Lee Grant
Team news: are you expecting anybody back and available for Stockport at the weekend?
It’s been really nice to have Mickel Miller training with us for the first time this week, and Antony Evans on the fringes of the training as well. So that’s that’s been a real nice boost to the to the group.
Antony is probably slightly behind in terms of where Mickel and him are at in terms of their progression, but they’re both right where we wanted them. Maybe this weekend comes too early for them both.
Aside from that, no other team news, so we’re as we were post-Exeter,
Lynden Gooch started for you on Tuesday and then came off. Is it too much at this stage to expect him to just start back to back games for you in quick succession?
Well, as always, I try not to give up my team news on a Thursday leading into a game, but, yeah, look, Lynden, I think it was the right thing to do. We had it pre-planned in terms of his minutes for Tuesday, so that went to plan, and we’re really pleased with that. He’s obviously worked hard again with the group for the for the main bulk of the training today, so that was good. So he’s ready to be selected if and if and when needed.
And just a couple of absentees. Marcus McGuane, where were we at with him at the moment? And likewise, Radinio Balker as well, who we saw played some international football for Suriname last month, but is he anywhere in your thinking at the moment?
Yeah, Rads has had a difficult couple of weeks since the last international break in terms of he rocked his ankle, and has had to spend some time away from the grass so he’s still in a period of strengthening and building that strength back up so he can get him back to where he was prior to the international break. So that’s obviously Rads.
We are where we are with Marcus. He’s building up strength, doing everything that’s being asked of him having spoken to the specialists again last week, so we’re in a period of making sure that he’s able to cope physically with the injury, is able to cope physically with the load they’re putting through it. So yeah, Marcus isn’t closer to being back full training yet, unfortunately, but we knew that from the initial prognosis.
Stockport the visitors at the weekend. Then what do you make of their rise in recent years, coming from National League five years ago, and now challenging right at the top of League One? It’s an incredible story, isn’t it?
Yeah, really good. They’ve been well-backed in terms of ownership, and I think a lot of the things they’ve done in terms of building the football club up around the stadium and training round and everything’s been excellent. And I think a lot of the credit has to go, of course, to the ownership, but certainly to Dave Challinor — the work he’s done over the past few years has been exceptional. I’ve enjoyed watching a lot of what his team have done.
Of course, I’ve been watching it a lot more closer this week, they’re a good team as well, and do a lot of things well. They showed last year with their physicality and also some really good players that they’re a threat in this division, and they’re continuing to do that this year as well.
I think they’ve been pretty open about their ambitions as well this year, and with the squad they’ve put together, and it’s not a surprise to me that they’ve had had some success and had some good results. They obviously started the season in incredible form as well.
We know it’ll be a really good test, and it’s a football club on the rise, and it’s a football club that’s moving in the right direction from their perspective — and one, of course, we look forward to going up against.
You mentioned the physicality. You’re expecting it to be quite a physical game on Saturday?
Yeah, they’re hard working side as well. And I think, like I say, there’s a lot to admire about the way Dave has coached the team and the way he sets the team up. So I don’t expect anything other than a really tough, physical game and a game that will test us in terms of our physicality, yes, and tactically, absolutely.
Like I say, they’ve got players that have a high level technically for this, for this division. So it’s a game we have to be really on the money with.
The win away to Exeter ticked so many of the boxes. I think perhaps the only thing missing is that you could have been much more comfortable with the scoreline in the end. Is that really the template for the kind of performance you’re looking for back at home on Saturday?
Yeah, I don’t see why not. I don’t see why we wouldn’t want to have the same level of intent that we carried into that game, and in terms of moments of control and dominance in terms of chance creation, all of those things were right where we wanted them to be.
We know that this is a different test this weekend, so we approach every game with an eye on what it’s going to offer us, not just with ‘let’s pick up what we did last week, and plaster it over this weekend’. We know that every game has different challenges, but you’re right, Katherine, in that there’s definitely elements of what we did last weekend that we want to take forward and reproduce more often.
Is it purely about getting those chances are you created to go in the back of the net?
