FUMING Blues boss Mark Wright locked his players in the changing room for a 90-minute inquest into Chester's 3-0 defeat to Maccles-field Town at the Saunders Honda Stadium.
The City manager was 'boiling mad' after watching his team turn in an abject display in front of a bumper Boxing Day crowd.
Still angry when he emerged to speak to the press at 6.15pm, Wright said it was time for a 'reality check' from his players and the fans.
The former England defender also questioned the wisdom of allowing his squad to have Christmas Day off and hit out at the fans who jeered his decision to substitute man-of-the-match Sean Hessey, with Wright claiming the versatile defender had asked to come off.
Chester went into the Macc game on the back of a three-match winning streak in League Two, raising hopes of a new year push for the play-offs.
But Wright said: 'Too many people expect too much of this team when it really is early days. I think it's time for a reality check, not only for ourselves but for the supporters as well.
'Maybe at times we are not as good as people think we are.
'Everybody gets carried away with what's happening and it's time for a reality check. People have got to be more patient.'
Too many City players turned in sluggish displays on Boxing Day - something Wright put down to them having Christmas Day off.
He vowed to not make the same mistake next year.
'That won't happen again,' promised Wright. 'It's something I have to look at, not the players. I'm the one who says you're in or you're off.
'I wanted to be good to them. Whether they've eaten too much, I don't know. I've got time and respect for them all but they let not only me down and the football club down, they let themselves down and the supporters. I'm boiling mad about it.'
As for the substitution of Hessey, Wright added: 'I think some people think that Graham Barrow and I are stupid. Sean Hessey had signalled to the bench that he'd gone. He'd given everything. He'd been booked, they'd thrown a whippet on the right-hand side and any second something was going to happen.
'So we think it's a positive move to throw Ryan Semple on - an attack-minded person to push somebody back. Yet everybody boos. I don't understand it - never will.'
