Ahead of tomorrow’s crucial match versus Eastbourne Borough, we spoke to Warren Feeney about building for next season, playing “with no fear,” and more…
On last weekend’s vital victory:
I was really pleased with the players’ attitude. It didn’t surprise me that we won with that scoreline – it’s not like we’ve been playing badly. Full credit to the players and staff. You can see they’re enjoying their football at the moment.
I was talking to an ex-player – I won’t mention his name but he has 30 odd caps for England – and he mentioned how, although this hasn’t been a quick fix, we’re starting to see the rewards with the way we’re playing.
On our current form:
We’re currently the 10th most in-form team in the league. I’m pleased with what I’m seeing, as we’re getting a bit of joy on the pitch, and, you ask any team near the bottom of the table, it’s so hard to get a bit of form going.
On building for next season:
We need to build for next year, no matter what. Now, what we’re showing at the moment might be too late but the most important thing is that we prepare for next season, which we are doing. The boys are good enough; all they need is just a bit of a spark. But, right now nothing’s done yet and let’s just finish as high as we can until the end of the season and keep going.
On our early lead in the game:
It’s funny, because my staff said to me that the warm-up was poor. I’ve been in games where the warm-up has been poor and we’ve won, and where it’s been brilliant and we’ve lost. Full credit to the players for taking the lead when they did, and, as a manager, it’s always nice to see the ball hit the back of the net early. But, more importantly, we didn’t stop there. We kept going and going, which was the most pleasing thing.
On our next steps:
We’ve got to reset. Weymouth have been fighting relegation a number of times in recent years, and sometimes you will drop down. It’s about how you react at the end of the day. Playing with pressure is hard, which is why I tell my players to play without any. They should enjoy their football; it’s the best job in the world.
On Lloyd Thomas:
I thought he was outstanding. It’s hard for a goalkeeper to not be playing because you want your shot-stopper to be playing every week. So, for Lloyd to be called upon and keep a clean sheet was very impressive. He’s a bit of a throwback – I was brought up on goalkeepers being strange and that’s how he is too, in a good way of course!
On our training this week:
The players have been brilliant. They’ve kept their feet on the ground. We know what football is like, so we don’t want to get caught up in emotions too much. Last week’s game is done now, so we’ve quickly moved onto preparing for the next one, which is a tough match in Eastbourne but it’s a game we’re looking forward to.
On Eastbourne Borough:
They’re a great side – one of the big-hitters in the league. Adam Murray is a great guy, a real football man, and it will be great to see him, but we’ve got a job to do and we’re looking forward to tomorrow. All we have to do is go there and play with no fear. Hopefully we can upset the odds.
On playing “with no fear:”
You can’t get too caught up in the game. Eastbourne are fighting for something and need to win, as do we. It will be a tough game, but all we have to do is worry about ourselves and put in another good performance.
