|
" We are a bit late, I didn't get up until 8am so I have only had an hour to wheel and deal, and up to press I haven't managed to do anything yet. We are alright though, there is loads going on and I think that it is a time where we look at it and do things at the right times. If you declare your hand straight away now then all that happens is that agents, they inform other clubs and other people. We want to try to make some things happen and we have got a good plan to go at.
" Some positive work yesterday was done, I spoke to two or three managers yesterday and we are just waiting to see. Obviously you have to wait and see what movement comes in at the high ends with players coming in and then other players become available. That is what we are hoping for, that the big clubs sign a couple of players to give them their squad and then they let a few out at the other end of it, we will be ready to move when that happens.
" Tim (Krul) has still got a little bit to go on his loan, midway through the month, I think that it is the 20th off the top of my head. Michael (Liddle) and Graham (Kavanagh) at Sunderland, we are talking to Ricky (Sbragia), Ricky has had a couple of phone calls but he has got a massive job on at the minute. I didn't speak to him yesterday but he knows that I am waiting to speak to him and hopefully today I can do something with that.
" Wrap those up and then we move on to the fresh ones that we are trying to make happen. There have been a lot of phone calls to and fro yesterday though so we are optimistic that by the middle of the month, maybe as a guide, but if it happens before then smashing, if it happens just after then no problem. We are looking to make one or two little bits and pieces happen though, and if we do then it will hopefully make us a little bit stronger.
" You never know how the transfer window is going to go, if people have been chasing ours for a while and they are going to come in and go bang, we would like to take him. You just have to wait and see, you sit and address everything and then if things do happen then we will look at it. It might change the way that we are planning to do things. "
" It is a bit of a cat and mouse game at the moment, you don't want to declare much so that people are aware of your targets. On the other hand though you can't leave it too late otherwise you miss out altogether. We have done a lot of the work already though and I said that we would do, and then as soon as January is out of the way then we will do all the work for the next season. It is an ongoing process, so we are always active and hopefully we will make some things happen.
" Planning has got to be a bit of both, we need results now but we need to make sure that the club is in good stead, if anything should happen then we have got some players coming through at the other end. We have got some young players out of our youth team that we have signed on contracts, we are looking to get one or two 20 or 21-year olds that will help that middle bit. Then we are looking at strengthening the actual first-team squad.
" So you are looking at all avenues, we are going to be active and it is not just going to be in terms of signing players. We are going to be active in trying to bring players in and have a look at players on a trial basis, and see if we can find one like a Karl Hawley or like a Tom Cowan or like a Kevin Gray when they came to the club, that sort of thing. Because I think that you can't just keep going and spending fortunes of money, I have got some money though and I will spend it if I can.
" There is also the other end of it though where you need to do your hunting and find players that come from nowhere if you like and make an impact. Peterborough have done it, they have looked, and other clubs have done it, so we are active, it doesn't always happen, it doesn't always work, it is not the only way forward but it is another avenue that you have to make sure that you are on top of.
" I think that with the scouting system in place now that we have got, we have got six scouts regionalised and they are all looking. I think that by Monday we might, there is a real chance that we might have two or three lads come in that I am quite excited about to see if they like us and if we like them. That is as well as the signings, or the targets that we have got planned, so that is going to be an interesting one. "
" I feel that I am going to be judged by results and if the results are good then there is no need to bring other players in. If we don't get results and I don't bring anybody in then people will be a little bit frustrated with that. What I will say though is that I will only bring players in who I think are going to be better and make us progress better than we have got at the moment. You can't just go down the line of making signings for the sake of making signings to keep people happy, or that he has done that.
" I really, really want to bring in players that are going to be long-term better and short-term effective and really create an impact on the pitch right now. So there is a double-pronged sword to what we are doing, but I will make signings if I think there is one there that will make us better. I will make five signings if I can and they will make us better, it might be that we only need to make one but you never can tell.
" What I want to stress is that we won't just go out will-nilly signing anybody, I could do that tomorrow, I could do it today, by the end of today I could get four players in no problem. We need four players though that are going to make us better, if that happens today then brilliant, if it doesn't then let's be patient and let's wait and let's pick the right people. There is lot of work that has gone on already, but I think it is results that I am going to be based on.
" At the minute we have got a group of players that are improving and starting to show the form that we know they are capable of. So we might not need as much as we thought we would need at one point. We have got to give them every chance to show what they can do whilst always, always, looking to improve on it. Even if we were top of the league I would be looking to improve what we had, and that is an ongoing situation as far as I am concerned and as far as Dennis (Booth) is concerned.
" I think that the point and the performance at Oldham indicates that we are getting better, it indicates that we are improving. We spoke at half-time at Oldham about winning the game, you are talking about an away game against a team that was fourth in the table, a very strong side, a good side, and we were talking about winning the game at half-time. "
" Do you know something, we nearly did in that second-half, we had a couple of chances there that with a little bit more care and on another day we might have popped one of them in. It just indicates that we are going in the right direction, at Millwall I always felt that we were defending very, very well but we were likely to concede. At Northampton we defended OK but we didn't really create enough going forward, this was a performance where we defended very, very well again but we looked like nicking a goal.
" That is progress and people say to me that you need to do this and you need to do that, what we have got to do is go slowly in terms of it being a better performance, a better away performance. Taking into consideration the team that you are playing, where they are in the league and how many goals they score, we have kept a clean sheet and we have asked them questions up at the other end of the pitch.
