Jody Morris blasts Swindon boo-boys after victory over Harrogate

Posted Sunday, February 26, 2023 by PA

Swindon boss Jody Morris hit out at his own fans after they booed during the 3-0 win at home to Harrogate.

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy scored his first league goals to earn former Chelsea star Morris his first home win, with Joe Tomlinson added the third.

Morris said: “I do actually mirror the feelings of the fans sometimes. They are right on some occasions but wrong on some others.

“I thought it was pretty immature to be booing so early in the game, but I actually do agree with some of the sentiment behind it, but I don’t agree with the booing.

“That is the beauty of football, we all have our own opinions, but I don’t agree with the act of booing that early.

“A lot of it is things that I said at half-time were about turning down passes and good opportunities to do that.

“It is sometimes to do with confidence, why they turn down forward passes, and that is one of the reasons why I am against the booing as that can impact their confidence.

“So you actually have a detrimental effect, rather than what you want.”

Swindon took the lead after eight minutes when Remeao Hutton picked out an unmarked Hepburn-Murphy with a cross and he nodded it across the goalkeeper and into the corner of the net.

Hepburn-Murphy got his second shortly before the break after a fine move saw Jacob Wakeling cut the ball back to the forward and his deflected finish dribbled over the line.

The Sulphurites had a big chance when Ellis Iandolo shanked a back pass to Luke Armstrong, but his effort went straight at Sol Brynn.

Tomlinson came off the bench to score on his second debut for the club as he headed home from the angle.

Harrogate boss Simon Weaver said: “I am disappointed. We found ourselves 2-0 down with gift-wrapped goals, they didn’t have to work hard for those goals.

“We tried to have a go at it and be aggressive and on the front foot and for 20 minutes we looked half decent in the second half.

“We had opportunities to score and didn’t take them and then it was a farcical goal to finish us off.

“We just needed that little bit of quality. Because we were in advanced positions and quite creative in those 20 minutes, but you’ve got to grab one of those moments, and then it’s a completely different outlook with the home crowd.

“You could feel that there could be unrest around the corner with the spectators. We didn’t take advantage.”