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GA
We worked really hard in pre-season on a lot of different things. On obviously firstly trying to put a squad together with the changes we made at the end of last season. So, we worked exceptionally hard through the summer. We worked very hard, the players have worked very hard since they have been back.
Then the build-up is all about one game really, the first game, making sure you get off to a good start and trying to put things into practice that you have been doing. It went really well for us and the lads did ever so well, they worked exceptionally hard at the game, they played some nice football and we kept a clean sheet and got two goals at the other end. So, it is nigh on a nearly perfect start.
PN
For you as manager, were there specific things that pleased you most?
GA
I think what is pleasing at the minute is the attitude and the determination of the players. We look really collective, even the players that have not played who are obviously disappointed, and I want them to be disappointed. But, I want them to be part of what we are doing because we are going to need to utilise everybody we have got.
So, that was a big plus and then I thought the way that we probably sent the fans home sort of enthused by the performance was a real big positive. Obviously then Francois (Zoko) getting his round of applause just adds that bit of icing to the occasion if you like. So, on the whole a lot of positives, a lot of positives from the weekend and long may it continue.
PN
I guess in a way the players perhaps haven't done themselves a favour in that they have set a very, very high standard for you as manager and for the supporters that they might come to expect every game now?
GA
I knew there would be a negative somewhere, no, you are right. We actually said that to the players, you have set the bar now where people expect that because you have delivered once against a really good side. And they are a really good side are Brentford, they have made some really good signings just this week.
You would rather be like that than have it to fight and scrap against but we have proved we can do it and we did it really nicely. So, if we can do more of that we will be really happy.
PN
A lot of fans came away from the game talking about the new formation and how well that worked, how encouraged were you by that diamond?
GA
Erm, it is something I don't really want to talk about too much because I might be giving a lot away. But, I just think we are going to try different things, we did say that with our resources and with our squad and with our players available we would try to play as attacking and as nice a football as we possibly could. As long as along the way we are winning games, that is the key is to win the games.
But, the system worked nicely for us on Saturday, we passed the ball really well, we got a lot of attempts on goal, we got crosses in as well. When people say sometimes it can be proclaimed it lacks width, but when you have got full-backs with the energy and the determination that we have got, and your midfield players who want to get into those areas as well then it doesn't become a problem.
You can make it a problem but we didn't on Saturday. But, people will look at ways of exposing that and then we have got things around that system where we think we can adapt and change if we think we need to to give us more attacking options within the playing personnel that we have got.
PN
You alluded to the fact after the game on Saturday that you feel Francois has still got some little way to go with regard to his fitness, how far is he off do you think?
GA
No, his natural fitness is not bad, I think it is just the shock of the pace of the English game that he is coming to terms with at the minute. He is having to do more and quicker in the space of time he is on the pitch than he has probably ever had to do in his career wherever he has been. He has just said the game is so quick and that is what he has got to get to come to terms with.
His actual fitness levels aren't bad but he needs to improve them even more to get to the levels that the English game puts and demands of you. But, the one thing about Francois is that he is willing, and I talked about his first day of pre-season when he was on his knees but he said 'coach', he calls me coach, 'coach, I have got to keep going, I have to keep going' in his broken English.
But, then you think that is the one thing from a foreign player where they might crumble, he never did and he gave it everything he has got. The lads adore him, I have to say that the lads adore him, they really have taken to the lad because he has come in and he wants to integrate into the culture.
He was asking me about what he needs to do and how will he be liked and what sort of things does he need to do to be on the right side of people. That I think is really refreshing and shows what a really good character he is, and everybody has taken to him so we hope for good things from him.
PN
Yeah, he got another great ovation when he came off on Saturday as well, do you think that the fact that the fans have taken to him so quickly is going to help him settle down and integrate quicker?
GA
Oh, he is on a high, he is really enjoying his time in England and he is really enjoying the football club. I have never known anybody in the game warm down for an hour and a half, Francois does and they keep clapping him for the whole of that. So, he doesn't realise that once up and down the pitch is enough, he is overdoing this one, he is taking it right to the wire with his applause.
But, it is great, it is a marriage isn't it, it is great, we have lost Richard (Keogh) who was a real crowd favourite and we have found a different type, but one that I think hopefully they will maintain, and he is an exciting type isn't he. So, he is good for the club I think at the moment.
