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" I get paid to the take the flak and I am OK with that. I understand that, that is the job you do, this is the thing that we love to do and we have to do a better job than we are doing. We thought that we had prepared right, I was reasonably comfortable this morning, we had had a reasonable week with them, a good week with them if you like. Then there is not enough on the pitch today I don't think to win the game, they deserved to win the game and we didn't, in a nutshell it is as simple as that.
" We started the game brightly, we were passing the ball around, we had a lot of possession, we were getting the ball into Danny Graham. I don't think that we were positive enough with the ball. What we said before the game was to not concede free-kicks or set-plays, and then when we do we defend them, certainly the first ball and then certainly, more importantly, the second ball.
" Then the first free-kick that they get, their first sight on goal, we are 1-0 down, a mountain to climb, Southend away, a tough, tough afternoon of work ahead of you. We have caused our own problems again and we didn't really recover from that to be honest today, we never recovered. We played in fits and starts, there were glimmers there, bits and pieces, but we didn't really come back into the game with a seriousness to win it after that initial goal had gone in, which is really disappointing.
" We have used this system quite a few times, we have played the 4-3-3 and it has been a good one for us. The thinking behind it is that we thought that it was a good way of getting control of the game in the middle of the park, which we did for 15 minutes. We were in good possession of the ball and we were frustrating them, and we popped the ball around nicely without really hurting them, but we had a good control of the game. "
" Lewis Neal and Jeff Smith in the game, has that got anything to do with the first goal, I wouldn't think that it has. Again it was a set-play that we didn't defend the first one, didn't defend the second and then the game is already slipping away from you, and then after that it was a struggle.
" We thought that it was a system that would hurt Southend and give us a lot of attacking options when we broke quickly, we didn't break quickly enough from the shape and we didn't cause enough problems. Are we going to talk about the shape and the tactics or are we going to talk about the desire and the determination though? I don't know, you have to look at everything, put it all together and then say that at the end of the day they were better than us.
" Your players back you up, they support your systems, they support your selection and today possibly there wasn't enough support out there. We now have to look on, we now have to look ahead, I am not going to act down-hearted at the moment in terms of the result, but I am not down-hearted in terms of the fact that I have got to lift that dressing-room. I have got to sort that dressing-room out, I have got to get a squad and a team and a system together quickly to take on Hereford on Tuesday night, and now we need a result.
" He (Peter Murphy) has got a groin problem, he looked affected all the way through the game to be honest today. He didn't look as tough and as sharp as he normally does. We will have to wait and see with that one, maybe know more tomorrow, I don't how it settles down, we will have to wait with that one, be patient and we will see on that one possibly tomorrow or Monday.
" I am going to have a good think about loans, I am not going to make any snap judgements at the moment. I am going to have a good think about the performance, I will sit with the staff on the bus on the way back, we have got long enough to talk about it, and we will have a little look at what we need to do. Obviously the directors will be on the bus as well so we can speak to them. Hopefully when I get my head around this and analyse it and break it down, we will think about what we need to do and if something needs to be done then we will do it. "
" I'll be alright, don't you worry about me, I will be as bright as a button come Monday. I have to be, I am responsible, I wanted to do this thing. I have got to go in there guns blazing on Monday and drum up confidence and drum up determination, and send a team out firing on all cylinders on Tuesday night, which has now become a really big game for us.
" The seriousness is there for all to see now, we have shyed away from it a little bit because we were in a good position. That position has gradually got worse, now we have to face up to the fact and say to the players, remind the players of what they are up against, the task ahead of them. Tell them that there is no hiding from it, I can't protect you from it, we have got to go out there as a group, collectively, backroom staff and players. We have got to go and find a performance to get a result on Tuesday night.
" It is going to dawn on them pretty quickly, I say it in the dressing-room now. We will be back on Monday, we will have to work on Monday to get a team together. There is a not a great deal that we can do in terms of preparation, we will do what we have to do and then it is a reminder to them. Saying to them that collectively we have got ourselves in this situation and collectively we have to get out.
" Nobody will help you, nobody gives you anything in the game, and together we will be doing our best on Tuesday night. We have to get this one out of our system, we have to travel home now and re-sort ourselves out. We have to come back to work on Monday and try to do something about it.
" Saturday-Tuesday, that is what it is and that is what we have to deal with, we will do what we have to do and then let's look at it on Tuesday night. We will just do what we have to do to get it right for Tuesday, we have to now look forward, we can't look back. We have just got to get together, regroup, analyse the situation and then we have got to quickly do something about it. "