Maidstone United manager Hakan Hayrettin hits out at treatment of opposite number Mark Molesley after 3-1 victory at Aldershot Town
08:46, 30 August 2022
updated: 10:26, 30 August 2022
Hakan Hayrettin defended his opposite number after Maidstone completed the perfect bank holiday weekend - describing his treatment as disgraceful.
Aldershot fans turned on manager Mark Molesley and the club’s board after United followed Saturday’s 1-0 win over Torquay with a 3-1 success at the Rec on Monday.
While chuffed with another victory, Hayrettin moved quickly to condemn the toxic atmosphere at full-time following a fifth defeat in six National League games for the new-look Shots.
“He shouldn’t get the sack,” said Hayrettin. “I think it’s disgraceful. It’s no good.
“He’s a friend of mine, full of knowledge, full of experience, you don’t become a bad manager overnight.
“We don’t know certain clubs’ restraints, or whatever they are, but what I do know is he’s an exceptional manager and he’s an exceptional guy, and he’ll do it his way and he’ll be fine.”
Maidstone moved on to 10 points from six games after Regan Booty’s penalty and headers from Jack Barham and Bivesh Gurung in a five-minute spell after half-time.
Ex-United man Justin Amaluzor immediately pulled a goal back but it was Maidstone’s day at the Rec.
“Obviously Mark’s got his own team now and sometimes that takes a bit of time, as I know myself,” said Hayrettin.
“It’s a tough place to come and we know that it’s going to be a hard game.
“They need to pick up points and so do we, but we were good again.
“We pushed on in the second half and got stronger. We had a few words at half-time about what we need to do, we did it and got our rewards.
"I think we were good value, I think we dominated the game, even in the first half for periods, and second we half we just took over.
“Our ball retention was good, I thought Regan Booty’s passing was excellent and we really kicked it into second and third gear and went on from there.
“We had to do well to stay in the game because when they scored that goal they’ve got the ascendancy and they want to push on.
“But we did what we do and we work hard, which is ultimately the most important thing.
“It was a great strike by them to get it back to 3-1 and then we had to contain what we had and play in certain areas.
“There were some heavy legs out there because of the two games we had but we pressed and tried to do the right things.
"We changed our shape with 10 to go to stop them because they changed it a couple of times.
“Overall, I’m very pleased. I think everybody put in a good shift."
Christie Pattisson laid on goals for Barham and Gurung with some classic wing-play, beating his man down the right and getting crosses in.
Hayrettin wants to see more of that from a player who is capable of hurting teams.
“He drives me mad,” said Hayrettin.
“He needs to do that week in, week out. Don’t forget, we’ve got six players that are injured that would possibly come in and start. He’s got to keep producing. It’s in there.
"I’ve just got to get it out of him, kicking and screaming, as much as I can."
Hayrettin revealed he held talks with Aldershot goalscorer Amaluzor over a return to the Gallagher following the wideman's departure from Motherwell at the end of last season.
But he wouldn't meet the player's wage demands and saw Sol Wanjau-Smith as a better option.
"I spoke to Justin and offered him something but in the end I declined giving him the money he wanted," said Hayrettin.
"I thought I had someone else who could do the job better and I got him.
"I’ve worked with Justin before, he’s a good footballer and I wish him all the best."