PN
And Huddersfield on Tuesday night, a tough test?
GA
To be fair, these are the moneybags of the division. They are paying ridiculous amounts of money and should be installed now as the summer has gone on as probably the favourites to win the league. Because I think they have to win the league, or they have to get promoted with the funds they have spent they have gone into a different level in terms of the players they have been able to attract.
So this gives us a benchmark to see just how good we are or how good we could be. Because obviously if we have got any aspirations of being in the top bit of the table then we have got to beat these sorts of teams and it is a really, really stiff test.
PN
They have got threats all over the pitch of course, but any players that you can pick out as the manager that obviously you will be particularly wary of?
GA
They have got a number, they have got threats on the bench, that is how strong they are. But, they have certainly got, you are looking at (Jordan) Rhodes, (Anthony) Pilkington, there is a lad upfront, I can't remember his name, the boy (Joe) Garner is it or somebody, he will be a threat.
And then (Gary) Roberts as well, and then from midfield Joey Gudjonsson is not bad is he, and (Scott) Arfield cost them half a million, and they have got two centre-halves that score goals between them as well. So, has the keeper scored yet?
They are a strong side, they have got threats all over but we have to try to do what we did on Saturday and work as hard as we have, even harder, close them down and deny them space. We need to try to get our people on the ball that we think can cause problems as well.
PN
Again, is your approach to the Carling Cup the same as it usually is? All competitions deserve the utmost respect?
GA
You know you don't have to ask that question. We will not be making any excuses, we will not be changing the side too much from Saturday. We want to win the game, I think that we had a really good tie at Bristol City and we attracted Premier League opposition here. So, if we can do that and a bit more this season it will be great, but we have certainly got a really tough hurdle to take on first up, but we will be giving it everything we have.
PN
If he is selected how big a game would it be for somebody like James Berrett against his former club?
GA
Well, we have tried to play it down a bit with James because he thinks he had a raw deal there, he thinks he deserved a bit of a run in the team. But, he never got that with Lee Clark, he probably had had more with Andy Ritchie before him. But, I have told him just to go and do what he did on Saturday because he is improving, he is integrating into the club well.
Again, he goes about his business in a quiet and determined fashion and we are trying to get a little bit more to his game as well. Especially with Tom (Taiwo) alongside him, one forward and one back, that sort of thing. But, no, we think he is going to be a good player and he just needs to keep doing what he has been doing, he has been very good since he has been here.
PN
A quick word about Richard Offiong, who appeared for Darlington over the weekend, what is his situation?
GA
Yeah, he played a game, or half a game, for Darlington which was good for us because it got him playing at the end of his first week of full training. I am going to speak to Mark (Cooper) shortly to see what he thought and what his thoughts are.
But if we can get Richard some games then it might be a good one for everybody to get him a month of proper football. So, we will speak to Darlington and see what they thought of his fitness levels, but if he is fully fit then maybe there is an opportunity there for Richard.
PN
And Andy Cook, back training obviously with the team this week, but he has undertaken a month's loan at Barrow, you obviously feel that is going to benefit you and the player at this moment?
GA
Yeah, I think with Andy, with the amount of strikers that we have got, we want him playing, he needs to be playing and he needs to be scoring. What we are going to do is we have worked it with Dave (Bayliss) that we are going to train him a lot of the week here so we can keep a good eye on him. Because, he has been great in training in terms of his attitude and he is improving.
If we can keep that going with him and he keeps scoring goals then he is going to be asking questions. So, that is the key behind that, but for the first month, we have only done it for a month initially so we are not tied into anything of a longer period. Hopefully he gets game-time and pitch experience and we will see from there where he is at the end of the month.
PN
And at this stage do you envisage any more players perhaps going out on loan?
GA
Not at the moment, we haven't got a massive squad in terms of numbers but if players get frustrated and unhappy and people ring up for them and they want to get some football then we would have to think about that. But, I think at the minute we would have to go one for one, we wouldn't be able to let anybody go unless we had somebody else to come in.
But, at the minute I am in no rush to see anybody out of the building. I am happy with the squad we have got, we have got some good competition for places. We have got some variety and some real tactical changes available to me if I need to from the substitutes bench, so I am really comfortable with what I have got right now.