Magpies boss apologises

Johnson Hippolyte, the Maidenhead United manager, has apologised following the club’s humiliating 5-0 defeat to Eastleigh on Saturday.

The players were jeered off the pitch following the club’s heaviest defeat of the season, and the manager was quick to hold his hands up.

He said: “First of all I want to apologise to the supporters and anyone who is connected to Maidenhead United Football Club.

“I can’t and won’t defend the players after a performance like that.”

The players were locked in the dressing room for almost an hour after the game and the Hippolyte didn’t hold back.

He said: “I think it’s fair to say here was a lot of honest speaking and shouting from the management.

“The first thing that I do after a defeat is look at myself.

“Did I get the selection or the formation right?

“But I can’t defend the way our heads went down, that’s what disappointed me the most.

“But there will be changes, this season if we can, and a lot more this summer.”

Hippolyte has already begun to make changes bringing in Chris Tardif the former Basingstoke goalkeeper.
However that may not be enough to appease the fans who have been highly critical on the club’s forum following the defeat.

He added: “I don’t feel that type of pressure.

“People that go on the forums to have a pop at me are wasting their time.

“I don’t go on there to stoke my ego when we’re winning and I don’t go on there when we’re losing.

“I talk to Peter (Griffin) and Una (Loughrey) and they know what I am trying to do here. Fair enough I have made some signings that haven’t come off, I hold my hands up, but Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

The Magpies are now just eight points the relegation zone, although Hippolyte remains confident the club will beat the drop.

He added: “I have said all along we won’t go down, and that was our aim at the start of the season.

“We’ll re-assess the squad in the summer and changes will be made.
“It’s been the worst season of my managerial career, we just need to get through to the summer now.”