Mackem manager Ricky Sbragia: "Last year, we seemed to be in dressing room for about two and a half hours before the game, which was absolutely ridiculous.Mackems Unhappy With Police!
Mackem manager Ricky Sbragia: "Last year, we seemed to be in dressing room for about two and a half hours before the game, which was absolutely ridiculous."This year, we would hope to be in there just an hour and 15 minutes before the game.
"I thought the preparation for that game was poor, and whether or not it was forced on us, it had an effect on the game.
"It wasn't so much Newcastle, it was just the fact that the police had asked us to leave early.
"They asked us for this one to leave at 10.45am, and that's a bit early for us to go.
"We always like to be there an hour an 15 minutes before a game.
"The thing about that day, I can remember everyone sitting around just reading the programme and it being very warm.
"It's not the biggest of dressing rooms and there were a lot of people in there, and from our point of view, I thought it was wrong. I thought it was completely wrong.
"It was just the fact that we stayed in there for so long, and I thought we looked really lazy and tired going out.
"We have said this year, we will go when we want to go."