Tate's Red Costs Swans Dear
Millwall v Swansea City |
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Why not visit our sponsors lounge The man in the Millwall blazer who interrupted Roberto Martinez's first post-match interview as a beaten manager got lucky.Butting in to order 'Mr Martinez' to talk louder, the pushy press-room helper might have endangered his eardrums. For certain managers would have responded with something akin to the hairdryer treatment normally reserved for the dressing room at Old Trafford. Fortunately for the moaner at Millwall, Swansea City's new boss is an amiable character, one who might have worked in PR had he not made it in football. Screaming and bawling, you feel, will not be the Martinez managerial way. Eventually continuing his assessment of Saturday's dispiriting 2-0 reverse at The Den - at the same volume as before - the Spaniard did not exactly rip into his players either. "I don't like to lose anything and it's disappointing to lose my first game," Martinez said. "It's disappointing because we came here with high hopes of a good performance, and I don't think we can use anything from the game as an excuse for why we didn't perform the way we have been. "It really hurts the way we have lost, but we can't change this result now so we have to look forward. "There are lessons we can learn, but this defeat is not going to change our philosophy." Swansea had travelled to mid-table Millwall confident they would return with their unbeaten-under-Martinez record intact. But after a forgettable opening where the Lions were the slightly better side, the odds against a first success in this corner of South East London since 1930 stacked up with less than a quarter of the game gone. Alan Tate had been booked on 10 minutes after Kristian O'Leary coughed up possession on the edge of his own box. Diving in to win the ball back, Swansea's captain connected only with Poul Hubertz's leg. It was Tate's first misdemeanour of the day, but in truth it looked every inch a yellow card. His second 12 minutes later may not have been quite as clear-cut, but the outstanding Ryan Smith went sprawling and the natives were screaming. "I thought the first booking was a bit harsh," said Martinez. "I suppose the disappointment is that Richard Shaw made a strong challenge on Leon Britton at the other end and there was no yellow card, but Alan got one for his first challenge. "Both Alan's challenges were just careless and overall I didn't think it was a sending off." While that sounded like a defence of Tate, Martinez did add: "He knows he has let the team down a little bit and he has let himself down. "He is a responsible character, someone who has matured a lot over the last couple of years, and he will learn from this." Red card or not - and the general consensus was that the referee had been within his rights - Tate's second dismissal of the season left his team facing an uphill task. And in truth it was one they never looked like completing. Thanks largely to a strong defensive effort led by Izzy Iriekpen, Swansea kept Millwall at bay until Smith, making his full debut after joining on loan from Derby, exposed Leon Britton. Rounding the emergency right-back - he gave regular defenders plenty of problems, never mind the attacking midfielder - Smith saw his teasing cross bounce off the bar to the feet of Hubertz. His point-blank shot was touched over the line by home skipper Paul Robinson. Willy Gueret, given a warm ovation on his return to the club he served for four years, denied Neil Harris a second before the break, but Swansea were already staring down the barrel. "The sending-off affected both teams psychologically," reckoned Martinez. "We had soaked up the pressure well for 20 minutes, but big incidents change games. "It lifted Millwall and they took advantage by seizing the momentum for a spell. "I thought my players had the character to adapt, maybe to perform a bit better, but they are big moments on games." Not until half-time did Martinez, who had kept faith with the 4-3-2-1 formation which worked so well last time out, change things round. On came top-scorer Lee Trundle and Richard Duffy as Swansea switched to something like 4-3-1-1, and the visitors did enjoy their best spell early in the second period. But this was an easy afternoon for Millwall keeper Lenny Pidgeley. Tom Butler had sliced wide in the first half and Andy Robinson sent a free-kick down his throat. Butler found the advertising hoardings again late on - that was about it. By then the contest was over, veteran striker Harris beating Gueret from the penalty spot after tumbling under Iriekpen's challenge. "A draw wouldn't have been good enough for us, we had to try to get back into it and we got a bit of momentum in the second half," Martinez said. "But we didn't really create enough chances and the second goal made it a lot harder for us. "What we have to do now is move on from this and stay positive for next Saturday. "We shouldn't forget the good job the players have done up to now." Martinez is adamant the Easter fixtures against Bristol City and Port Vale will not decide Swansea's fate this season, predicting instead that the race for play-off places will go right to the wire. But with Blackpool now four points away in sixth after their win over Crewe, a sorry holiday weekend could leave his players booking trips to the beach for May. Wembley is not a million miles from Millwall, but on Saturday evening it suddenly seemed much further away. THISISOUTHWALES.co.uk |