COVENTRY City's players have held a clear-the air-meeting in a bid to repair their alarming early-season form.
Joe Murphy was one of the more vocal of contributors in what has been described as a quiet dressing room this term and remains convinced that the Sky Blues can bring a halt to their current winless run which is the worst since 2003, starting at Shrewsbury Town tonight.
“The lads got together yesterday morning and talked about the fact that you can get used to losing,“ said the goalkeeper.
“It just seems to be that sort of feeling and it needs to change pretty quickly. It was a frank and open meeting and we talked about the fact that we played quite well on Saturday and looked like we were going to go on to win it but we were just sloppy, not just defensively, because it seems to be a chain of things that go wrong and it snowballs back to the defence and the opposition score.
“even after the game richard Shaw asked people to speak up and have their say because we are all in it together and we need to sort it out quickly. And it's not just him because we're the ones on the pitch and we need to do it ourselves.
“It's down to naivety and not being mentally strong enough either.
throughout the game there were one or two things I felt worried about but it looks like we need to score two or three to see a game out and that's not always going to happen in this league.“
But a veteran of successful promotion campaigns in League one, Murphy said: “We feel we can still get promoted. I've been in this situation before with Scunthorpe, having not won a game after six games, and we went on to win the league, so it can be done. We just need a bit of confidence and hopefully we can do that starting tonight and once you get two or three wins under your belt in this division you can go on a decent run.
“It's never good to have a bad spell but if you do have one it's best to do it at the start.“
It's a big week for the club who are due to appoint their 11th manager in 11 years on Wednesday or thursday, and Murphy believes that will bring some much-needed stability.
Second interviews were held in London yesterday for richard Shaw along with, it is understood, Paul Ince and Mark robins.
“I think it always changes when a new manager comes in to a club,“ said the Irishman.
“It's a new start for everyone and if you are in the team you want to stay in and if you are out of it or seen as a squad player then it's a new start for them as well. So it's probably going to be a good thing although we don't know who it's going to be.
“When it happens we have to deal with it and hopefully whoever it is will help turn around our fortunes.
“I don't think we are that far away. We have to look at the fact that we look a little bit too wide open in terms of our shape during the transition of when we lose the ball, so it's going to take a little bit of work. not that we haven't been working on it.“
And Murphy still believes Shaw could be the man to turn things round at the ricoh Arena if given the opportunity, adding: “I think it's unfair to judge richard on the three defeats because once we cross the white line the players have got to do better. He picks his best 11 and it's up to us to perform, so it's harsh to blame the manager and we have to hold our hands up and say it has not been good enough.
“We're all confident richard could turn things round if he was given the job. you hear rumours that players don't want to play for certain people but I don't see how that works in football. you don't go out to play a bad game because you don't like the man in charge. “I know that the fans are so frustrated and I am sure the first win will come tonight and we can kick on from there.“
Joe Murphy was one of the more vocal of contributors in what has been described as a quiet dressing room this term and remains convinced that the Sky Blues can bring a halt to their current winless run which is the worst since 2003, starting at Shrewsbury Town tonight.
“The lads got together yesterday morning and talked about the fact that you can get used to losing,“ said the goalkeeper.
“It just seems to be that sort of feeling and it needs to change pretty quickly. It was a frank and open meeting and we talked about the fact that we played quite well on Saturday and looked like we were going to go on to win it but we were just sloppy, not just defensively, because it seems to be a chain of things that go wrong and it snowballs back to the defence and the opposition score.
“even after the game richard Shaw asked people to speak up and have their say because we are all in it together and we need to sort it out quickly. And it's not just him because we're the ones on the pitch and we need to do it ourselves.
“It's down to naivety and not being mentally strong enough either.
throughout the game there were one or two things I felt worried about but it looks like we need to score two or three to see a game out and that's not always going to happen in this league.“
But a veteran of successful promotion campaigns in League one, Murphy said: “We feel we can still get promoted. I've been in this situation before with Scunthorpe, having not won a game after six games, and we went on to win the league, so it can be done. We just need a bit of confidence and hopefully we can do that starting tonight and once you get two or three wins under your belt in this division you can go on a decent run.
“It's never good to have a bad spell but if you do have one it's best to do it at the start.“
It's a big week for the club who are due to appoint their 11th manager in 11 years on Wednesday or thursday, and Murphy believes that will bring some much-needed stability.
Second interviews were held in London yesterday for richard Shaw along with, it is understood, Paul Ince and Mark robins.
“I think it always changes when a new manager comes in to a club,“ said the Irishman.
“It's a new start for everyone and if you are in the team you want to stay in and if you are out of it or seen as a squad player then it's a new start for them as well. So it's probably going to be a good thing although we don't know who it's going to be.
“When it happens we have to deal with it and hopefully whoever it is will help turn around our fortunes.
“I don't think we are that far away. We have to look at the fact that we look a little bit too wide open in terms of our shape during the transition of when we lose the ball, so it's going to take a little bit of work. not that we haven't been working on it.“
And Murphy still believes Shaw could be the man to turn things round at the ricoh Arena if given the opportunity, adding: “I think it's unfair to judge richard on the three defeats because once we cross the white line the players have got to do better. He picks his best 11 and it's up to us to perform, so it's harsh to blame the manager and we have to hold our hands up and say it has not been good enough.
“We're all confident richard could turn things round if he was given the job. you hear rumours that players don't want to play for certain people but I don't see how that works in football. you don't go out to play a bad game because you don't like the man in charge. “I know that the fans are so frustrated and I am sure the first win will come tonight and we can kick on from there.“
