Histon manager Chris Nunn takes the blame for 6-1 United Counties League Premier Division South defeat at Coventry United
Manager Chris Nunn concedes he got it tactically wrong at the start of Histon’s thumping defeat on Saturday.
The Stutes lost 6-1 at fellow mid-table United Counties League Premier Division South side Coventry United. They were 3-0 down inside 20 minutes and never recovered.
“Tactically, I got it wrong from the beginning,” said Nunn. “We were 3-0 down after 17 minutes.
“I changed it around and we responded really well and, this sounds really daft, but we could have been level by half-time!
“Then, we knew the next goal would be important, and we conceded after 40 seconds. However, I’ve been manager for 14 months so there’s only one person to look at – me.
“It was always going to be tough because they can do that to teams on their big 3G pitch, but we probably made it tougher for ourselves. I’m 52, I know when I’ve got it wrong and I know when I’ve got it right.
“When I say it could have been 10-7, it really could have been!”
Adding insult to injury, with Histon already 6-0 behind, they had defender Karl Saffery red-carded before substitute Taylor Franklin’s late consolation.
Nunn said: “What you have got is a bad day and I’m disappointed with the sending-off because it turns it into a disaster. That one tackle impacts a further three games.
“It impacts the game that you’re sent-off in, and the next three. But that’s football.
“If you win, you’re a great manager and a great team and, if you lose, you’re a bad manager. But when we’re poor, we are really poor.”
It was a second successive away loss for the Stutes, who have fallen off the pace in the race for play-off places.
“We set a really tough target in terms of making the play-offs,” said Nunn. “When I came in, we were second-bottom in the league and maybe it’s too much of an ask to make the play-offs within a year. But you have got to set yourself these aims.
“There’s no point saying ‘We’re happy with finishing in mid-table’ when that’s not the case.”
They do, however, still remain in the mix for a top-five finish.
Nunn said: “It’s far from over. But there were one or two worrying signs on Saturday that reared their heads.
“They hadn’t done so for a while. We were second in the form table for the previous 16 games.
“So, we have been competing against the best teams, as well. But in the last game-and-a-half, our standards have dropped.
“They have dropped alarmingly and I need to find out why.”
Histon, who were due to play a Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup semi-final at March Town United last night (Tuesday), begin a run of three Saturday games at home in a row against Hinckley AFC this weekend.