Yeah, we look we we were solid in terms of our defensive output. We kept a clean sheet, and that’s been a theme for us over the course of the season so far.
When we look at the first 10 games in the division, probably Exeter, in terms of chances creation, would have been up there for us in terms of the amount of situations and moments we’ve had games where we’ve created, having a higher xG, for example, but certainly Exeter felt like a game where we could have scored three or four — more than just the one.
That’s something we want to do more often. We want to create chances. We want to be in really dangerous situations more often than not. So that will always be the aim, and we’ll continue to do that on Saturday.
As you say, you have a different template for every game depending on the opponent. Obviously, Tuesday night was a very, very different kettle of fish in terms of a very new look Huddersfield Town starting 11, lot of debutants and what have you. And yet, it did raise the issue again about playing out from the back and whether that can be effective or not when the focus comes on to that style of play…how determined do you have to be to stick to your principles and go ‘You know what? I believe in this, and this is what we’re going to do, even if occasionally it doesn’t go quite the way you would have wanted.’
Yeah, we’ve been, we’ve been really clear about it as a group in terms of the sort of team we want to be this year, and we don’t and never have done considered ourselves a possession-based side or a side that has to do any one particular action every single time.
We consider ourselves a side that likes to take the football and control the football when we can make good decisions, exploit spaces and overloads that an opposition present us with, and we’ve been really good at that. Our build-up this year has been really strong. It has been a feature for us.
And look, whenever we make mistakes at whatever end of the pitch that is, it will always shine a light on that particular moment. And look the goal, we can see that Harrogate is not a goal that we would have liked to have conceded, ideally. I think it was an avoidable one, but it happens, and mistakes will happen, and the team will always have my backing on that. The team have to trust and rely on each other, and trust and rely on the things that we work on and we practice.
I think I talked about it really early on in pre-season, and that the real risk and the real danger is that we go away from the things that we work on, and we go away from the things that we are, and we start to go off script, we then leave ourselves really open to mistakes or decisions that take us off guard, or come from left field, because we’re then doing things that we haven’t prepared for, we haven’t worked on.
To be really clear, if we look at Tuesday in particular, we talked about certain things that we’d like to see and certain things that we wouldn’t like to see, and that’s taken in the whole context of the game — so personnel, opposition, the feeling of the game, all of those things. I think all those things combined would have probably led us to to a place where we would have definitely liked to have had less of the situations that led to the goal.
But that is what it is. And like I say, the team will always have my backing, and the team always have my trust, so when things don’t quite go our way, we have to be prepared for that as well.
And with that style of play and the DNA that you want to see across your squad, do you think that it’s easy to iron out those mistakes or to reduce the number as and when they come by having a more a more regular starting 11, so that there is more opportunity, particularly for the back line and the goalkeeper, to develop those relationships, and that can contribute to being more effective at playing out from the back?
Well, what I will say is everybody’s really clear on what we are and and how we are.
I don’t think anybody is under any illusions as to the sorts of things we we want to see and the sorts of things we don’t want to see — and that is really regardless of who’s playing.
We’ve seen it already this season, and we’ll continue to see it, because my belief is that we’ve got a group that can take information on, absorb information and deliver what we’re asking. Like I said, they will prove that, and I’ve been delighted with the way they’ve taken on those messages and that information right from the start of pre-season, so I’ve been really pleased with that.
The group will naturally become more settled as the season goes on. We’ve already started to see some signs of that. And yeah, of course, injuries will always dictate and form will always dictate that things have to have to change at times…but yeah, I have my full trust in the whole group in terms of delivering what we’re asking.
We’ve seen that the Luton game is going to be postponed due to international call-ups on the Luton end…is that a help or a hindrance?
Neither, it is what it is.
I think we’d all love to play the game, because we just love playing football. That’s what we’re here for. The schedule’s been really busy, so there’s probably one or two within the changing room that, without really wanting to tell me, would probably benefit from the from the extra rest. So it’s fine. We deal with it will. We’ll find a way to get our work in and do what we need to do on the training ground and be ready for the next fixture.
