DA pre-match interview

You’ve got to admire the ballsiness of the gaslight that you dismiss your appalling home form by saying ‘there’s no such thing as home form’. Just ‘mentality’.
Ok Dave.

Quoted from chaos33

You’ve got to admire the ballsiness of the gaslight that you dismiss your appalling home form by saying ‘there’s no such thing as home form’. Just ‘mentality’.
Ok Dave.

But he's right. There must be a reason why the same players perform differently away than they do at home.

Yeah the point about mentality is a plausible one. Just don’t know why there’s a need to deny that ‘home form’ is a thing. Just acknowledge the facts of the home form. Say it’s a priority to fix starting tonight, and thank the supporters for being patient. Job done.
Then set the team up differently.

Quoted from rancido

But he's right. There must be a reason why the same players perform differently away than they do at home.

Anecdotally, it feels like we’ve done better at BP on Tuesday evenings than at weekends and bank holidays since we’ve been back in the league. I could be slightly out here but it looks to be:

W6 D2 L2 PPG 2.0

Is that pure coincidence or a reflection of a smaller, less expectant crowd at BP? Incidentally, we have a 100% Tuesday night record home and away this season, don’t we?

Really need to be winning this one, by hook or by crook.

In that case, there can be no such thing as 'away form' either!

The facts are, that playing away suits us a bit more at the moment because there's less pressure. Teams set up differently when we're the visitors; there's an expectation from their fans to attack us more, which gives us chances at the other end that we're unable to create at BP.

The away victories have been good, but all of them have been scraped. We've got lucky in some of them — while still playing well, not having a go — but I think we'd all feel better about being 9th if we'd seen just one convincing victory this season.

The reality is, our home form is awful, particularly in defence. We've been leaking, on average, two goals a game... and that's not just a short-term thing — it's the average for an entire year!!

I see we're 9th, I accept that's an improvement on where we were when DA took over. But nothing about anything in the last year has been convincing. I can't find the argument that says we'll sustain this league position. Our goal difference is 17 goals worse than a side on the same points!

And yes, I know, 25 points is still 25 points. Doesn't matter how you come by them. But I'd put my house on Chesterfield finishing above us this season. The goal difference tells you everything we know about us: can't score enough, concede too many, and our only hope of winning is scraping by.

I've always said that the jury is out on DA for me — as it always is for any new manager. I just think a year is a good chunk of time for any manager to turn around and go: 'There, this is my team, this is my style.'

And if this is it, then I'm not really warming to it. And neither are many others, given how our attendances are heading in a southerly direction.

A win tonight — with a good performance to go with it — will do wonders for us, because I do believe we have a good squad. It's just not clicking, and that's due to mentality. Artell needs to work out how to get them over this home hoodoo, and the first thing he needs to do is recognise it and accept it.

Which he seems a little hesitant to do, judging by his comments. I know he needs to play it down, but you can't ignore something literally every fan can see; it creates a gap between manager and supporter that's hard to regain if the indifferent form continues.

Quoted from chaos33

Yeah the point about mentality is a plausible one. Just don’t know why there’s a need to deny that ‘home form’ is a thing. Just acknowledge the facts of the home form. Say it’s a priority to fix starting tonight, and thank the supporters for being patient. Job done.
Then set the team up differently.

Surely by stating it's " a priority " then you are highlighting the mentality aspect and putting more pressure on the players. Agree a " thank you" to the fans for being patient wouldn't have gone amiss but most managers are guilty of less than perfect PR. As for setting the team up differently then I'm sure the side and tactics picked will be to counteract how DA feels what Accrington side will be picked and how they play.

Given the awful run of results at home I'd like to see DA go for it tonight get 2 strikers on from the start and attack. The crowd will respond and we can be sat here tomorrow discussing what was all the fuss about? Crowds are dropping this game needs winning and winning well.UTM

I would take a draw. We have very little firepower and I think this is the killer, we will not concede a lot tonight but our goals for at home is abysmal. We lack options as we have for a while now.
This needs addressing in Jan, if we cannot afford a forward I would look for wingers who can actually beat man and have some pace utm

If he comes out and says the home form is appalling and we have to fix it then it just piles on the pressure for the players.

I’m sure he’s not daft enough not to know that home form is a thing, but it’s probably really important that the players aren’t feeling that. Let’s not forget the players were booed off at half time last week, despite the first half actually being okay, we then came out and played absolutely shite. A small answer in the mystery of our home form is answered in that one particular moment and it’s been the same years.

I think it’s gotten worse because of the way we play, we’re far too laboured and easy to play against at home. Then when the inevitable pressure comes from the opposition we crumble, because unlike when we’re playing away, it turns into pressure from the stands as opposed to the siege mentality we see away from home.

Such a large portion of all of that comes back to mentality, so I’m not surprised he’s not adding to that pressure in interviews instead of saying what the fans would like him to say.