I'm not going to put up with that - with Audio

Monday, November 17, 2008, 08:05

MARTIN ALLEN issued a stark warning to his Cheltenham Town players after watching them capitulate to an abysmal 3-0 defeat at local rivals Hereford United on Saturday.

The Robins boss (pictured) said they let down him, their 868 travelling fans and themselves after an error-strewn display at Edgar Street, where ex-Robin Steve Guinan scored twice.

Doing his best to contain his rage, boss Allen took time to calm down and take stock immediately after the match, but planned to conduct the post-match dissection of his team's failings in a lay-by on the team bus.

"We will pull off somewhere on the country road between Hereford and Cheltenham and I'll tell them all what I think individually, face to face, in front of everybody," a seething Allen said. "The supporters booed us off at half-time and that hurts. It's the first time that has happened to me and it's not good enough and if they don't step it up they are going to have some problems themselves personally.

"We had far too many players who were found wanting – the quality on the ball was poor, there wasn't enough tenacity, spirit or desire and it's just not good enough.

"It was a let down for the supporters here because we wanted to go out and do them proud.

"I felt like I was getting a settled unit, but now I have to ask questions because two of the goals were schoolboy errors and I was standing there wondering what was going on."

Allen may have run out of patience with a number of players and is expected to wield the axe for tomorrow night's FA Cup first-round replay at Oldham Athletic. He is set to make wholesale changes for the trip to Boundary Park, with very few players sure of a starting place.

"There's no way I am going to stand and watch that," he said. "I warned them they'd better step it up, but they haven't. Some of the basic errors that have cost us goals are not something we can work on in training and there is not a lot you can do about it apart from changing the players.

"Lee Ridley is chomping at the bit and people like Jonny Hayes and Lewis Montrose were disappointed to be left out here.

"On Tuesday night there will be a lot of others left out. I will wait for a reaction and they will have to wait to get their chance now."

Click here to listen to Martin's post match thoughts