Players desperately need a permanent leader, interim boss Gladwin admits

The latest defeat to Barrow was a clear sign MK Dons need a new man at the helm, according to their interim head coach.

Ben Gladwin was honest in his assessment after Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to Barrow at Stadium MK, the third defeat in a week for Dons as they remain without a permanent head a month after sacking Scott Lindsey.

Falling behind to Aaron Pressley’s opener after 16 minutes, Dons were twice hit on the counter as they sought a way back into the game, with Pressley netting again on 57 minutes before Tyler Smith’s stoppage time third added insult to injury.

Though the club hope to announce a replacement for Lindsey at some point this week, Gladwin and his team are likely to remain in charge for next Saturday’s game against Gillingham, but the interim boss believes the team are in desperate need of a lift, especially after their latest beating.

“Something has to shift. There are five games to go, a lot of football to be played,” he said. “I know they are talking to managers now, and we will probably be in charge next week, hopefully something happens very quickly, but we have to continue to help.

“I would have been happy to hand it over at any stage of this process. It has been an incredible learning experience. I know now it’s something I really enjoy doing.

“I will reflect on this afterwards, and will have learned a lot, but it’s the right thing for the club and the players for a manager to come in with fresh ideas and energy to change the place because it needs it.”

Speaking about the game, Gladwin continued: “I would love to have a better answer than ‘it’s just where it’s at’ and we are working so hard, but we don’t have the solutions at the moment. I’m happy to hold my hands up. As soon as a new manager comes in, it will give the group a little bit of life and put them on their toes again.

“The confusing thing is that large portions of the game look relatively good. With the ball, I thought we were good.

“When we go 2-0 down, everything looks horrendous after that. But before that point a lot was quite good. They had one shot and one goal. Because of the context of the season, how things are going and the current state of the group, it just looks horrendous.

“There is no place to hide, it was absolutely not good enough, but I hope the club can get someone in to help the boys out.”