City boss wants to fight on

ST ALBANS City boss Steve Castle insists he has no intention of walking away despite his side’s dismal form continuing.

The Saints slipped into the relegation zone on Saturday for the first time this season after a 3-1 defeat at Lewes that extended the club’s run of just one win in their last 24 outings.

“We’re not skirting around it, I’m not skirting around it – managers get judged on results and it hasn’t happened,” said Castle after Saturday’s defeat.

“That’s the nature of football, I know it I’ve been involved long enough. I won’t be turning my back. I want to give it a go because I have got the bit between my teeth.

“I will give it as much as I can for as long as I possibly can.

“We’re all very disappointed, we’re all very passionate. I’ve had people coming up and questioning my passion, that’s just not the case.”

The longer the Saints’ winless run goes the more the pressure appears to build on the team but Castle insists the pressure the team feels is that which is applied by themselves.

“The pressure is the pressure we’re bringing on ourselves really,” he said.

“We’re in the bottom three now, the results have dictated that. It’s very, frustrating, it’s disappointing. I’ve seen some disappointed, glum faces and I’m one of them. “It is something that has got to be addressed.

“They (the stats) are terrible and I’m at the helm and responsible for that. That is something I’ve got to shoulder, the lads have got to shoulder it as well. I hope that they are still believing in me and that we can turn things around. The signs are that is the case but results are all important.

The Saints boss admitted he felt sorry for the club’s fans who travel all over the south of England to support the side and promised that he will do everything he can to reverse the side’s fortunes.

“It’s been a bitter pill and I do feel sorry for those who are here, and supporters who are travelling and paying good money to come and see us get beat week in week out,” he said.

“I can only promise that I will give it my best and if my best isn’t good enough then so be it.

“We’ve gone on runs before with a similar bunch of players. If we can get some more quality added to that that I’m hoping to get I can maybe get given an opportunity to turn that around.”

Castle is working hard to add to his options up front but trying to find a decent goalscorer mid-season is proving difficult.

The City boss admitted his side’s troubles up front contributed to their downfall at Lewes despite a positive opening 20 minutes from the Saintd.

He explained: “We started the game well. We set them up in a similar formation to the one we showed against Farnborough which we took some encouragement from but unfortunately, I don’t know why, we cannot seem to get two strikers that can play together at any one time.

“Chrissy Benjamin has come in and I thought done very well.

“Pelayo Gomez was just a little bit poor and whether he was carrying anything only he can tell us that. The vibe was that he was fine and he didn’t look it and Tom Hutchinson basically had him in his pocket.

“We showed some grit and determination. Obviously the third goal was going to kill it off but if you can keep it at 2-0 we’re pushing but they looked like a team who were really competitive and we needed to get a few more chances and put them on chances while we were on top but I’ve got no complaints about the result what so ever.”

n Paul Bastock has been named the Harpenden Construction Ltd. Player of the Month for October.

The City stopper has been in good form in recent weeks and turned in a fine individual performance in the Saints’ 4-0 defeat at Luton Town in the FA Cup.

The goalkeeper will be presented with his award by Herts Advertiser sports editor James Ronayne prior to Saturday’s FA Trophy tie with Staines Town.