Ian Evatt issues immediate reaction to Blackpool's 'rock bottom' display in Reading loss
Blackpool were defeated 3-0 by Reading at Bloomfield Road.
Ian Evatt states Blackpool hit rock bottom with how they performed in their 3-0 defeat to Reading at Bloomfield Road.
Kamari Doyle broke the deadlock for the Royals in the 26th minute, before Lewis Wing and Randell Williams added their names to the scoresheet after the break.
The Seasiders remain in the League One’s bottom four, having missed the opportunity to temporarily pull themselves while taking part in the early kick off.
Reflecting on the loss, Evatt said: “It’s difficult - it’s a low point for me and a low point for this club. It should be a low point for the players.
“I’ll try to look at the game as a coach. I think we actually started okay, we had two massive chances with Andy Lyons and Hayden (Coulson). If they go in then it’s probably different. We had control of the game.
“Then the first real attack they had, they scored. After that, they completely rocked us. We lost our belief and our clarity of thought. We lost the ability to make rational decisions.
“We can’t be that affected by going behind. I’m still learning about the players, and today has been my biggest learning day about them. Fundamentally, I have to take responsibility, I am the head coach at this football club. The first person I will look at is me.
“We cannot be affected mentally by any adversity. It should inspire and not discourage. The minute they scored, we were completely discouraged and let ourselves down.
“The frustrating part for me is, everything I saw before I came here I saw after going behind today, and it sort of reverted back to type. It’s my job to fix it. I love this club, this is my club, and it hurts me more than anyone else. We have to work hard to make sure it don’t happen again.
“We need help from the injuries, I’ve said that all along. The players we’ve had to pick have been the only option, so we need some of the lads back. This has to be a moment of reset, they have to take all of the critique. I have a firm belief that we can sort this out and get better.
“The defeat as a whole hurts, I hate losing, and I hate losing for this football club. Do I think we deserved to lose 3-0? - Probably not, we had chances we didn’t take. We had a lot of control of the ball, but we were so passive and fearful, we chose to play sideways and backwards instead of taking risks.
“Those spaces were there, but we turned them down. One thing I can guarantee in football, is you’re going to go behind in games. You’re going to win some, you’re going to lose some, and you’re going to draw some, so it’s about being consistent with your mind and your performance.
“The good thing about football is, you always get a chance to respond. Hopefully this is our rock bottom. We speak about rock bottom a lot. It’s a difficult industry to be part of because you do have highs and lows, and today is one of those days where it is rock bottom and we need to find a way to improve things.”