Carrying on from that really…it is only three games for you this month. It’s Very rare, as a manager, you get that kind of time in between each game. Is that something you’re to relishing as a manager?
Yeah, well, I must say, I do love spending that time on the training ground with the players. I also love having opportunities to win games.
It’s that double edge sword, isn’t it? Because I also think the group are, as I said, they’re probably in the same boat that there’s one or two that feel like, yeah, we’ve had a heavy workload, and it’s been full-on since the start of the season. But at the same time, I think the lads enjoy playing games.
The messaging to me in the last international break was ‘if this comes down to our decision, gaffer, we want to play, we just want to keep rolling, we want to keep going’, and I was the same. I reckon if I asked the group, they’d probably say the same this week in terms of the the Luton fixture.
So it is what it is. You have to cope with it and manage it, and it does present us with an opportunity to work on things we want to work on, spend the time together and look at things that we just wouldn’t have the opportunity to look at. So we’ll make use of the time.
When you look at the last four games, I think it’s 64 shots and one goal. Are you making the chances you want to make? Is it just the finishing that’s lacking?
We’ve made some really good chances. I look at Harrogate, we create some really, really good chances, and Exeter is the same. We make really good chances. I can’t look at those and say, ‘these are willy-nilly chances or moments’ — these are bona fide situations in front of goal where individually we would like to execute better than what we have.
So because that’s happened at Harrogate, and then it’s happened at Exeter, we certainly have to look at that as a collective.
So, yeah, without doubt, we spend the time on the training ground to keep keep pushing that and keep pursuing where we want to be. And I know that I’ve got players that really want to step up to the mark and really want to be better in those moments, because it’s what it’s what defines all good teams, isn’t it? You put the ball in the net.
We’re doing a good job at the moment of keeping it out, so let’s keep fighting for those chances and keep working, doing some great some great stuff in terms of chance creation, and I’ve got full faith in the people that we have end of the pitch.
And it’s not just those guys either, by the way, we’ve missed some really good opportunities from set plays that I can think about in the last couple of weeks that feel like given the size of the opportunity we should have taken, but it is what it is. I’m certain that we’ll turn that around.
We’ve all seen those games where even the very best centre-forwards just can’t seem to get it in the net. But as a manager, is it about having faith in those players to put it right? Do you need to tell them that they need to put them away, or do they take it on themselves? Is it something you look at and go ‘right, we need to work on this, extra shooting training tomorrow’?
We look at everything, and we talk about everything as well, whether we win, we lose or we draw. I look at everything.
We’ve got good coaching staff as well that spend the time to…I mean, I do it as well. I sit with players, I was just sitting with players this afternoon, before I came here — sitting with players going through their game, their individual game, having already gone through the team and the collective.
I think part of coaching these days is spending the time with players individually and going through their moments, understanding what’s working for them, what’s not finding, finding ways to help them and them, also really taking the time to analyse and think about what’s going to work for them in these moments when they get them again.
So, yeah, it’s a collective thing. You know, myself, the coaches and the players, we have to take the time to do that. It’s off-field work as much as it is on-field work, but the players have got to do the work.
My belief is that if the players continue to work in the way they are currently, the results will will come from it, and we’ve got to keep pushing some of it.
In terms of the way I’m really pushing and striving, it’s maybe new for some one or two of our players, but that’s OK. I don’t see anybody within our group that is resistant to that work. So yeah, we have to work with the guys and have to keep pushing individually. They’ve got my trust that they’ll be right when the moments come again.
Looking at the stats earlier today, Stockport tend to start games very well. They’ve had the lead in nine out of 10 games this season — not always seeing it out — and naturally, you always want to start games well, but against this opposition in particular, are you stressing the importance of making sure you get that good start?
For us, we’ve stressed it 10 out of 10 games so far this season. So you certainly won’t stop for Stockport will stress it again.
We actually gave up a sizeable chance against Exeter in the opening 10 minutes of the game, and maybe that served as a wake up call for us, but stood on the touchline, you get a sense of where the group are at and how they’re feeling and the intent of the group right from the first whistle, and right from the first whistle, regardless of us giving up a half decent opportunity, I thought we started with the right intent, and we carried that on throughout the first half. We scored a really good goal. We created numerous chances.
