Stockport County boss Ian Bogie could not hide his frustration as his side slumped to defeat against Dartford.
A solitary strike from Charlie Sheringham – son of former Manchester United man – was enough for the visitors at Edgeley Park and leaves the Hatters floundering in the Blue Square Bet Premier drop-zone.
With just two games left to save their season, Bogie launched into his players insisting he wants all of them to be prepared to fight for the cause.
“It’s got to mean an awful lot more to players,” he told Pure Radio. “You’ve got to have the players to have the temperament to get on the ball and pass it – we were everything but that.
“If it doesn’t hurt the players they shouldn’t be in the game. They should come and see me, I’ll give them the P45 and they can find a new job.
“I’m devastated, bitterly disappointed – we needed to give a hell of a lot more to the fans, they deserve a better and more passionate display.”
The Hatters boss, who replaced Darije Kelazic four weeks ago, insisted his players need to prove themselves if they are to have futures at the club.
“If you want to be a footballer and you want to play at any level then you’ve got to be able to play in front of crowds or you might as well go and work in a factory,” he said.
“And that’s no disrespect to people that work in factories. Some of these lads might have to go and work from seven in the morning till five at night and get in the real world.
“There’s going to be a massive rebuilding project at this club.”
Bogie felt his team deserved nothing from the encounter but admitted his players need to keep believing, ahead of a crunch week in the clubs’ history.
“The players have choked, but I’m not going to give up on them. They have to believe that we can jump on the bus and go to Gateshead and win the game.
“It’s as brutally as plain as that.
“While there’s still a fight on, we’re still in it. I believe it can be done and the players have got to believe it. We’ve got to go down fighting.”
Scott McNiven’s Hyde meanwhile secured their Premier Division status for another season despite losing 3-1 away at Nuneaton Town.
The Tigers netted a consolation through Blackpool loanee Louis Almond in injury time but survive due to Stockport and Gateshead both losing.
Altrincham kept up their charge for a play-off place in the BSB North with a narrow victory against Bishops Stortford at Moss Lane.
Carl Rodgers and James Lawrie put the Robins two-up but Stortford halved the deficit late on, as Lee Sinnott’s team opened up a six-point gap in the search for play-off spots.
Already relegated Droylsden lost 5-0 to Bradford Park Avenue while Stalybridge Celtic cruised to a four goal win at home to Gloucester City.
A double for Mitchell Austin and further strikes from Tom Buckley and Chris Ball did the damage for Jim Harvey’s side.
Picture courtesy of Ricard 16, via Wikicommons, with thanks
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