Tisdale ‘embarassed’ as Grecians fail to perform

Last Monday was meant to be a night which City fans could, in years to come, remember as the night their heroes made it to Wembley for the third time in five years, writes Gareth Hughes.

Unfortunately, this will not be how the game will be remembered, as the Grecians, to a man, failed to perform individually and collectively as team, in front of the Sky cameras and 5,000 expectant home fans.

Yes, hopes were high, and so they should have been. This was the first home game that had been played in the competition to date, only three of the players in the 4-1 Saturday defeat to Huddersfield started in both games, and, in getting to this point, City had succeeded in some tough away games.

What went wrong is one to debate,, but the only certainty is that we did not perform. Brentford played well, deserving the victory and the spoils, and that manager Paul Tisdale, based on his post match comments is being, as always, refreshingly honest in his appraisal. For me it is easy to point the finger at some obvious weaknesses which include a lack of width, relying for some unknown reason on the long ball to get past sturdy defenders, a midfield too crowded with City midfielders and the team seemingly not working as one.

It was as abject display. Paul Tisdale was "embarrassed". After the game he said: "We lost it right from the start. We lost to a team, we were not a team, and I am not happy with the performance. I think Brentford thoroughly deserved their win. We didn't start the game well and I am embarrassed by the team's performance. I don't know why. Sometimes these things happen and I will look at it, but the chance has gone.

“Brentford had a spark tonight and were really a team. We've lost at the last hurdle without competing. We didn't pass together, move together or compete together and played against a team doing exactly that. We didn't start well or play any part in the game well, we didn't compete, attack the goal properly or defend ours properly. I'm happy to lose, but not the way we lost today. It just wasn't right. This is not a day when I'll go home and just say 'forget it'. It's so many things and it needs to be looked at."

The defeat overshadowed the 4-1 loss last Saturday against high-flying Huddersfield. In fairness, it was a much better City performance.

On Saturday City travel away to Notts County, who recently held Manchester City to a draw in the FA Cup.

Another one of our away specials would be wonderful and, with the Grecians, you just never know. Come on you Reds! In Tis we trust!