The aim is to is to do that again and reproduce that sort of start and more. So for me, I want to have the same feeling when I’m stood on the side, when I’m watching the group, like, ‘yeah, they’re going after this one, and yeah, they’re attacking the game’.
They should feel like they got a good reward for doing that against Exeter, so they should absolutely carry that same level of intention going into this game.
Now, like I say, every game is different. You’ve always got 11 players and another manager trying to stop you doing that. So yeah, we have to be ready for that challenge, but for me, certainly, the messaging will be, ‘let’s be aggressive to take it on’.
You don’t want to go behind in any game, but I think Tuesday shows mistakes can happen, or a moment of magic can happen from somewhere, or whatever it might be. I think there’s maybe been moments this season — thinking of Blackpool, Bradford — where you’ve started well, something goes against you, and then maybe things get a bit panicked. I presume that’s something you’ve looked at with the players?
Yeah, we spent a lot of time, spent a lot of time talking about that, and more so than talking about it, we spent a lot of time working on it as well, and we felt like it was really important to address how we are when we start a game really, really well, like we do at Bradford, and find ourselves in a situation where we don’t want to be: 'We’ve conceded a goal — right, how do we react?’
So we played those scenarios out in training, that’s not just in the classroom. We’ve played it out on the grass, because I feel like it’s really important for the lads to feel it. We’ve got some clarity on those areas now, and I think it’s important.
I thought Saturday was a really important step in that going away from home and off the back of away performances that we didn’t enjoy, particularly.
Going away to Exeter really showed the lads ‘ah, OK, there’s some bits in this that we like and we can take forward and really served us well’. And like I say, that comes off the back of the work that we’ve done post-Bradford. So again, really pleased for the group on that.
You’ve had little frustrations of late, but in a way, it’s not the worst time to happen, is it really, because it’s a reasonable start, you’re in the top six, and you’re going to find out one or two things…it’s not the worst possible time to find out how players can handle a bit of adversity, I suppose?
Yeah, 100% mate. This is obviously in a really exciting game. They’re a good side, for sure, and have got high aspirations this year. Recruited really well and settled with a with a good manager and lots of elements of the team that carried over from last year.
We’re 10 games in now, so we’ve had an opportunity to experience loads, it feels like, and we’ve talked about this as a group before, about trying to get as much learning as we can — about them, about me, me about them, and us about ourselves. And we’ve actually done maybe more learning than I would have liked, if I’m being honest.
But we’ve packed a lot into 10 games, and lots of really good themes within that, got to be honest
I don’t know if I’d have settled for where we are if you’d have asked me at the start of pre-season. I’m not sure I would have done, because you want to you want to win everything. You want everything to be perfect. You feel like the group you’ve put together, the way you watch them work every day, you feel like they’ve got a real chance to be faultless and spotless in every moment, in every action, in every game.
Obviously, we know we live in a real world, and that is never the case. We’ve got plenty of things that we can look at and go ‘yeah, we like this, we like this trait, we like this character, we like the feeling within the group’. And I’ve certainly liked lots of what I see day to day. So we are in an OK place, and we know that we keep pushing and keep striving and we’ll be pointing in the right direction.
Like I say, Saturday is another great opportunity up against a really good team, so it’s one we’re excited for.
With the Luton game being called off, I think you’ve got four out of the five at home…that gives you a chance to get some genuine momentum, doesn’t it?
Yeah, I think it’s important for everybody, isn’t it, stringing results together — and performances together, more importantly as well, because, of course, it’s most important for us, and the team don’t hear me talk about results very often — in fact, never, because the performance has to be there, the level has to be there, the intent has to be there, the energy, physical output…all of those things have to be there.
When they are there — and I’ve shown the group this as well — when they are there, we win, and the result takes care of itself, so that’s where the focus has to be.
So yeah, it’s a good opportunity, for sure, but we see every week as an opportunity, so that has to be our approach, and continue to be so.
You’ve had six clean sheets in ten games, I think…if you take away a few clusters of goals against, you must be pretty happy in the round with your sort of defensive performances?
