It was back to square one again for the Latics, who have wavered up and down since their recent cup successes. Caretaker Manager Tony Philliskirk can't understand it and admitted that it wasn’t the defeat, but more the manner with which his team succumbed to Bournemouth, which upset him. The reverse result was the 10th home loss of the season and he must have been seething at the way Jose Baxter squandered the chance of a point with a costly penalty hash.
Philliskirk commented, "It was unacceptable and I was embarrassed to be associated by what I saw in the opening half. I have been here 15 years and don’t think I have seen a worse 45 minutes. And if there has been a team that has come here in my time at Boundary Park and had an easier half, I have not seen it. It flabbergasts me that when the club is in the situation which it finds itself, and in a game of such magnitude, that the players can perform like they did in the first half. My message to the young players all the time is play big, don’t act big. We have a lot of players here who act big, but don’t play big."
"I told the players at half time that action speaks longer than words. They all talk a good game, but in the first half we were inept and second best to everything. There was no passion, drive and desire which should be a given as a professional footballer. To say we disappointed and annoyed at half time is an understatement. There were raised voices at half time, but they cannot defend themselves because the first half was abject. Had we won the game, it would not have masked that first 45 minutes which I was embarrassed to be associated with. At the end of the day the table doesn’t lie. After 36 games, we have 36 points which is not good enough. I have kept saying the players and the squad is better than the position suggests. Maybe they are as players, but attitude wise, and their feeling for the club isn’t as strong as it should be. Is it hurting them as much as it is hurting me? I am not so sure."