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Maidstone United head coach Hakan Hayrettin says he and the players should give their wages to supporters after 5-1 defeat at Weymouth

Hakan Hayrettin apologised to supporters and offered to give up his wages after Maidstone’s big defeat at Weymouth.

The Stones lost 5-1 with head coach Hayrettin describing the performance as an embarrassment, terrible and shocking.

Maidstone United head coach Hakan Hayrettin Picture: Matthew Walker
Maidstone United head coach Hakan Hayrettin Picture: Matthew Walker

He’d willingly hand over his money to help reimburse travelling fans and has challenged players to do the same after a fourth National League South loss on the spin.

“I just want to apologise to all the supporters that came here, all the supporters that never came here,” said Hayrettin.

“I think we were an embarrassment first half and I just don’t know where to start.

“The supporters pay good money, they work hard for their money, they get up every morning, go to work, come back, they look forward to going to see their beloved team play and we’ve put in a performance like that.

“I said to the players we should donate our wages to them.

“If they want mine, take my money. How much does it cost to come here? I feel embarrassed to be honest with you. The performance was terrible, shocking.

“If it were me, it’s just what I would do.

“Listen, these boys are privileged to be doing the job they love.

“We do this job because other people can’t - that’s a fact - or don’t want to do it but when you come all this way and put in a performance like that, I think you’ve got to give supporters something back. It’s not right. It’s not fair.

"Rightly so, they’re upset but football being football, tomorrow’s another day.

“I’m more upset for the supporters, believe it or not.

“They might not think that but I am because I’ve been there before and I know it’s not nice.

“We didn’t give them anything and I want to apologise wholeheartedly, from my heart, to them.”

Maidstone United goalkeeper Chris Lewington saved two penalties in their 5-1 defeat at Weymouth Picture: Steve Terrell
Maidstone United goalkeeper Chris Lewington saved two penalties in their 5-1 defeat at Weymouth Picture: Steve Terrell

Maidstone arrived in Dorset with just an hour to spare following an M25 closure.

Five-and-a-half hours on a coach, with no opportunity to stop or eat, was far from ideal preparation but Hayrettin refused to blame the journey for their performance.

They were up against it after conceding inside three minutes and defeat would have been heavier had Chris Lewington not saved two of the three Weymouth penalties he faced.

The opening goal, after a Maidstone attack broke down, set the tone for a terrible afternoon.

Hayrettin said: “We got here very, very late - that’s got nothing to do with it - that performance was nowhere near acceptable.

“The back three was atrocious, we didn’t stick to the gameplan.

“We tried to play a 3-5-2, after speaking to John we said we’d go with that, and play the two wing-backs high.

“We’ve lost the ball in a bad area, we’ve given away a bad goal, it’s just terrible, terrible defending.

“I can’t really put my finger on it.

“It’s all about players doing the right thing in the right areas and we didn't do that.

“After that it was like a blur to me because I’m thinking here we go again.”

Read more: The latest sports news in Kent

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