Ian Allinson has warned his St Albans City players it’s time for them to take responsibility for the club’s slump in form.
A 2-1 defeat at home to Bognor Regis Town on Saturday means Saints have won just twice in the last 13 National League South games, following the six straight wins that opened the campaign.
But it was the manner of the defeat, against a Bognor team who had arrived at Clarence Park with just two league wins, that angered the City manager.
Both Rocks goals came from corners, continuing a worrying trend of conceding from set-pieces, and although Sam Merson equalised in the first half, St Albans never looked like drawing level again in the second.
And Allinson says that enough is enough.
“We can’t sit here each week giving the same excuses,” he said.
“It’s boring now. I’m totally bored with it and I keep saying that I’ve got a lot of faith in the changing room but I think in certain situations that changing room is not adhering to what they’ve been asked to do.
“At the moment we’re in a poor vein of form and if we’re not careful we’re going to get dragged into the bottom half very quickly.
“People have been given jobs before the game and they haven’t adhered to those.
“If they can’t do it they’ll have to come and sit on the bench and see if they like it.
“And if they don’t like it then I might have to move one or two on.
“I’ve got to make sure we’ve got the personnel who will listen to what we are trying to do and be big, strong and powerful.
“We’ve got to have people taking responsibility out there.
“I’ll take responsibility that we’ve not been good enough, I’ll take responsibility for not defending properly but at some stage some of the players need to take responsibility.
“I need to liven some players up and myself. I’ve allowed it go on too long and made excuses.
“I’ve been loyal to the players and I’ve backed them but we can’t be nice on the eye if we’re losing games of football.
“They have to look at themselves and think ‘I’m not actually giving this club enough’.
“Winning becomes a habit but so does losing. I’ve got to make it so it hurts them when we concede.
“This was the worst all season. We’ve not reached the level to win a game of football and full credit to Bognor because they were better.”
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