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" They are becoming big games, every time that we get to this stage of the season it is massive for every club, wherever you are in the table. Because a run of games and some good results in quick succession can really determine where you are going to end up in your season. We want to get through this period with some positive results so that we can look forward to the new year, look at the top end of the table and not is what is behind us.
" We have got Graham (Kavanagh) until the 3rd of January. Obviously they (Sunderland) have got to be a bit careful because if a new manager did come in at Sunderland then in his situation they would want them back to have a look at them. At the moment though with Ricky (Sbragia) in charge, I know Ricky and I have had a good conversation with Ricky, he is really keen to work with us on the Kavanagh situation.
" So we are hopeful that we can do something with maybe even longer-term than that afterwards, but they are all ifs and buts and situations at other clubs that will determine what will happen. We are pressing on that one though and we are hoping that it might happen.
" We played Newcastle yesterday and I made a point of inviting Chris Hughton the assistant manager and Paul Barron the goalkeeping coach in to talk. They came in and they had 20 minutes with us, they were terrific, they like what is happening here with Tim (Krul), Tim has gone back I think and has given us a favourable steer.
" It was verbally agreed yesterday that he will extend his loan, so what they have got to do now is make sure that the powers be there, i.e. Dennis Wise and Joe Kinnear the manager, that they both authorise that as well. They are keen for it to happen though so that he can continue getting first-team football, so we are hopeful that that one might be rubber stamped later on today maybe or even certainly by the end of the week. "
" For me first team football is my selling point too, but I think that the sensible people that we are dealing with realise that they can get a higher level of competitive football in our first team than they might do in reserve team football. Chris came in yesterday and was terrific, Ricky Sbragia has been absolutely fantastic, he has left me to give him opinions about Michael (Liddle) as well as sending his own scouts to monitor him.
" So they know where he is, we are only an hour down the road, if it is an hour, and we will look after them. We try to do things the right way and I think that that message is getting back to the people at Sunderland and Newcastle, and the other clubs that we have taken players on loan from.
" So that can only be good for us in the future to make sure that we get a good relationship, but that they look favourably on us when players don't quite come up to the mark at their clubs, and they might be able to help us. We are a smaller club than them at the moment and we need their help, and as well in time they might need ours, so the relationship we started hopefully will grow and prosper. Then both big clubs and small clubs like ourselves can benefit from them.
" I have always got selection problems because I have always got 20 players wanting to play. At the minute Paul Thirlwell doesn't look like he is going to be fit, Peter Murphy looks like he is nearly going to be fit, but we are not taking any chances.
" What we don't want to do is continue the theme of last week where Thirls plays a half and then he goes off a half. It might happen again but that needs to happen as few times as possible. Because I can't go into a game thinking that I am going to be without him after 'x' amount of minutes. "
" That is the same with Murph, but Murph when I spoke to him yesterday, and I did speak to him after the game, was a lot more positive in saying that he was ready now. So it looks like he will be around the squad, whether he will start or not again is a selection problem but he will be around the squad and it is good to know that when I asked him if he was alright that he said yes.
" Last week before the game I asked him if he was right and he ummed and stuttered, Murph is not like that, Murph will give you a yes or a no, there are no grey areas with Murph, it is a black or a white. He is telling me now that he thinks he is right, so that is really good news for us, Paul Thirlwell is not quite right.
" The wheeling and dealing has to be done, we have to make sure that we are on the front foot with that. We have actually done our work for the window though, now it is just a matter of hoping that the equations fit at other clubs for us to make it all happen. We have got back-up plans for what we have already done but we have put in umpteen phone calls already.
" It won't be the last week in January I wouldn't have thought when we are doing our business because I think that the work for the January window should be done from September onwards. Then we have done that, we have made all the phone calls, we have spoken to all the people that we think we need to do. If they all go bottoms up if you like then we have got a gameplan behind that to work off.
" We really want the main players that we have targeted though, because they are the players that we think are going to come in and make the football club better. We don't want to just take any Tom, Dick or Harry just for the sake of doing some work in that period. "