Yeah, and to one of Katherine’s earlier points, we’ve done that with everybody. We’ve done that with two goalkeepers, four centre-halves, and four full backs. In fact, it’s more than four full backs, because Mickel Miller played at full-back as well. So we’ve done it with three on the left and two on the right, four centre-backs and two goalies.
That’s not bad, but I’m still disappointed we haven’t kept 10 clean sheets. But that’s the greedy side of me, and I think we should strive for that. But we also know, like I say, that when things go against us in moments, we’ve got to be ready to go, ready to win a game, still got to be ready to fight and do what’s needed. There’s some good signs, that’s for sure.
As a manager you probably learn more in the difficult times than you do when the sun’s shining and everything’s great…that’s that’s part of your education, isn’t it?
100% mate, 100%.
It’s probably when the Spidey senses start to come alive. When I’m walking in on Monday morning: ‘right, how’s everybody getting out of their cars, and what’s his body language like, and how’s he going to train on Monday and Tuesday?' How am I, what’s my body language like, am I getting prickly with my staff’…all of those things.
You’re really careful to make sure that win or lose you’re doing the right things and the processes are followed correctly. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of staying pretty level and even, and I think it’s important for everybody in the football club to do that. So of course, for us, for the players, and for myself, we have to demonstrate that, that’s for sure.
Lee Nicholls
You watched Harrogate from the bench — how much can you take from that game, with a very different-looking squad to usual, and what elements can you take into Stockport at the weekend?
Again, I think the amount of chances we created and the amount of pressure we put on them. I think it’s good minutes for a few of the boys that probably haven’t played as much as they’d like this year. I think it’s something that we’ve got to move forward with. You know, Tuesday night was Tuesday night. It was disappointing not to win the game, but I think, the patterns of play and the shape and the way we want to play came out, and I think towards the end of the game we we really was causing them some problems
In terms of the patterns of play and how Lee Grant wants to set you guys up. Inevitably, when you concede a goal of the nature that was conceded at Harrogate, it throws out into the spotlight of playing out from the back and how effective that can be. What do you make of that — and particularly in League One, because you do hear people say, ‘well, it’s not really the right approach for League One football’. What would you say to that?
It’s difficult, because I think Tuesday night is a bit of an outlier. I think in the grand scheme of things, we had a new squad. No matter who we put out there, we are starting to settle in now, but then, when you look on the team from Tuesday, it’s their first start for some of them that were in the squad, so it was still new to them, and also there are some making their debuts, so it’s always going to be difficult.
It’s something that I think is starting to work. It’s starting to cause teams real problems in the league, and it’s about us carrying on working towards doing it when it’s on and doing it when it’s not on, learning each of the strengths and weaknesses, and kind of now building on it to become an even better team.
Bigger picture, how can you build that relationship with your defence, that they know when you can play that way? And sometimes do you just have to go ‘let’s just go long with it’?
I think it’s picking your moments. I think the way you do get better at it is playing more games and training more together.
I think every game, in my opinion, the team has improved in that side of things with the ball and causing the other team problems when we are on the ball. I think we’ve become a lot better, and I think we’re starting to become a team that is understanding each other a lot more. I think I certainly feel it around the place, and I can feel it from myself towards the rest of the lads that I’m starting to realise things that I probably wasn’t realising a few months ago.
As one of the more experienced members of the squad, are you given that license to use your judgment in the heat of the moment — you’re not under any directive of ‘you must always play out from the back’…you’re given that freedom to make that call for yourself?
Yeah, I think if you go back and watch the Exeter game, I think we mixed it up quite well. I think at times we went long, at times we went over the press, at times we played into midfield, and at times we we played out from the back.
It’s up to us to notice when it is on and when it isn’t on. I think the Exeter game was a real indication of us mixing it up. You know, I think there was times we got in behind them, there was times that we went into the 10s, times we use the 6s — that’s the team we need to be. We’re not going to be able to play out every time, but I think as we build as a team, as a squad, I think we’ll become better at that.
