Under-fire Corby Town boss Mills hits back after 'disgusting abuse'

Under-fire Corby Town boss Gary Mills fired back at his critics, branding some of the comments thrown in his direction as “disgusting” after his team suffered a sixth successive defeat.

The Steelmen’s miserable run of form continued as they were beaten 3-2 in their Northamptonshire derby at Daventry Town today (Monday).

It’s a run that has seen Corby slip down the Northern Premier League Midlands in alarming fashion and it has seen the pressure increase on the manager.

A number of Steelmen fans vented their fury at Mills during the game and near the tunnel at half-time as their team trailed 2-0 at the break.

But the manager was far from impressed with the way he felt they were getting their message across.

“Some of the things they were saying were disgusting,” Mills said.

“There was a word spouted around this ground so many times and I think that’s where the stewards have to come in. Whatever they think of me, I am certainly not one of the words they said I was. In fact, I am a nice bloke.

“Fans can voice their opinion. I get it. We have lost the last six games so they are not happy with me, of course they’re not.

“But there are ways of voicing it. I want to win football matches for them but I am not sure I want to win for the group who were using that language to me.

“Whatever people think, I am a good bloke, I am professional. I am at Corby for a reason and those people aren’t anywhere near the man that I am.

“I’m not doing a very good job at the moment, which isn’t good for me but it hurts me and I want to do better and I want my players to do better.

“What you do in football is learn and a certain gentleman who has contacted me asking if I can help him with players is a certain gentleman who has contacted my chairman for my job that I have still got.

“It’s disgusting. I don’t want to say it’s the level and they think they can get away with it.

“But he will know who he is and if he reads this then he doesn’t need to contact me again at all.

“This is what you have to put up with. There was abuse thrown at me with unbelievable language.

“There comes a time where you have to say how it is. And if people think they can call me those names and get away with it, then they’re wrong.

“In a football ground anywhere in the country, they would be thrown out of the ground for language like that.

“So, I haven’t done my job very well today but there are those who have done their job worse.

“There’s a lot happening in the world at the moment and it’s in my own family at the moment and I have to stand there and listen to that, it’s disgusting.

“Voice your anger, I get that. They should be angry, I am angry. But I have to answer to a board and if they call me in with a problem then we talk about it over the table.

“What happened today didn’t upset me. It just makes me angry that people think they can use language like that and get away with it. It’s not acceptable.”

As far as the game was concerned, Mills admitted his team paid the price after Daventry moved into a 2-0 lead after just 19 minutes through George Ball and Jack Bowen.

Corby hit back through Northampton Town youngster Miguel Ngwa in the second half but, almost immediately, Ball struck again to restore the two-goal advantage.

Skipper Gary Mulligan gave his team hope when he hammered home with 13 minutes to go but they couldn’t find an equaliser.

Corby must now try to find a way to halt the poor run of form when they host Stamford at Steel Park on New Year’s Day.

And Mills said: “Anything is possible, if we don’t think it’s possible then what’s the point?

“I am on a run I have never been on before, there are players in there who are on a run they have never been on before.

“But that’s what football is, you never stop learning and looking at ways of getting yourself out of a situation you are in.

“We have got ourselves into a situation where we have lost six games of football, that’s not acceptable and it’s difficult to take at any standard.

“It’s hard for us but you’re not going to see me crying and feeling sorry for myself. As a dressing-room we have got ourselves where we have got ourselves. We have to keep going.

“If you go 2-0 down in the first 15 minutes then you are up against it.

“I thought we started the game well but then we have gone and given them two goals.

“If you want to win football matches, you can’t go and give goals away like we have.

“Yes, we kept going and we got it back to 2-1 but the nature of all three goals were so poor. They haven’t created those goals, we’ve given them to them and that’s hard to take.

“You can’t go 2-0 down anywhere in any game. Occasionally you’ll come back and we nearly did but it’s asking for something that’s difficult to make happen.”