SHAPE up or I'll ship you out - that was manager Mark Morris' message to his inconsistent players after they followed a great result at Welling with a shocker at home to Thurrock yesterday.
"Our energy levels were simply not good enough and I have too many players who only play well when they feel like it," complained Morris.
"They are getting paid decent money and they must make up their minds whether they want to be here or not. I need players who can put in the effort every single game and if some of my present squad aren't ready to give me that, I'm not going to wait around. I will tell my directors they are not good enough and I'll move them out," said Morris.
"We were as bad today as we were good at Welling," added Morris after a defeat that was more comprehensive than the
2-0 scoreline suggested. "Performances like today's are never going to be good enough to win matches in this league and we got what we deserved - nothing.
"On Saturday everyone was superb, absolutely top notch - but only Alex and Jamie Brown and Simon Radcliffe did themselves any favours today and four or five players contributed practically nothing at all.
"We looked well off the pace and that was so disappointing after Saturday when I thought we had established a building block for the future, now it looks as though it's back to the drawing board.
"Our defending for Thurrock's two goals was awful and we could have given them several more. They are a decent side but we have given them their goals and if we had defended better at least we would have got a 0-0 draw out of a poor performance."
Morris added: "I thought we had got over making mistakes but it seems some players just can't stop and if that is the case I will have to do something about it."
The Magpies boss said he felt sorry for Saturday's hat-trick hero Juan Ugarte and fellow front runner Matt Groves. "They must have wondered what was going on because I don't suppose they kicked the ball more than ten times. You can't judge anyone if you don't give them the ball," he said.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article