Olly Groome reports from The Valley
Karl Robinson admitted that his side’s performances have not been good enough following the disappointing 1-0 defeat to Oxford United at The Valley on Tuesday evening.
Conor McAleny’s 12th-minute, long-range strike was enough to sink the Addicks, who hit the woodwork twice and had skipper Chris Solly sent off with 20 minutes remaining.
And speaking to the press following the loss, the Valley boss said that a lack of cohesiveness is costing his team.
“ It’s not been good enough – it’s as simple as that,” he explained.
“And ultimately, as the manager, you have to take responsibility. They scored from 35 yards out and from there on in, we had the better chances,”
“We hit the post, the bar and had one cleared off the line, but despite me saying that, it’s still nowhere near good enough. There’s no cohesiveness in the group.
“There’s a disconnect between the back four and the midfield. The midfield got a little bit of stick, but when they’re covering almost 60 or 70 yards between them because the gaps between our strikers and the back four are so big, it’s becoming almost a pitch to themselves for the midfield players.
“We weren’t outplayed, really. They got a goal early on and made it difficult for us.”
“I have to take responsibility, it’s not just the players,” he continued.
“As a group we lose, it’s not just the players, it’s me as well, so it there’s criticism, I’m within that bracket as well.
“We’ve talked internally but it’s time that the talk starts to get backed up. A Karl Robinson team is honest, hardworking, expansive, scores goals and has loads of energy.
“I’m looking for a cohesive unit who want to work hard, with energy and a freedom to play, but that’s difficult at the moment. Some people want to play, some don’t want to play and we have a mishmash of players and it’s about finding the right ones that can move us forward.
“They’re a good group and an honest group. They work hard every day, I just think that we’re doing a lot of work for very little reward and I think we could make it easier for ourselves with a more cohesive unit.”
Meanwhile, when asked about referee Gavin Ward’s decision to send off Solly for a late challenge on John Lundstram, Robinson revealed that he will consider an appeal.
“It wasn’t a sending off, but I won’t use the referee as an excuse for our bad performance,”
“He got pulled clearly and should have had a free-kick, at no stage were his feet off the ground, he goes for it with his right foot and because his legs are so wide apart, he catches him. It’s a clear booking, but it’s never a red card and we’ll be looking to appeal it.”