Boss Nolan admits Cobblers’ performance at Wycombe was a ‘head scratcher’
Kevin Nolan admits he was left scratching his head after watching his team’s limp performance in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Wycombe Wanderers.
And he accepted it was probably the Cobblers’ worst showing of the season so far.
Town’s three-match winning run in Sky Bet League One came to an abrupt halt as they were swept aside by the Chairboys.
The home side went into the game off the back of just one win in eight, and with head coach Mike Dodds having been sacked on Thursday.
He was replaced by the experienced Michael Duff just two hours later, and the new man had a rejuvenating effect as Wycombe dominated the Cobblers from start to finish, netting in the 17th and 72nd minutes to secure a deserved win.
And that fact mystified Nolan, who admitted he had warned his players exactly what to expect from the home side’s ’new manager bounce’ and how to deal with it - but they then ‘didn’t execute’ those plans.
“Let's be honest, Wycombe are in a false position," said Nolan. “With the money they have spent, the money they have put into the club, and everything else.
"They needed a reaction because of what they have produced this season, and we spoke about that and knew that.
"You know when a new manager comes in that there might be one or two changes, but you know the one thing is they are going to run a lot harder.
"They are going to run a lot harder than what they have been doing, because that is the one thing you can change in 24 hours or whatever.
"We were prepared for that, but we just didn't execute it.
"I am scratching my head, because I feel like we have executed really well this season, and the performance reminded me of where we were at Wigan (on the opening day), and we were probably a bit worse on Saturday.
"But the lads have been fantastic, we can't take away the performances we have been putting in lately, the clean sheets, the goals, and what we have to do is dust ourselves off and go again on Tuesday."
The Cobblers have an immediate chance to bounce back as they host Chelsea Under-21s in their opening Vertu Trophy match at Sixfields. Kick off on Tuesday evening is 7pm.