DIRECTOR of hockey James Pease has stated head coach Danny Stewart is ‘100 per cent the man for the job’ as his side prepare to face table topping Cardiff at the Skydome tomorrow (7pm).
The Blaze suffered one of their worst stints in the club’s history last week, losing three games in as many nights during a Scottish Elite League tour with games against Dundee, Fife and Edinburgh.
However Pease, who has been associated with the Blaze since they were formed in Solihull in 1996, is determined his side can bounce back and said not one player in the locker room doesn’t want to play under Danny Stewart.
The Skydome outfit currently sit bottom of the league table having totalled 11 points from just 16 games – meanwhile rivals Cardiff already look set to challenge for the title this season having posted 27 points from 17 games.
Despite the difference in the league table, the Blaze have defeated the Welsh side on the road this season in dramatic circumstances when scoring the winning goal in overtime.
Speaking on Tuesday, Pease said: “Last weekend was horrendous, you could see that with the fans.
“We’re devastated – we’re bottom of the league table and it’s not good enough.
“No games in this league are easy but we can’t make excuses about not getting points, coming away empty handed from last weekend wasn’t good.”
When asked about the security of Danny Stewart’s job, Pease said the former Blaze skater is the man for the job and everyone within the club believes that.
He said: “We are all backing Danny, there’s not a sole out there who doesn’t want to play for him.
“It’s not ideal changing players in terms of keeping lines and momentum, but we’ve made the investments and Almeida and Syner were our best players last weekend.
“We have the ability but at the moment we’re not where we want to be scoring wise and defensively.
“You need confidence most when you’re losing and right now it’s mine and Danny’s job to get the boys going again.
“We let our fans down last weekend and the look on the players faces after said it all, they know they need to be better.”
