Daryl McMahon made no bones about his side’s performance this afternoon as Boreham Wood ran out 3-0 winners at the Kuflink Stadium to mark the heaviest home league defeat since December 2014.
“We were a catalogue of errors. Anything that could go wrong or any bad decision you could make, was made,” McMahon told BBC Radio Kent’s Matt Cole. “It was a frustrating afternoon. The better team won without a doubt. They’re a team that for me will definitely be in play-offs. They look hungry to get into the play-offs and they deserved their win today. We’re too inconsistent, I’ve been saying it for quite a while. [We’re] too up and down to be a serious contender for the play-offs and promotion out of this league at the minute and we can see today again the work we have to do.”
While the result propelled Boreham Wood to within six points of top spot, Fleet are now left seven points adrift but, more pointedly, with the sort of league form that doesn’t bode well for a push towards the top seven.
“The season tells you where we are,” said McMahon. “I’ll never write anything off, who knows what this season could bring – we’ve still got 15 games to go. We’ll see what happens in 15 games. I’m not just saying it today, I’ve said it for two months, it’s been an unrealistic thing that people have talked about for us to get into the play-offs. But we’ve got to be better than we were today, forget the play-offs, forget anything else, that was just a rank performance.”
A permanent signing or two remains the manager’s top priority but he is equally adamant that the players he does have perform to their fullest potential.
“I’ve said what I’ve said about us taking our time [making signings],” he said. “I’m desperate to get someone in but it’s got to be the right person, it can’t just be anyone. Someone’s got to come in and get in the starting eleven and have an impact and we’ll see what happens this week.
“Some players who want to go and play at a higher level have to become more consistent, whether it’s with Ebbsfleet or another football club. If they’ve got the desire to do that, and I’m sure some of them do individually, they’ve got to be more consistent and today we weren’t.”
And McMahon pointed to Boreham Wood’s example, with the 2015 promotion final winners having had two more seasons to get to grips with the level than the current Fleet setup. “You can see a team in Boreham Wood today who in their first season just about stayed up, second season mid-table and competitive and I think this year they’ve got some very good players in,” he said. “They’ve learned the league and we’ve got to do the same. There’s no magic formula, we’ve got to get the right people in and prove they’re the right people in the team and build. And we will.”
It’s Tranmere Rovers up next as Fleet’s tough start to 2018 continues but as has been typical of his side’s season thus far, McMahon expects a better performance at a better venue against a bigger club.
“We’ll probably be all right because it’s against a big team, a big club at this level and normally we’re all right against them,” he conceded. “So I expect a reaction from today and a much better performance. I think if you look at every ex-League team, or the derbies, in general we’ve been good in them games.”
Listen to the full interview below.
