Source: Northern_Echo
Home improvements are a priority warns Cooper
THE Northern Echo Arena is not a happy hunting ground for Darlington but they cannot use their home woes as an excuse for playing poorly says frustrated Mark Cooper.[LNB] The manager is demanding an improved performance today from his players when they face Gateshead at the Arena four days after a dismal display in the 1-0 home defeat to Grimsby Town.[LNB] The match was merely the latest in a string of losses on home soil in 2010, a year in which Quakers have picked up more than twice as many points away from the Arena.[LNB] On the road Darlington have lost five of their 16 matches in the calendar year, but during the same period have tasted defeat in 11 out of their 15 matches at the 25,000- capacity ground.[LNB] It is a record Cooper is determined to improve and a repeat of the win over Newport County on the first day of the season would be a step in the right direction.[LNB] A fortnight after Newport made their first ever visit to the Arena, Gateshead travel down the A1 for their first glimpse of Darlington's oversized home where Cooper admits their form has become an issue.[LNB] Gateshead haven't had a great start either, but I'm sure they're relishing coming to the Arena like very team does which is another problem we have to overcome, he said.[LNB] People have told me about the problems of playing at home, and the pressures that the players feel under, but I don't buy into that.[LNB] It could be because of the atmosphere, but that should not stop you running about.[LNB] It doesn't matter where you're playing, if you don't want to run about and have a will to win a game of football, whether it's in the park or at Wembley, you won't win.[LNB] You don't have to be the greatest player in the world.[LNB] But if you give 100 per cent every game and roll your sleeves up, people will forgive mistakes every now and again.[LNB] I could understand the anxiety late on in a game if the players were hanging on to a lead because in our ground you can hear every last comment and boo from the stands.[LNB] But at the start of a game you have to give the supporters something to shout about.[LNB] So I don't buy into this Arena syndrome. I just want players that will run through a brickwall and will play with pride in a Darlington shirt.[LNB] Cooper will make changes to his line-up today and has several injuries to consider before naming his XI. He also has Monday evening's game at Barrow to consider.[LNB] On Thursday he made his players sit through a DVD recording of the Grimsby defeat and reports a positive response from his squad in training. But he concedes that the most important response will come today as Quakers aim to record their second win of the season.[LNB] We'll find out what their response is on Saturday, said Cooper.[LNB] We've had a good reaction in training, which is all very well but it's not until 3pm on Saturday we find out what their response is. Hopefully, it'll be a good one.[LNB] We watched the game back on Thursday, the players all watched it. Watching the game back, it wasn't as bad as we thought it was on Tuesday but it still wasn't acceptable.[LNB] The one thing with watching a video of the game is that there's no hiding place. It's there in front of them and they can't disagree with anything you say. So they were very quiet because they know the performance wasn't acceptable and hopefully tomorrow we'll see the true Darlington team.[LNB] As a staff we always watch games back, we don't always show it to the players but after Tuesday we felt we needed to show them how they had wasted a chance to win three points because they weren't prepared to do the basics.[LNB] Up until the last 25 minutes the one thing that was missing was desire and effort.[LNB] Once two or three were on the pitch who were willing to do that, then we looked a different team.[LNB] It doesn't matter who plays, what tactics you use or what formation, if the players don't want to run about you won't win many games of football.[LNB] Hopefully, tomorrow we'll put a team out which is going to want to put their bodies on the line.[LNB]
