Andy Woodman has issued a sharp public warning to his Bromley squad after a torrid run of results exposed what the manager described as a "soft underbelly" that he insists has no place at the club.

A brutal reality check

The Ravens arrived in League One on the back of a promotion campaign built on defensive solidity and collective grit. Four fixtures into the third-tier season, that foundation has looked anything but solid. A 7-2 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend was followed, just three days later, by a 5-0 home loss to Leyton Orient, a result that ended Bromley's remarkable 27-game unbeaten home league record in emphatic, painful fashion.

Thirteen goals conceded across four matches is a stat that would concern any manager in the division. For Woodman, whose side had taken four points from their opening two games, including an impressive opening-day win at Barnsley, the speed of the turnaround has clearly stung.

Woodman's demand for the 'Bromley way'

"It's all very well taking the plaudits when it goes well; you can't hide away when it doesn't go well," Woodman told BBC Radio London. "We've got to grow up a little bit quicker than we are at the moment and make sure we become a little bit tougher and a little bit more aggressive in everything we do."

The Bromley manager was unsparing in his assessment of the current mood within the squad. "I don't like the way we're conceding," he said. "This football club's been built on clean sheets, desire and commitment. It certainly hasn't been built on a soft underbelly, and at the moment we're just seeing a little bit of a soft underbelly, which I don't like."

Those words carry particular weight given how deliberately Bromley were constructed ahead of their first season at this level. The club brought in a number of new faces over the summer to bolster a squad that had never played third-tier football together, and Woodman is now making clear that the settling-in period must be brief.

New signings under the spotlight

"There's a lot of new players in the building," Woodman added. "They've got to start getting into the Bromley way pretty quickly."

That phrase, "the Bromley way," speaks to the culture Woodman and the club have carefully cultivated. The Ravens' rise through the non-league pyramid and into the English Football League was not built on expensive squads or glamour signings; it was built on organisation, work rate and a defensive resilience that made them difficult to break down. Conceding five at home, after conceding seven away, represents a dramatic departure from that identity.

It is, of course, still very early in the campaign. Bromley's opening-day result at Barnsley showed the squad is capable of competing at this level, and the leap from League Two to League One is one of the steepest in the EFL. Several clubs who have made the same journey in recent seasons have taken time to adjust before finding their feet.

What comes next

The concern for Bromley supporters will be whether the defensive habits that served the club so well in lower divisions can be rediscovered, and rediscovered quickly. A further run of heavy defeats would place pressure not just on the squad's confidence but on the club's ability to stay competitive in a division that offers little margin for error.

Woodman, for his part, appears to have no intention of allowing a period of adjustment to become an excuse. His public comments suggest he expects an immediate response, and that the onus falls squarely on those new arrivals to understand what this club demands of them. Whether they deliver that response will shape Bromley's early League One story considerably.

Frequently asked

Why has Bromley conceded so many goals in League One?
Bromley have conceded 13 goals in their first four League One matches, prompting manager Andy Woodman to say a 'soft underbelly' has crept into the squad. He believes a number of new signings are yet to fully adapt to the standards the club demands.
What was the result when Leyton Orient beat Bromley at home?
Leyton Orient beat Bromley 5-0, ending the Ravens' 27-game unbeaten home league record. The result came just days after Bromley had lost 7-2 at Sheffield Wednesday.
What does Andy Woodman mean by the 'Bromley way'?
Woodman uses the phrase to describe the culture of clean sheets, desire and defensive commitment that underpinned Bromley's rise through the non-league pyramid. He has urged new signings to adopt those values as quickly as possible.