" For me that is progress, but do you know what, I want to better than that and we can progress a little bit further. That might be nicking a 1-0 win and when we nick the 1-0 win then we might go and look for 2-0 wins and 3-0 wins and that is real progress. However long that takes though is any man's guess but I think that we are getting better and that is the key. Then we might turn these 0-0's into 1-0's and then these draws into victories and these victories into convincing victories.
" At the minute though I just feel that we are getting an improvement out of the players and out of the whole thing. There is a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm going around at the moment but there is a lot of quality starting to come through and that is what we have got to aim to encourage and continue.
" If you have seen Graham Kavanagh's corners then you will see why we didn't want to have any corners against Oldham. So we thought that we would just go straight down the middle and do it that way. So we have saved Kav from any further embarrassment haven't we, so I think that we will try to play the game now without any corners and try to score goals from free play if we can. "
" I think that all the games are tests for us aren't they in different ways, I think that Walsall will come here thinking that they can get something out of the game. We can't wait by the way to play this game, the lads are in great spirits. Today they have come in, we told them to look after themselves last night, I was looking after myself, and they have come in, they are fresh, they have seen the New Year in very, very quietly.
" They looked bright this morning and we just want to play the game, we are just hoping that the weather allows us to get the game on. At the minute it looks like it is going to be on and the pitch is in good nick under the covers. We want Walsall to come here and then we want to get at them straight away. I wish it was Saturday today, that is how keen we are to get on the pitch and play another game, because we feel that it is a game that we can go out and win.
" The support again has been terrific, they have gone home from the last couple of away games I think feeling reasonably happy with the way that things are going. They have clapped us off at Oldham after the game and we were pleased that, because they mean a lot to us, you know that, you know my thoughts on the fans. They play a big part in what we are trying to do and what we have got to try to do is repay that by giving 100% effort and determination.
" Showing them that we can play with attacking flair and that we can defend with our lives at times. In a game you can see all sorts of things, both sides of the game, with and without the ball. When we are up against it we have got to defend and when we are not up against it and we have got a chance to go forward then we attack with a determination and a creativity and a bit of craft.
" Something to give the fans something to think that we are moving forward, and I think that they know that we are improving. Then they will know, like I know, that we are not where we want to be just yet but that we are going in the right direction rather than falling further behind, where we were looking quiet poor not so long ago. So in that respect let's hope that there is optimism for 2009, for the fans, for ourselves and the players, and let's hope that we can take it forward even more. "
" You are talking about a similar group of players that were really struggling, they are the same players, there has not been much brought in. We are trying to improve that but if we can get that togetherness, and that includes the board here, the fans, the players, the backroom staff. If everybody is together pulling in the same direction then you have got a far better chance.
" I think that you can see that the players are trying to do that and we are trying to encourage that here. There is a lot of enthusiasm and energy running around the club at the moment and we want the fans to play their part in that. We understand their frustrations, we understand their criticisms, but if they can think deeply about where we were and where we are now.
" Are we improving?, then the answer has to be yes, and we want to improve even more, and that is the message to the supporters that we won't rest on our laurels, we keep trying to go on and improve. If that means new players and shaking things up then we will try to do that, it is not always easy but we will try to do that. I can assure them that we are trying everything that we can to move the club forward where we think that we should be.
" Anyone who thinks that I would be comfortable with survival this season really doesn't know me as well as they thought that they did. I won't be happy until I have got us right back at the top of this league. The only thing that I can't guarantee is when it will be but we will get there, I hope that we get there, I do really hope that we get there and we will be trying to do that.
" We are not looking just to survive, you know that if we can put a run of eight or ten games together, I always remember Blackpool the year that they got promoted. They came on in here at the bottom of the league and then they went on to get up. So whilst we are not making stupid suggestions like that either, or forecasts, if we can go on a run of ten games then you never know what might happen. The team that comes late with a run of form is a dangerous team to contend with. "
" So I believe that these players are capable, but they have got to go out and do it, it is no good talking about it, we have got to go out and do it. Putting together a ten match unbeaten run or whatever it takes is difficult but I think that they have got it within them to be able to do that. Then let's see where that takes us, and if it doesn't happen this season then let's see if we can do it next season and really push it forward again.
" Without making any rash forecasts though, there is a lot of confidence and ability and quality coming back. We need to kick on, get some results, and see where it takes us, but let's just take it bit-by-bit at the moment. Where I am comfortable with what we are achieving at the minute but we want to get results to take us away from where we are, and then we can start looking at the other end of things.
" Negotiations on renewing contracts are going smashing, I think that by the end of this month we might have two or three of that wrapped up as well. Again we are meeting players' demands, we are looking at what they are asking for, they have got to understand the present climate, they have got to understand a lot of things.
" They are realistic though, we have made offers, they have come back with counter-offers, they are all realistic at the minute. So we are quietly optimistic that we might be able to wrap up three or four of those by the end of this month. That is then that bit out of the way and then we can look at the new bit of what is going to add to that to make us better even more.
" The job is fantastic, it's great isn't it, I haven't got a headache on New Year's Day, I can't wait to get there and train. I am going to join in because I have just done a pound or two, a little bit extra over the Christmas. We are going to have a bit of crack with the boys though and get them bright. My passing is OK at the minute so I am going to get in the middle of it today. Dennis (Booth) is actually away doing some important work today, so there is the key that we are on with it. It is a process that is ongoing and Dennis won't be with us today because he will be watching somebody somewhere else. "