NUFC skipper Jamaal Lascelles has admitted that some harsh words and ‘home truths’ were exchanged in the dressing room following our fourth straight home defeat in the 1-0 defeat to Everton on Wednesday, however has rallied his teammates to now come out of their shells and show character to keep us up.
We’ve taken just one point from a possible 24 in our last eight games and it’s clear something has to change to get us out of this rotten rut. Jamaal Lascelles could be that man to inspire us back into some much needed form.
His attitude on and off the pitch has been refreshing to see over the last 18 months, and this interview is no different.
Here’s what he had to say when asked what the atmosphere was like in the dressing room after Wednesday night’s game:
“I wouldn’t say it was calm, no,”
“There were a few home truths said but the reality is we’re not in a great position and sometimes things need to be said that players don’t want to hear. Hopefully, it’ll get a reaction. We don’t want to leave it too late.”
“When you keep getting bad results it’s going to knock you a little bit as a human beings, but now is the time for characters and big personalities to come out of their shells.
Interesting words from the skipper here, with him claiming that it’s time for ‘characters’ and ‘big personalities’ to’ come out of their shells’ – suggesting some of our side have not been showing their true selves over recent weeks.
Character is key now. We lack experience and Premier League know how (which should be addressed in January), but we must stand up and be counted. There’s no room for passengers in this game – especially not in a squad that does lack talent.
Lascelles then stated that it’s too early to say we’re in a fight for survival, but admitted that we must show more organisation and communication on the pitch and stop making so many ‘unacceptable’ errors:
“With the manager and players we have here we can definitely sort things out. I’m not going to say we’re in a relegation battle. There’s still loads of games to play.”
“For the last couple of weeks I’ve felt our organisation hasn’t been great, there wasn’t much talking on the pitch,”
. “I feel we had that back against Everton but we just lacked that bit of quality. In the last three or four weeks we’ve been making mistakes and it’s cost us. We definitely have to sort that out; it’s unacceptable.
“Now that I’m back from injury I’m definitely going to be on to people. It’s not as if the boys aren’t working hard, it’s not like a few years back when I had a go at people [for not pulling their weight]. It’s just about sticking together as a team.”
Another brilliant interview from Lascelles.
We’re lucky to have this lad. He gets it and is saying and doing all the right things.
Let’s just hope his team mates can now take his advice, stand up and be counted.
