

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armchaircritic59 added 18:47 - Oct 23 IpswichT62OldBoy, that post was perfect timing, those exact thoughts have been going through my mind only today. I guess we'll both find out the truth over the next few weeks or so. At the moment we have ( JP aside, and that only at home ), a toothless attack, a naturally talented but seemingly lightweight ( excluding Matusiwa ) midfield, and a defence that looks as if it's been watching too many old Keystone Cops movies. Add all that to a " manager " who's becoming more and more pig headed and stubborn and predictable, it's an " interesting " mess to sort out. I truly hope KM can, watch this space!

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