Cowboy Chat

With today’s call-off bringing yet another break in the match action, the official website can bring you some extended thoughts from John McCormack.

The Clyde boss started with an honest assessment of last week’s disappointing result in Arbroath:-

“The club is being good to me. The preparation last Saturday was as good as any team could give in that the guys travelled up together, had lunch and a good warm-up. Yet when the players crossed the white line they didn’t perform in the first half and that angered and frustrated me.

“We are shaping up, but we need to start getting results. I know it’s not about how the squad performs in training and getting three points on Saturday is what it is always about.”

Several squad members missed the trip due to injury, but three of them – John Stewart, Neil McGowan and Connor Stevenson – are now back in full training:-

“I’m pleased with the players returning. John hasn’t shown his true form yet; he knows that and I know that, but I’m sure there are goals in him. I was pleased with the way he worked hard at his fitness during the last couple of weeks, despite being out of action with his shoulder injury.

“Neil has the experience and is a good talker as well. The boys need that.”

John was clearly not ready to concede anything in the battle to move off the bottom…

“It may sound like madness after the last few games, but I believe in the players who are now at the club. The guys who were released were not going to be able to take us where we need to be this season, but the squad is now stronger and can help us progress and moving up this league. We now have options and strength coming off the bench, as Dmitrijs and Jordan showed last week.

“It is also crucial that the players at this club have the right mentality. During matches things will go wrong, whether that is conceding a soft penalty, a sending off or losing a bad goal. These things happen but when they do we need to roll up our sleeves and get on with it and not feel sorry for ourselves.”

Cowboy also revealed that, given the circumstances of many of the squad, he has been able to do additional work during the week over and above the regular Tuesday and Thursday evening sessions…

“It is a boost that the players are buying into what we want to achieve. Voluntarily, twelve of the squad and the players on loan have been coming in to do extra work, which concentrates on their skills. It’s optional but the players are keen to attend, work at their game and try and gain that extra edge. Most importantly, it helps them in gelling together as a team and we will all get our reward for that.

“The Latvian players are part of that. Alex will be an asset to us and Dmitrijs showed up well in his sub appearance too. Both need to get used to the game here in Scotland and they need to learn that in the first team squad.”

John finished with a message for supporters…

“I believe the players have the bottle and they all need to fight and battle for the points and show that hunger to the supporters.

“I understand how let down the fans feel at the moment. We have plenty to do and prove but there are still enough points to be won to get us up this league.”