Bristol Rovers coach apologises to fans for unacceptable 3-0 defeat at Leyton Orient

Bristol Rovers coach David Horseman apologises to fans for his side’s unacceptable 3-0 defeat at Leyton Orient on Tuesday night.

Dan Happe, Ollie O’Neill, and Dan Agyei each contributed to the scoreline, capitalising on what Sky Sports’ Julian Warren described to be an abysmal showing.

This result leaves Bristol Rovers sitting 15th in the League One table with 21 points from 18 games played while Leyton Orient move out of the drop zone, sitting 20th with 18 points from 17 games.

“I need to apologise to the fans that came because that result is unacceptable form us as a group.”

💬 Dave Horseman reacts to this evening’s defeat… pic.twitter.com/iLcMSTd27i

— Bristol Rovers (@Official_BRFC) December 3, 2024

David Horseman said: “It really hurt. First of all, I need to apologise to the fans that came because that’s unacceptable from us as a group. I said to the players and the fans, that’s totally on me because you can’t play that poorly with and against the ball if it’s not the coach.

“I have to reflect as clearly, the message I gave was not good enough in terms of the physicality to go up against the opposition, but also the ability to pass the ball forward and quickly.

“It’s really hurt me as a Bristolian. That’s not something that I would want to see, but I have to start looking at the messages I give before looking at any players.

“The positives against Barnsley firstly came from a good goalkeeping display, but also, we had a bit of fight and passion,” said Horseman. “Tonight, we had none of that. That was the most disappointing bit.

“I didn’t think we were very good with the ball on Saturday, and we didn’t create enough and again tonight. But on Saturday, we won tackles, we blocked, we chased, and we just didn’t give up space on the pitch like we did tonight.

“We have to find a level of consistency because when we do that, we’ll be a good team. But you can’t put in a good performance and then not back it up on the Tuesday. That’s just not to the level.

“If you don’t retain possession very well, then the ball is always going to keep coming back at you. You can’t keep defending your goal without being able to get field position in their half.

“Firstly, to take a breather but also build anxiety in them. Those things probably meant we didn’t give ourselves a chance in the game, and that really hurts because I think we’ve got some really good players, really good people, and they do care. But they’ve got to show it because it’s no good talking about it. People want to see action, and we never showed enough of that tonight.”

“We have to start putting more balls into the box…

“My personal feeling is that we have to start putting more balls into the box. It might be forced at times, but at this level, I do think defenders make mistakes. I spoke to the Lincoln manager, and they work purely off volume.

“They put the ball in and put the ball in. We saw that when we played against them, and eventually, you force an opening. Once you get that, then you start to get some confidence in your play.

“We might have to earn the right to create chances. At the moment, if it’s not a fast counter-attack, we’re not doing enough to provide service in the box.

“You have to bounce back, and that’s the character of the person. Tonight is all on me. Tomorrow morning, I have to wake up and make sure I prepare properly, and we go again.

“That’s it. That’s the only way to react and actually have a bit of fight and passion. Bristolians want that, and they also want quality. I am a Southmead kid, and that’s how we were raised.

“That’s probably the bit tonight that has probably hurt me the most. What the Bristol Rovers fans expect is full commitment, and that probably didn’t come across tonight. They care, and they are a great group of lads, but they’ve got to show it.”

New low……#BristolRovers pic.twitter.com/AxxT9s4uWf

— Andy Withey (@Withers1977) December 3, 2024

This is how Twitter users reacted as the Bristol Rovers coach apologises to fans for his side’s unacceptable 3-0 defeat at Leyton Orient…

@Nortongashead: It was unacceptable last Tuesday as well. Seems to be a reoccurring theme now. I don’t buy into I’m from the mead. You picked the wrong team and got completely out ran, out fought and out played. We as supporters deserve better.

@gasheadamanda: He wasn’t the one playing on the pitch but fair play for him taking all the blame for that shocking performance. The players need to take some responsibility for wearing the shirt! Can’t keep playing every other match like they’ve been doing recently.

@footyscan: People to blame for this are the owners. It’s their decision 14 months ago that has put this club in freefall all because of personalities. We have a weaker squad, a weakened management set up. Said it back then hoped to be wrong sadly proven right which I really don’t wanna be

@calcology: That’s not on you at all Dave. This team isn’t inconsistent, they’re consistently shit but we occasionally nick a point or win. We have scored 1 goal in 5 games and have recently lost to Crawley, Blackpool and Orient. We are being gaslit into thinking they are well coached at all

@PaishyGashead: Wish the players would take some blame for being absolute dog shit

@darrell_ben: Dave I understand you are a nice bloke but it’s been coming this. We’ve played exactly the same against Blackpool, Crawley (2nd half), Mansfield, Barnsley and now tonight. Take yourself and your staff away from this club before you end up getting us relegated. Tactics are a mess.

@SebCain: Feel for your fans that attended that, that was a disgusting performance! We could’ve had 7 or 8! Good luck for the rest of the season other than the reverse at the Mem

@TalkingGasPod: Absolutely disgusting performance. By far the worst this season. What hurts is the lack of pride, fight, effort & just the basics of football. You can just sit back, play backwards & don’t attack. Clueless. 0 shots on target in the last 2 league games just sums it up. Shite.

@brfctom: Sack the manager and the players can fuck off aswell, sick of it.

@niallmassey96: Tough timing for MT and wish him the best personally but his time is up. If not now, I don’t see him making it to Jan with the fixtures we have. No plan, no playing style, no attacking intent whatsoever. Just relying on Griffiths to keep us in games and hoping we can nick one.

@WSM_Gas: Can’t wait for our highlights, I’m guessing you’ll be putting it out as a Gif

@1_henshall: As bad a loss I’ve ever seen from this club and we’ve seen some stinkers. Whats even more concerning is a lot of these players are on 3+ year deals. The football is so bad we’re not even getting shots on target. Owners have been patient but Taylor’s time has to go

@ElliotLane11: 2 shots, zero on target. Given what we’ve seen in other games recently, I really struggle to see how we move forward without some changes off the pitch 🫣

@Mitch_Tomlin: Absolute embarrassment. Whole playing and management staff should be ashamed. Don’t give a bollocks excuse of being tired. Horrendous.

@john5161YT: Seriously concerned for the future here. Not one positive to take out of that, and what is going on with Luke Thomas?

@planetding: during the whole match we had 2 touches in the box! 2! that’s against a bottom 4 side (who had 38 touches in our box). anyone that goes on saturday deserves a medal. something very very wrong at rovers right now.