Source: FOOTYMAD
Baker, we need to stand up and be counted
Hard work needed to get results Coventry City midfielder Carl Baker, whose recent return to the team has sparked a little fire and passion that has been missing lately, has spoken about the need for his team mates to stand up and be counted now that the going has got tough. Speaking to the Coventry Telegraph, Baker said, “I got about one or two hours sleep on Tuesday night because I was just lying there thinking about what we can do to improve and start getting results.” Baker admits to being one of the more talkative members of the Coventry squad and has urged his team mate to speak more both on and off the pitch. "I am really enjoying being in the team again and I am the fittest I have been all season but I am like the fans, and if you are not winning you are not enjoying it as much. We are certainly not going home and sitting there all happy and stuff." “The lads are really disappointed at the minute but we have got to stay positive and focused, which is really difficult when heads are down. We have to stick together more than ever and give it a good fight because at the minute it is just not good enough and we know that." "There is no shying away from it, we have to stand up and be counted. The manager can do all his tactics and set pieces but we are the ones who are crossing the line and we need to step up to the plate now and put performances in.” Baker want the players to talk to each other and analyse where they have made mistakes and what they could and should do to to prevent the same mistakes being made again. He admitted some players are better at talking through problems than others. “We talk about things every morning in the dressing room and I always have my say. It is not like a formal meeting but we are always talking among ourselves. Marlon had a say when we came in yesterday, telling Lukas Jutkiewicz he should have scored his chance but it is constructive criticism rather than having a pop." “Kingy has been brilliant in the last couple of games and fair play to him because I know he gets frustrated, but he is trying to gee the lads up now and has been going round having a chat with us individually and when you see him giving 110 per cent that kicks you on. Even in training this week he was chirpy even if he’s feeling as depressed and annoyed as the rest of us but he puts a front on for the lads and that rubs off." “In a similar way to Lee Carsley, he’s vital to have around the place because he has got really high standards and says what he feels and I think that’s a good thing because it’s no good bottling stuff up and going home and having a moan at your girlfriend or Dad." "I think a few more of the lads need to get things off their chests because there are a few quiet lads in there, so people need to start stepping up to the plate and saying what they feel to iron their problems out before we go into the next game to make sure it doesn’t happen again and again.” Baker, along with the rest of the team have been annoyed and frustrated at holding onto the lead once they have scored. “The frustrating thing is the fact that we are scoring goals and often taking the lead but not keeping clean sheets,” said Baker. “We conceded just before half time against QPR and Birmingham as well as Forest the other night who taught us a lesson when they got the lead and slowed the game down. There is nothing worse than when a team kills a game and we need to learn that quickly. It might not be pretty but it gets results.” Baker analysed the two Nottingham Forest goals, both scored in a five minute spell after City had taken the lead through Marlon King, one of which came about because of a mistake by the usually reliable Kieren Westwood. He said, “Westy has been our best player all season and when something like that happens it is like a kick in the face," and for the second, he said, “The lad broke through and pulled his hamstring and put his hand up. Richard Wood is not happy because he turned round to look at the ref to tell him he was injured and the player kicked the ball away in anger." "I thought he was going to kick it into the crowd but he smashed it across the box and Robert Earnshaw reacted the quickest while our lads had maybe stopped, thinking he was injured.”
