Caddis hopes boos were towards him as he admits 'it's not good enough'

Alex Curran opening the scoring after Richardson failed to hold onto a corner

Hereford boss Paul Caddis has said he hoped supporters were booing him and not the players after his side found themselves 3-0 down at half time against Curzon Ashton.

Curzon opened the scoring inside five minutes as Alex Curran netted after Theo Richardson fumbled a corner, before Jack Spencer’s pass found Tony Weston in space. He beat a Hereford defender and scored Curzon’s second. But things went from bad to worse to dreadful for the hosts as a sloppy pass was picked up by Ben Darby, making it 3-0 with a stunning strike from 30 yards.

With most Hereford fans in disbelief at the staggering half-time score, even after some bright spells, boos were heard around the stadium as the referee blew for the break.

Speaking to BBC Hereford and Worcester's Carson Wishart after the game, with an Omari Sterling-James hat-trick salvaging a point for his side, Caddis said fans are entitled to their opinions and to express them how they want.

But he hoped the boos were towards him, rather than the players.

"I'm the manager," he added. "I've got to take the responsibility, which I always do.

"The players will tell you that I'll always come out here and front it. It's just my character and I'm happy to take that flak. But at the same time, as long as it's fair, we come back and drew the game from 3-0 down. So by all means, please criticise us, but at the same time, have an element of praise as well because I think it's got to be balanced and I'm fine with it.

"If we lost today then by all means we deserve all the criticism but I think we've got to be balanced as well and give the players all the credit for getting back in the game."

Still raw after the bruising game, the downbeat Scot said bluntly said: "It's not been good enough.

"I can't sit here and dress it all up, it's not been good enough. It's on me, I'm the manager. I take responsibility for how it's been. 

"But what it did show me was we've still got a group that's still there, fair play to them. 

"They had to find a way themselves to try and get back in the game."

When asked whether Aaron Skinner and Lewis Hudson's absence in defence was partly to blame for the 3-0 scoreline at the break, Caddis said it wasn't.

While he missed them, "that shouldn't be the reason you go 3-0 down", he said.

"We made an individual error in the first one [goal] which is nothing to do with shapes or team selections or two up front or one up front or five up front, whatever it is - nothing to do with that.

"Second one is a great pass from Spencer, gets in behind, gets a goal and third one's, again, we tried to overplay a little bit in the edge of the box and the boy puts it in the top corner.

"Is it tactics, is it shapes? It's easy for people to say that, I absolutely get it, everyone's entitled to their opinion."

He added: "I understand the obsession with two strikers. We just scored three goals with one striker on the pitch."

During the lengthy interview, Caddis did say there were positives from the first half such as I-Lani Edwards getting on the ball and Gus Mutafa and Charlie Cooper being calm in midfield.

But now he hopes the players take the second half performance as they travel to Oxford City on Tuesday.