Tommy Widdrington believes he may not see centre-half Kyle Callan-McFadden play this season - a huge blow to a manager who accused his team of some clownish defending.
Callan-McFadden has not played a minute under Widdrington, who is probably itching to get the former Norwich City Youth player lined up alongside Josh Coulson.
A recent back injury extended his absence and has thrown his short-term future into doubt.
“I don’t thing I will see him play this season,” said Widdrington, after the home defeat to Torquay. “It is something different nearly every week. We think it is something to do with post-Covid, it is a neural problem in his back, but then it is his hamstring, then his calf – there is something not right and we can’t identify it absolutely. So we are led by Kyle – I am sure Kyle wants to be on the pitch and I would like to have him on the pitch, but we can’t.”
Someone of Callan-McFadden's calibre might have been able to cut out the errors that led to former Dereham man Danny Wright giving Torquay a two-goal lead.
Wright had already given notice of his danger with a couple of assist headers from free-kicks that were wasted.
But Lynn were poor at their near post when Wright flicked on a long throw and then five minutes later he drilled in another one after Aaron Jones lost possession. In mitigation, Jones is a right back not a left back and was only playing there because Olly Scott is injured and Tyler Denton’s partner gave birth on Saturday morning. To blame Jones would be harsh.
Malachi Linton gave Lynn hope but not long after the break a third Torquay goal seemed to have sealed it – and almost caused a collective burst gasket in the Lynn technical area, where the claim was that Wright had handled the ball.
Widdrington blasted the officials post-match, but his wrath spread far and wide.
“That’s the minimum requirement in a football match - effort and application,” he said. “I know I know what I am doing, and I know my staff are delivering the right information about the opposition - some players just can’t follow those instructions, they are not at the level.”
It needs to be said that Widdrington didn’t at any time blame his team’s efforts. Quality? That was a different matter.
“Awful defending - people who are not good enough in that situation - got to take that on the chin. Absolutely way below this level defensively.
“The problem you have got with the set of players that have been put together here is if one department is working well, the other one can’t, and if the other department is working well, that one can’t. So, again, it is about levels of the game.”
Widdrington’s gripe is the comparative lack of experience at his disposal.
“Whoever accumulated this group of players before I got here has a lot to answer for,” he said.
The most telling criticism?
“If we hadn’t defending like Coco the clown at the back we probably win the game.”
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