Oxford United boss Karl Robinson wasn’t mincing his words as his side were beaten 2-1 at home by Stevenage last night in the Papa John’s Trophy.
“I thought we were rubbish” he told iFollow. “We have a badge on our shirt that stands for something and I am being careful with my words because I am not going to hang any of my players out to dry as individuals but too many of them were below par. There’s a development side to it and a team ethic but they also have to know they can’t cross me.
“In the big picture is tonight the be all and end all? No, I get that, but at the same time if we go out there in the yellow shirt, whether it’s against Stevenage or Man United, Cambridge or Man City I still expect to win. It’s that simple. We are a winning football team. We do it in a certain way and play in a certain style but we go out there to win.
“One of the fans had a go at me for not putting a strong team out but let me tell you that was a strong team out there tonight. Yes we made changes, we gave players a chance. But there is a DNA here and part of it is that when you wear our shirt you have to work hard.
“It’s a good job we are off for a few days now but if any of the players want to come in and knock on my door about tonight then my door will be wide open. I am here to win, that’s my mentality in life and that’s why I am angry tonight because it wasn’t a good enough performance and I feel like we cheated the people who came to watch us.”
See extended highlights and the full interview in iFollow.