Before tomorrow’s trip to Farnborough, he spoke to us about the importance of the players “enjoy[ing]” themselves, the work done “behind-the-scenes” and more…
On the mood amongst the camp:
We had a good training session yesterday where we got them smiling after Tuesday. They’re a good group no matter what; I was just disappointed, because I didn’t think they had that type of a performance in them. But, they were just as annoyed themselves. Tuesday is now in the past, and we need to move on to tomorrow’s game.
On staying positive:
With me, there is never any grudges. The boys understood what I said, I got it off my chest, and now we’re getting on with things. That’s the way I work.
On being able to “enjoy” games:
The players need to go and enjoy tomorrow. I want them to play with a smile on their faces. Tomorrow will be a tough game, against a very good side in Farnborough, but we’re looking forward to it. It’s a chance to put things right.
On the pressures of playing football:
Maybe some people don’t know how hard it is once you step onto the pitch and compete. At the moment I want to take the pressure off the players and let them simply enjoy themselves.
In football, sometimes it goes for you, and sometimes it doesn’t. We know where we want to be and we have good people at the club.
On whether players are often their own biggest critics:
You have to remember that they’re only human at the end of the day. This week I lost two people in football who I knew, Devonte Aransibia and Tony Bedeau. That puts things into perspective.
There’s a reason I choose not to get caught up in social media. I just want to help the players enjoy themselves and play with freedom, whilst turning as many negatives into positives as we can.
On the people at the club:
As I’ve mentioned many times, the fans are brilliant. But whether it’s the fans, The Monday Club, the kitman Lloyd Green, the chairman Paul Maitland, these are the people at the club who we need to get going for. There’s a lot of work done behind-the-scenes and this will help us going forward.
On if he would have liked to have spent more time with the squad this season:
As a manager, you always need a few windows to get the players you need, and January is always a tough window to bring people in. We’re always looking to add quality, but right now we just have to keep the boys going until the very end and see what happens.
On tomorrow’s game:
We’ll be playing away from home, at a tough ground, but it’s a match that we’re looking forward to. I want us to play with smiles on our faces.