Reflecting on the Exeter game, Leo Castledine’s goal is worthy of winning any game, but equally, a lot of plaudits for your one-handed save — a confidence boosting moment for you. Is it those particular moments that you can draw on to really give you that satisfaction that you know your season is going well, that things have even in the right direction?
Yeah, maybe. It’s my job at the end of the day, to be there when the team needs me.
I think everyone in the everyone at the club would have liked the game to be out of sight by then, and I think we did have the chances to do that. But I think it’s a positive that we are creating chances. It’s up to us to put them away now.
I think a few weeks ago, it would have been ‘we’re not creating the chances we’d like to make’, and I’d like to think we are now. That’s the test on Saturday — it’s going to be difficult. They’re going to make it really difficult, they’re well-organised, and it’s about us coming out then and trying to do what we can do.
You can go into that game with a lot of confidence, though, and from your point of view, back-to-back clean sheets in the league. Is it that something that really drives you on knowing that Goodman and Chapman ultimately want your spot, and how does that help you to bring out the very best in yourself, to make sure you keep it?
Yeah, that’s up to me to stay in the team. I’m lucky enough to be in the team at the minute, and I know that if I’m not on top of my game, then I’ve got two really good goalkeepers behind me pushing me and ready to take the opportunity. So for me personally, it’s head down, work hard.
Ultimately, in my opinion, whether I’m in the team, whether Owen’s in the team…as long as the team wins, I don’t mind who plays. But for me right now, I’m in the team, and just as long as we’re winning, it doesn’t matter to me.
Does it make any difference having a manager who used to be a goalkeeper? Obviously, a lot is made of the fact that Lee Grant was the attacking coach and he was at Ipswich, but ultimately his stock in trade was your position. Does that help? Does that factor into the coaching and the training that you have?
No, not really. I think the gaffer is quite good at letting Chris [Elliott, head of goalkeeping] do the goalkeeping. I don’t know whether he’s got an opinion on certain things and whether he would like his goalkeepers to be a certain way, because he doesn’t mention it.
But it is a little strange, because it’s the first time I’ve had it (a goalkeeper) in my career, and the gaffer was quite good [as a player].
I think the gaffer has got a lot on his plate anyway, so I don’t think with the goalkeepers he suddenly gets involved with too much.
You are ten games into the League One season now. How do you assess where the squad is at at the moment, from what we’ve seen so far?
Yeah, it’s good. I think we’ve recruited really well. I think Jake [Edwards, chief exec] has done a brilliant job and the gaff has done well too.
It is still quite it is still early. We’re only 10 games in. But I feel like I’ve known some of these boys a lot longer than that. There’s been people in and out the squad, so it is still new, but I feel like the squad’s started to settle down. I feel like, for me personally, I can see with each game, the squad improving, and we’re starting to understand each other a little bit more, and hopefully we can keep building on that.
With it being so early, it has been a good start, we’re fifth in the league, but there is a few games in there where we’re probably thinking we’d like to have that game back.
But that’s football. It’s up to us to stick together, to push each other to build on what we’ve done already. Hopefully we can do that on Saturday.
That’s great. Thank you very much. Good luck on Saturday. Thank you.
We spoke to Lee Grant about you the other day, and he said he was impressed that you agreed to the new contract you’ve just signed at a time when you weren’t in the starting lineup in the league…is that a bit of self-belief from you as well as sort of reflecting your happiness at the club here?
Yeah, I think so. There’s also my missus is pregnant, and it was a case of ‘do we want to move?’, as well.
But I haven’t been quiet about how much I love the club. The gaffer asked me to stay quite early then in the weeks after that I’ve seen the new players being brought in, I’ve seen the way the gaffer is, I’ve seen the way the coaches are, and I am under the belief that the gaffer is a really, really good manager, and he’s brought the right coaches in, he’s put the right lads in, and I think we can do something. I think the club’s going back in the right direction now.
So for me, it just made sense for me to stay. I think the gaffer wants to play the right way, and for me, personally, it was the right decision to make for me and my family.
It’s a bit unfortunate for Owen that in his last two appearances, he’s had his red card, he’s made quite an obvious error on Tuesday night…are those the kind of things as a young keeper that you’re then extra aware of in future games?
