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" I thought that football was a tough industry and I've had confirmation that it's a tough industry. It's not about me though, I have my own agenda which I keep very quiet, or try to keep as quiet as I can. Obviously the press and the club has issues and they have got to get on with that but what I have tried to do is put the players first, as I always have done.
" We worked hard on Thursday, I told John (Ward) that he had got a great group to work with. After the training session on Thursday he said to me - you have got it going here, we are close to being a very good group, there is not a lot wrong, infact he said there was nothing wrong. Obviously we can improve, obviously we could do with a couple more players to really push us on but in the main he was delighted that most things were right.
" I said - just watch them perform, just watch what they give you on a Saturday. Win, lose or draw, just watch the effort and determination that they give you. It was no surprise to me that they gave that effort and determination and performance. Fortunately most of the things that could go your way went our way on Saturday and I thought that we absolutely annihilated Millwall to be honest in the first-half and it could have been a cricket score.
" That has just given John an indication of what he is coming to and what he was got to work with. We all as a group feel very proud that we have handed over a team that is on the up and definitely going to surprise a few people. "
" If you ever speak to anybody connected with me throughout my career they would say that I was a true professional. A good professional, dead honest, gritty and determined. Again, I just put my situation behind me, I owed it to the club and to the players to prepare the team right. I wouldn't let them know, I wouldn't let anybody know, I told the staff, I told the closest staff to us - the senior staff. I said please, please work with me and don't let the players know.
" They didn't know until we sat down after the game, they knew three minutes before I told you and you could see what I was like when I came across to you. It was an unbelievable dressing room, I'll never forget that dressing room as long as I am in football because it was fantastic. We were all proud, we were all proud of where we'd come from, where we'd got to and now I'm hopefully going to be proud of where we can go to with John.
" From now on it's time to stop talking about me I think and time to kick on with a new era with a new team. John has quite gladly accepted me and he wants me as part of that team. I'm happy to do that and forward my career and move this club forward, which is the job that I have always come in to do. Which is move the playing side forward and improve it. I've always used the words - wheels keep moving forwards - and now Saturday tells me they are still going forward.
" I say sometimes slowly and sometimes quickly, well we were in the fast lane of the M1 on Saturday weren't we but it won't always be like that. It's an exciting time to be at the club and now I think that we have got to start forgetting talking about Greg Abbott or anything that has gone on before and lets start talking about what is going to go on from here. To be honest, they have caused themselves a problem our players now because they have set themselves a standard which everybody knows they can reach now. So we are going to have to expect that and reach that more often. "