Gaffer says supporters have every right to criticise

Micky Adams has spoken again about the incident following the Bristol City match on Tuesday evening and has again reiterated that fact that supporters have every right to criticise.

On saying that, there is a way of doing so in a civilised manner and to be frank, on Tuesday night the manner in which some things were said was not acceptable.

Adams said: “I don’t mind losing. It hurts me when we lose, hopefully it hurts the players and I know for a fact it hurts the supporters.

“They always have a right to question me, question the players and question themselves why they went down there in the first place.

“Criticism and constructive criticism you can handle, but some of that abuse was out of order and I stand by it. I wouldn’t call it hooliganism, but it’s nearly there.

“You have got to understand how it occurred and why it occurred. I made sure that the players went over and thanked the travelling support.

“If they had trooped off without doing so, we would have been vilified on all of the websites, I would have had letters in and I would have been crucified.

“Two of my players decided to go a little bit closer to them, then it got a bit heated and I wanted to drag them away, it was as simple as that. I wanted to do what I thought was right at the time.

“I don’t want gratitude, I am paid to do a job and as I have said before, I think I have done a decent job, but other people will question that. It is like at any other football club, the minority always shout the loudest.

“All I want to do now is to enjoy the last eight games, I want my players to enjoy it, I want to be nice and positive.

“We let ourselves down the other day at Bristol, but one of the supporters shouted ‘We were only playing Bristol City’ – what a nonsense comment that is.

“The fact of the matter is, if we had a season like Bristol City I think we would have had something to moan about.

“They have got triple our wage bill, triple our budget, and have spent fortunes on players and they have had to fight what I suppose is a relegation battle.

“We have been mid-to-top of the table all season, enjoyed a nice run in the Cup and while the second half of the season hasn’t gone as well as we thought it might do, I think there are mitigating circumstances for why we have not done as well.

“We are not in any danger of a relegation scrap this season so I want us all to enjoy it, and that includes the supporters.

“It has been a decent season so far and I don’t want it to be spoilt by a stupid incident at Bristol City.”