I wouldn’t say that. As a footballer, you can’t dwell on it. I think you can’t let it stick in your mind for too long. I think you’ve got to sort of look at the clip, address it, and then move on. I think you can’t let it stick in your head and you can’t go into the next game and think ‘I can’t do that again’, because I’ve seen Owen make that pass hundreds of times since he’s been here. So it is what it is.
Things happen on the football pitch where you get caught out and and you may, you might make a mistake because of it, and Owen will be fine. Owen’s a good kid, top keeper. It’s just about working hard, which he does, and just keep pushing, because you never know with football.
One of the big areas for recruitment this summer was the defence. Is that an adaptation as a goalkeeper? Or I suppose you’ve had a few clean sheets already, so it it already clicking?
I think the lads who’ve come in have done brilliant. It’s a new unit, and sometimes it takes time to build up that unit and get the understanding of of just little details where it could make a massive difference.
It is still new, and I think we are still learning. But as I say, we’ve got off to a good start, and we are learning about each other still. But yeah, I’m excited. I feel like the units gel gel quite well, even though there’s, there has been a little bit of change throughout the year as well. But hopefully we can carry on building on it and become more solid.
Josh Feeney and Joe Low, they’re both very young, aren’t they? I think it’s easy to get forget, with Joe in particular, he plays such a mature way. But do you need to give a bit of extra coaching to the younger defenders, or are those two just getting on with it?
No, both of them are really young, but you don’t realise — as you say, like they play a lot older than themselves. But I think from an experience point of view, it might just be somewhere where I’d like him to do or somewhere where I’d rather they were a yard difference just to make my job a little bit easier. But that’s just coming with playing with each other.
I think the more reps we get defending the goal and training, the more reps we get in in games and through exposure of when something’s gone wrong, then we can maybe discuss it on a Monday morning, and then it won’t happen again. That’s just what happens with time.
But it’s also about me adapting to them, and learning their strengths and their weaknesses, or maybe where they like to stand on the pitch or where they prefer to defend it. It’s just football: it’s about gelling, learning about each other, and then adapting our game as well maybe. I’d say the both are them are going really well, and Jack’s unfortunate to be injured right now, Murray….the lot.
There’s been one or two frustrating results, but when you look at it in perspective, this time last year, they could have lost four or five on the bounce, but it is a new side…people have got to remember that.
I think that’s one of the things I’ve said sat up here is it is still a new squad, and I think we still have got off to a really good start. I think there is games in there we’d like to have back. There is actions in there that has probably killed us in certain games, and then we haven’t reacted from the right way. I think the gaffer is quite good at addressing them and and challenging us. It’s up to us to learn from it and build on it and become a better team.
I guess you’ve got to be a bit of a mentor to the younger keepers?
Yeah, it’s a role I really enjoy, being the older one and trying to set the standard and pushing and trying to help. It’s the way it was for me, and it’s something I really enjoy doing.
It’s been an absolute roller coaster here, hasn’t it? Everyone remembers the great escape [under Neil Warnock], and your first season. And if you can get a promotion, it would mean so much to you, I get the impression?
Yeah, I think it would. Since I’ve signed, I feel like we were at the top, we were 90 minutes from the Premier League. And then since then, it’s sort of gone backwards a lot.
I think part of my story as I’d like it to be, the next step would be to get back to the Premier League and try and get back to where we was, because I think with the chairman, the way he’s investing money and where we’ve bought the stadium, and he’s doing all the right things behind the scenes, and then Jake, with the way he’s recruited, and the way the gaffer is and the coaches are, and the way the feel is around the training ground…I feel like it’s going in the right direction, and it’s over to us now to get the fans onside and keep growing as a team and keep causing teams problems.
Hopefully we can become that team that people you know sort of don’t want to play against.
It sounds like the club’s got into your soul a little bit?
When I signed, it was a bit…I didn’t know whether I was going to come straight in and play. As soon as I signed, the fans welcomed me and got behind me and backed me, and I feel like the next step in my story, I’d like that to be the promotion.
