Source: FOOTYMAD
Newton apologizes to fans
No.2 says players underperformed Eddie Newton has said sorry to the Albion fans which made the long journey to Ipswich to see the Baggies lose 1-0. The Baggies’ No.2 admits too many of the side underperformed on the evening as the Albion missed the chance to progress to the Carling Cup semi-final. Grant Leadbitter’s penalty in the 69th minute was enough to dump Albion out of the cup after Roberto Di Matteo had made nine changes to his starting XI. “I have to apologise to our fans," Albion’s assistant manager said. "So many made the long trip here in treacherous conditions and we just haven't performed for them. "It makes it depressing because we didn't turn up. "For my mind, when I was a player, I wanted to play in finals and be as successful as possible. "To know you're in a quarter-final and you have the ability to get to the semi-final makes it bewildering we had so many poor performances tonight. "I enjoyed a successful spell at Chelsea, where I played in finals, and tonight I just don't know what the players were thinking. "Forget all the other trappings, you play football to be successful and try and win trophies so you can look back on your career with pride. "That's what it's about and I didn't see enough desire out there." Newton defended the amount of changes Albion made on the night. The Albion management have followed the same method in previous rounds of the competition but said the defeat was down individual performances on the night. "We've been changing the side since the start of the competition," Newton added. "We show faith in our players and they've been doing well up until tonight. "So, I have no regrets on the changes. "But it was a poor performance. "Individually and collectively we were poor from the start to the end. "We didn't turn up and didn't show enough desire. "Therefore, we paid a big price, except for James Hurst, who was a debutant and was fantastic. "I was really pleased with him, especially in a side that didn't perform very well. "There were too many poor performances tonight. "We can't carry that amount of poor performances. "It happens and you want it to happen as few times as possible in a season. "Some games you just can't put your finger on it but too many people didn't turn up tonight - simple as that."
