George Moncur has revealed that defensive deficiencies were the reason for his three months on the fringes – but says he understands manager Graeme Jones’ decision.
The midfielder made up for lost time with an injury time winner against Wigan as he and fellow substitute Callum McManaman both came off the bench to turn the tide in a relegation six-pointer.
Moncur’s half an hour cameo were his first Championship minutes since the 3-0 Hull defeat on September 21 and he said: “It’s just football and the way it is. I love the manager, I love what he’s done here. He’s been superb and even though I haven’t played, he’s always spoken to me, which is good.
“It’s always nice to know you’re part of the team, even though you haven’t been playing. Fair play to him and he’s doing a really good job.
“Personally, it has just always been about the defensive side, which I know I’ve got to knuckle down with. Like he’s told me, you can have all the ability in the world but if you aren’t going to do that there’s no place for you anywhere.”
Moncur made 41 appearances scoring 11 goals last term, becoming a cult hero at Kenilworth Road, and the fans chanted his name as he prepared to come onto the pitch against Wigan.
“It’s nice to know that people want to watch you play,” the 26-year-old said, adding: “It has been a long time since I’ve played here so it’s lovely to hear them sing my name.
“I think that’s what every footballer wants. It’s better than getting slated, so it’s really nice and pleasing that people want to watch you and see you play.”
The former West Ham youth has played in the Championship before with previous club Barnsley, though it was in a Tykes side that got relegated.
He said: “At the top level now, you need to work hard off the ball and I think it has always been the case with me, that I’ve never really had to do that in the teams I’ve played with.
“It’s just a new thing that I’ve got to learn, so I understand his (Jones) decision to leave me out and I understand what I’ve got to do now to try to stay in the team.
“I know I’m decent and a good player on the ball, so it’s just about changing my mindset to the other side. I’ve never done it so I’m just trying to learn now, where I’ve got to be, what sort of space I’ve got to run at.”
And Moncur admits the change is a mental challenge, more than a physical one.
“I’d had a few chats with the coaches, but it’s more about myself, just changing my mindset,” he said, adding: “Instead of thinking, ‘what can I do with the ball?’ it’s more, what can I do without it?
“I’ll just keep trying to work on that and see how far I can get with it. You need it to play at the top level.”
But once he cracks it, Moncur believes the added defensive responsibilities won’t curtail his attacking instincts.
He said: “If you’ve got ability, you’ll never lose that. If I can just get that to my game then I’m going to improve as a player, all round.”
Well done you ‘Cheeky Crappy’ on getting that all important winner for the Hatters. Yes, I can see the reason for not having him partly due to his defensive side of his game not coming to the forefront, but to not have him on the bench has been one of many surprising aspects of Graeme Jones’ first managerial season. Now with Izzy Brown is out for up to the reported 10 weeks, he has to be on the bench at least for the foreseeable future, just what he can do at set pieces, if nothing else. Moncur’s performance over shadowed what Luke Berry brought you the team as well and looked good at times with his telling passes. We need to add to 2-3 new players to the squad come the new year. Here’s to league points in the next two away games… COYH’s ⚽️👍🧡