Carlos Carvalhal responded strongly – and at times angrily – in an often heated press conference ahead of Wednesday evening’s trip to Birmingham.
With the press keen to question the head coach further following Sunday’s 4-2 defeat to Sheff U, Carvalhal reacted with some stinging comments in reply.
He refuted a suggestion that there could be a mental weakness in the squad, particularly in big games, pointing to how we have won such matches over the past two seasons to get to the play-off final and then the play-off semi finals.
When a reporter said fans thought money had been wasted on some signings in more recent times, Carvalhal asked why he had not put forward this comment before Sunday’s defeat.
He added: “You put this question now because we lose a game … everything is wrong.
“The players are garbage, the coaches are garbage, all of us are garbage – but it is not like this.”
To illustrate the point that his players and staff don’t become poor professionals overnight, the head coach then brought out a £20 note and screwed it up in his hands, before attempting to restore it to its previous condition.
When asked, the reporter agreed that it was still £20 despite the damage and Carvalhal said that was his point: “It’s the same value, like me and my players it’s the same value, you can smash it, you can do what you want but it is the same value.”