Athletic stuttered yet again in an abysmal performance in front of an embarrassing 3,745 die hard supporters who are rapidly losing patience. In reality the Latics were desperately unlucky as they were awarded a penalty kick with the score at 0-0. Had Lee Hughes (pictured) converted the advantage then it would have been a different story but the jinx of Bristol Rovers continued once again as the Latics have lost the last four encounters with the Pirates without even scoring a goal.Manager John Sheridan confessed to Latics World, "We should have been 2-0 up at half time, but that all means nothing now because we shot ourselves in the foot with a very, very disappointing performance in the second half. They weren't in the game and we were so comfortable, but we didn't take our chances and in the end we paid the price for that. I was watching players who couldn't control the ball and who couldn't pass."
"It's only a 15-minute break at half time. We were positive in the dressing room and I expected the players to up their game going down the hill in the second half, but instead we didn't cause them any problems in the second 45 minutes. We could have made life much easier for ourselves. I honestly can't put my finger on it; we are fourth in the league and confidence should be sky high. The players are making things difficult for themselves and difficult for me. But I am the manager and any criticism should come my way."
It's time the players took a long hard look at themselves. They are letting down the life blood of the club, the fans. Gates are dwindling and the scary thing is that the club are still in a position to gain automatic promotion but how will gates improve with performances that don't deserve supporting. Harsh but true!