Gillingham manager John Coleman felt his team threw in the towel during the second half at Barrow and labelled the performance a disgrace.
Coleman’s now gone five games without a win since taking over at Gillingham and they ended the day 19th in League 2 after a 3-0 defeat.
Report: Barrow 3 Gillingham 0
All three goals came in the second half and Coleman started his post-match press conference with an apology to the fans that made the long journey to Cumbria.
He said: “Firstly, I’d like to apologise to the fans. If I’d travelled six hours, paid hard-earned money that I’d been working for all week, to see them just boot the ball up forward with no idea, no passion, no fight, no drive, no desire. I would be absolutely livid.
“I’m livid myself. I’m livid for the lack of responsibility they’ve shown to the fans. I think it’s been an absolute disgrace.
“We didn’t start the game very well at all. It was 20 minutes before we put two passes together. We got a foothold into the game, had a couple of chances. The game petered out to a nothing, first-half, 0-0.
“We’re rallying them, trying to have a go, saying ‘we can get back on top here, we can win this game’. Then we proceed to just boot the ball up to Joe (Gbode) and hope that he just fights and wrestles for it.
“No idea of how to pass the ball. Everything we’ve worked on in training this week, which was very, very promising, very positive, the way we approached training this week. I went into this game super confident. It evaporates when players just don’t seem to want to care.
“I’ve been managing 25 years. I’ve got to say, that is up there with one of the worst feelings I’ve had as a manager, but also one of the worst performances I’ve seen from any one of my teams, with a lack of fight and a lack of desire.
“Conceding goals that are easily avoidable, well the second two. The first one, you’ve got to give Sam Gale his due, he’s tried to win the header, it just come off him a bit awkwardly and it’s a great finish from the lad. But again, there’s no one picking the runner up.
“We didn’t have any desire to pick up any second balls, they picked up all the second balls.
“Things have got to change. I’ve come in and tried to change it as quick as I could, that hasn’t worked.
“I’m going to have to use different tactics. The players are treated too well in my opinion, they’re too soft, they’re too cosseted. I haven’t altered it quick enough so I’ve got to take the full responsibility for that.
“It’s down to me, I put the team out onto the pitch, I pick the team. I haven’t toughened them up and that’s something that I should be ashamed of to be honest, because every team who’s ever played for me has had that desire. I apologise for that as well, I apologise to the fans for not toughening this team up.
“Everything is laid on a plate for these players and when you turn in performances like that, it sticks in your throat, it makes me sick, it makes me want to vomit to be honest.
“This team have got to start earning the corn and showing passion and pride and playing for them fans, because them fans deserve miles more than this.
“I feel like crying for them. I know how long the trip is, we did it (on Friday) and them fans have travelled all this way to see an absolute nonsense of a second half.
“An abject performance with no drive, no desire. I’d be losing my head if I was a fan.
“I’m losing my head now because I’m the manager and I see players who just don’t care and on my watch that’s an absolute disgrace.
“History tells you by the teams I’ve put out that they have run through a brick wall, that’s not a team that would run through a brick wall. That’s a team that wouldn’t run through a cardboard wall.
“It might seem as though I’m throwing them under the bus. No, I’m taking the blame myself because I haven’t toughened them up enough and that was my remit to come in here and give them a shake.
“I have tried to give them a shake. The tactics I’ve used so far hasn’t worked. They’ll be harsher tactics and I’m going to get players playing for this club and I’m going to get players playing for these fans because they deserve it miles more than what they’re getting at this moment in time.
“Particularly when you travel away from home and you know the games we’ve lost so far, they’ve been by the odd goal and we’ve always been in the game.
“We threw the towel in there and that’s an absolute disgrace. A disgrace and I won’t allow it.”
