Waddock feels let down by players (From This Is Local London)

Waddock feels let down by players

4:11pm Monday 24th September 2012 in Latest Sport By Andy Carswell

Waddock feels let down by players

IN his final post match press conference as Wycombe Wanderers manager Gary Waddock said he felt let down by his players.

It's not the first time in recent weeks Waddock has had cause to be critical after a match, but this time it was hard not to feel sympathy for him.

He sounded like he knew what his fate would be after seeing Blues beaten 1-0 by AFC Wimbledon, and just over an hour after the match ended he had been sacked.

But out on the pitch the Wanderers players had looked like they were also accepting of their fate as the Dons easily controlled the game.

Waddock had blasted his players at the interval hoping to cajole them into life, but when asked about the reaction to his half time team talk he said: "There wasn't one.

"In recent weeks, where we've had to do that, there has been a response. I don't know if they felt under too much pressure with the importance of the game. You'd have to ask the players.

"They have let the club down, they have let themselves down and they've let me down.

"We just didn't show up today. When you look back a couple of days ago away at Exeter where we did perform, what's happened in those few days?"

Waddock was correct in his assessment there was no reaction to his half time words as Wimbledon were able to see out the second half untroubled.

Save for an Olly Taylor effort that was hacked to safety as injury time drew near, there was nothing about the second half showing to raise a smile amongst the Wanderers fans hoping for something to celebrate on the day the club was marking its 125th anniversary.

The biggest cheer of the day was reserved for Elliot Parish's first half penalty save from Byron Harrison. It should have served as a wake up call for Blues but instead the players collectively hit the snooze button before nodding off again.

It was such a bad performance Waddock said he wanted to be out on the pitch in a bid to influence the outcome.

He said: "There were a number of things that went wrong. You want to be on there trying to help. If I was young enough I'd be able to do that but my playing days are over.

"It's silly things. If you can't pass to a team mate and you can pass to the opposition, it makes it difficult."

Asked about morale in the camp, Waddock said: "If they feel sorry for themselves, who's going to get them out of it? They are the only ones who can get themselves out of it, but what do you achieve by feeling sorry for yourself?"

The Wanderers injury list worsened during the game as Stuart Lewis was whisked off to hospital with a rib injury.

Days beforehand Grant Basey was ruled out for the season with a cruciate injury and Joel Grant failed a fitness test, taking the number of unavailable players before kick off to eight.

Waddock said the injury list was horrendous but added: "I've said I'm not going to make that an excuse but in reality you look back to the Watford and York teams we put out and the performances and results that we got, it's a million miles away from what we've been able to do in recent weeks."

On that sombre note Waddock's press conference was over - and soon afterwards so too was his time as manager of Wycombe Wanderers. He'd already delayed the start of his conference by 45 minutes to compose himself before facing the media but apologised for keeping us waiting.

From there he went to have his fate confirmed, as the axe fell on his three year tenure at Adams Park.