Poyet - Defeat is wake up call

Coach demanding team performances after Birmingham loss

By Laura Slatcher   Last updated: 1st March 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Poyet - Defeat is wake up call

Poyet and Ramos: Disappointed

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Gus Poyet has demanded more from his Tottenham side after their 4-1 defeat at Birmingham on Saturday.

A consolation goal from Jermaine Jenas in the dying minutes of the game did little to spare Spurs' blushes as Mikael Forssell grabbed a well deserved hat-trick.

The Tottenham first team coach was disappointed with the team's performance but insists their Carling Cup victory did not cloud their vision.

"It was not good enough. We weren't here in every aspect of the game," Poyet said.

"Concentration wasn't there and we didn't play as a team. It was not a team performance.

Expected to win

"It's nothing about what happened after the Carling Cup. We've had three very good days in training and expected to come here and win the game."

Tottenham manager Juande Ramos had made five changes to the side that won the cup on Sunday but Poyet says the players should be prepared for change.

"We had to assume that we were ready for the game today," he added.

"You expect everyone coming into the first team to perform. Sometimes players are asking for opportunities and they had a great chance today. There are no excuses."

Despite letting in four goals Poyet had praise for goalkeeper Paul Robinson who has come under strong criticism but admits the team must pull together.

Wake up call

"He (Robinson) was put under a lot of pressure," said Poyet. "We left him one-on-one a few times and he had a difficult day. I'm sure he's not happy.

"It's a wake up call. If we don't wake up now we're going to continue losing games.

"We had many shots but apart from long distance efforts we didn't really create many attempts.

"We tried to put it right straight away, changed a couple of things, but that was not us out there today.

"We have to be strong mentally to make sure that we play every game well and that's something we will have to prove next Sunday."