I'm Lovin' It

Quote

Fans are on his back but Malpas says: I'm lovin' it
By Gareth Moorhouse

MAURICE Malpas insists he is still "enjoying" the challenge of steering Swindon to League One success, despite the barrage of recent criticism that has been hurled his way.

Town's boss has been forced to listen to calls for his head following a miserable run of five straight home defeats, but Malpas revealed the spring in his step has never left him.

Malpas admits some of the criticism has been difficult to take at times, but claims he wouldn't swap his role as a football manager for anything else.

"This is not just a job, it's a way of life for people like myself," Malpas said. "If I wasn't keen I wouldn't turn up at 7.30am, I would sneak in at 9.50am.

"I still enjoy the training, I still enjoy the banter.

"A lot of people say why do you bother, but it's because I love it. It's in my system.

"I've also got that wee bit in my system that says I'm going to shut a few people up. That's the way I have always been.

"If someone said I couldn't jump high enough, I went away and practised and went back and stuffed it in their face "I'm determined to do that well here, whether people accept that is a different story."

With Swindon languishing at the wrong end of the League One table, Malpas has promised to leave no stone unturned in his bid to find a solution.

The former Dundee United legend has experienced tough times before, and he's more determined than ever to win his latest battle.

"I have been in this position before as a player, and as a manager and a coach," he said.

"I feel for my family because I think they take it more personally than I do. They were at the game on Saturday and never enjoyed it at all.

"If I lay down, I'm not doing my family any good, and that isn't me. I will stand up and have a boxing match with anybody.

"I get criticised but I have to handle that. If I couldn't, I wouldn't have played 900 games or even thought about being a coach. I would have been an engineer or something."

Ahead of tomorrow's trip to Southend United, keen golfer Malpas is looking to South African legend Gary Player for some inspiration.

"Gary Player always said the harder he tried, the luckier he got and that's the mentality we need now," said Malpas.

"Nothing comes easy in football. It's hard, hard work and we have to get that mentality that we've got to keep on working away."

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/display.var.2461026.0.fans_are_on_his_back_but_malpas_says_im_lovin_it.php

Fair play to him, but I still reckon he shouldn't be having a go back at the fans.