No need to press the panic button

BEN AMOS . . . suffered at the hands of a rampant Southampton team.

Latics’ assistant manager writes every week for Chron Sport
BEN Amos was very disappointed to concede six goals against Southampton, especially with Sir Alex Ferguson watching from the stands.

The thing with Ben is, he is a perfectionist. His attention to detail, for such a young man, is frightening.

After his debut in the 2-0 win over Swindon Town, he was beating himself up in the dressing room because two of his throws went out of play instead of to a team-mate.

We thought he was fantastic in that game, but he did not think so.

Ben is a real pro and a credit to his club Manchester United. But it wasn’t just a case of putting an arm around him after the Southampton defeat – all the players needed us to rally round them.

Their first inclination could be to fall into a state of temporary depression, so it is down to the management team to point out it is not the end of the world.

Naturally, we were disappointed with the result. When the third goal went in it was game over.

Without making excuses it is important to remember we were up against a team with bags of experience.

The Saints had clearly done their homework, and they were ready for us from the first whistle.

In a way that is a compliment to ourselves, because I think they earmarked the game at Boundary Park as one of their toughest of the campaign.

I do not like talking about wage bills, because players still need to be managed correctly to become a good team, but Southampton had some expensive players out there.

Ricky Lambert was a handful all night, and he cost them £1 million.

It is crucial that, as a management team, we do not panic. Results like this happen from time to time. I have played in teams that have lost 6-0. It is not nice.

But the important thing is learning from it. As long as the players show the necessary amount of grit and determination, we will back them.

It is all about how you react, and tomorrow’s trip to Plymouth Argyle is the perfect opportunity for the lads to show what they are made of.

Peter Reid’s teams are always difficult to beat, and it will be a tough test despite the fact they are going through a bit of a rough patch at the moment.

Peter will be even more determined to get a result after their 3-2 loss to Huddersfield Town, but we will just concentrate on the job.

Paul Dickov and I are looking for a positive reaction.

It was a shame to see our reserve team game against Bury called off due to a waterlogged pitch at Radcliffe Borough.

Paul was hoping to see trialists Yassin Moutaouakil and Andre Blackman in a match situation.

Both lads are training well but need to do a bit more to make an impression on Paul, and the best way to do that is to perform well in a game.