Cardiff City manager Erol Bulut fumed about his players' mentality in the second half after the defeat by Millwall and hit out at constant negative comments aimed towards him.
The Bluebirds looked good for 45 minutes at The Den, but two poor defensive moments saw them go in 2-1 down at half time. But they produced an insipid second-half performance and ended up losing 3-1 against the Lions.
Bulut gave an impassioned speech in his post-match press conference, citing a build-up of frustration over some of the comments he has read in recent weeks. Here is a full transcript below...
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Q. How did you assess the Millwall performance?
Erol Bulut: "Like day and night, the first half and second half. The first half it was clear the better team was Cardiff. We could make more from the first half, but we conceded two goals. The second one, especially was not acceptable. Too easily we lost the ball; three against one and we conceded it to the opponent.
"If you do these small mistakes in your game, when you are in a counter-attack and lose the ball, it's difficult to come back. Millwall at home are a good team, they are fighting.
"The first half, I was satisfied, no words for the second half. Nobody can tell me, two days we had a game so we are tired, two days ago the opponent had a game.
"The main thing is the mentality, how you go in the game, if you want to win this game. What are you expecting from yourself, individually? I can speak only to my players. But the mentality on the field has to change, especially the second half."
Q. Game was there to be won in the second half...
"This is the problem. Too many differences in games. We play a great game against Ipswich, one week later we don't understand why the team changes. The same team, the same XI."
Q. Why has consistency this season been such a problem?
EB: "This is the biggest problem this season. We would speak now about different things, but I cannot change everything with these players. I can ask about details, but it's not easy to change everything.
"Some of the fans, the media can say... but I am the manager, I know what I want. I know what I want from my players. But they have to also know what they want.
"I am reading a little bit of news, press, I get messages from my friends... until now I've never spoken about this kind of thing. It's normal that people criticise me, fans, media, this is my job. I am not perfect. I have to learn a lot of things.
"But you cannot say this season that it is luck that we are here with 59 points. I am long enough in this business, I played football for 20 years.
"In the press sometimes I am reading these things, someone wants to show that all our work this season is bad. This I do not accept. I know what my guys did this season. What we did all this season. No one can speak badly about our work.
"It's enough. All the last few weeks I am reading these things, getting these messages. Until now I never spoke about these things. But enough is enough.
"They can criticise me, I don't have any problem with this. But I think they do it on purpose, these messages. Of course, we are reading this, the players are reading this, it affects us also. It affects players. When you speak about players, the coach, our game, things like this, it affects the players."
Q. Poor mentality of players today in the second half, did you tell them that in the changing room after?
"I said it to my team right now. I cannot accept that. Many times I have said it. OK, we have 59 points. For me it's not enough. The season is not finished. I want maximum performance from the players until the end."
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Q. Do you think it's because it's the end of the season?
EB: "Of course. Of course. It's because of this. It shouldn't be like this. We have to get maximum we can get. You can lose games, I don't care, but not like the second half, we cannot show that to the fans, ourselves, nobody. This I do not accept.
"My character, my mentality, is that I do not accept this. As a player I was like this and as a manager I am the same. I want my players to show the maximum.
"Fans are coming here, paying money to see a good game from us, we have to show them a good game. We can lose, no problem, but we have to fight to the end. Like we did in the first half. But what we delivered in the second half, I cannot accept.
"Then, it's normal that fans shout at me, OK, I can accept that, I have to accept it, it's OK. Because they want to see better football and I have to ask that from my players. For that, the mentality has to change.
"I said to them also, three games are left this season, but you have to think also about next season, whether I am here or not. The club has to progress and continue. What is the target for next season? We have to ask the players this also. So, the target, the little bit you plan this season for next season. Next season, you cannot say, 'Ah, we want to stay in the league'. It will not be possible.
"This season it was about having a good position in the league and being safe. We've never been in trouble of relegation positions. Now we have to plan for something else. We need to speak about this. This is the first time I'm speaking openly about this, today. I have never spoken about this. That's why plans have to be different."
Q. Have players been affected by negative comments in press?
EB: "Some players have been affected positively, some negatively. If they don't like how I talk about them... well this is the reality in football.
"I never criticise my players in the media. If I do criticise I use the word 'we', I am included. I am the manager of this team. But I know my character and mentality. I try to transfer it to the players. Sometimes it's effective, sometimes it's not. With this I am not OK, as we can see the first half and second half.
"If there is something bad on the pitch, I am the chef here, so it's also my problem. If it's good, it's good, if it's bad, it's bad."
Q. What would be acceptable in final three games?
EB: "Minimum is a winning mentality on the field, that's what I want to see. My players know what I mean by winning mentality.
"It has to be constant, too. This club needs this. For this we have to build."
Q. Speaking of building, have you have any talks yet about your future?
EB: "I don't want to speak about this. We have spoken many times about this. I try to give everything until the end. I am not perfect. I hope the next three games will be much better than what we showed in the second half, to give the fans some points more and to maybe be in the top 10 also."
