Boss calm ahead of Mansfield game a week after defeat
Did you know that last season every single time the Town lost they won the next game?
Five defeats, each followed by three points.
Iain Dowie famously coined the phrase “bouncebackability.” It’s not a term that frequently rolls off the tongue of John Still. In fairness, he’s never really needed to during his time at Kenilworth Road.
But on Saturday, against Mansfield, the Town aim to ‘bounce back’ after last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at Burton Albion.
The Hatters bossed the game, couldn’t make their advantage count and in the end fell to a sucker punch and lost for the first time in League 2 in 12 matches.
“It was one of those days,” Still said after the loss at the Pirelli Stadium.
“Sometimes you play well and don’t win and sometimes you don't play well and win," continued the Town chief at his Thursday press call.
"I think it’s important that when you analyse you don’t just analyse a result, otherwise you become blinkered.
“I haven’t looked too deep at it as I think if we played that well again we’d win.
“It’s disappointing to lose but disappointment makes the weak weaker and the strong stronger and we’re strong.”
Running the risk of repeating himself for the third week running, Still was asked on his views on Mansfield’s decision to axe boss Paul Cox.
The Stags will be led by caretaker manager Adam Murray, the midfielder who spent a short spell as a player at Kenilworth Road.
And after Tranmere and Burton in the last fortnight, who had both changed manager in the time leading up to their matches with the Hatters, Still was unsure of what to expect from the Stags.
“It depends on the players,” explained Still. “If I left here this lot could manage themselves.
“If we told them we’re not here for a week you know what we do every day, they’d go out with no problem at all.
“They might miss a presence around them. I don’t know Paul Cox and if he was a strong person in the dressing room, but I think those people would be professional enough to go and do the job.
“You've got a maximum you can play to, they may have been playing below their maximum or bang on the maximum but on Saturday they can only play to their maximum.
“It’s a bit like last week with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink at Burton, a new manager going in, does it give them a lift? Of course it does, but there are only 11 of them and they can only play to their maximum.
“All we have to do is worry about us, as long as we perform to the level we can do. If we do we have a chance of winning, if we don’t, we leave the door open for them.”
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