00:00 Any team news?
00:12 Thomas Suchek is not available from last week. We are covering the protocol set by the Premier
00:19 League regarding his concussion last week.
00:22 Good start to the season, second, not beaten in the last two scoring six goals. Have you
00:31 coined a few critics?
00:34 No I don't want to go talk too early. I want to take my time and be quite happy just to
00:39 tuck in behind the leaders and see where that takes me.
00:42 But it is great to get that kind of start under your belt. It's a platform isn't it
00:47 for the rest of the season?
00:48 Of course. Any manager will tell you a good start to the season is always really important.
00:52 We have had a great start to the season. Undoubtedly we had a tough game. We have another tough
00:59 game which we are going to talk about on Friday night. But overall I have to say I am pleased
01:04 with the way the players have gone about their work. There are signs that we are getting
01:08 better and I hope we can continue that.
01:11 I don't know whether or not you are a big fan of deadline day but I guess if you have
01:15 got a match on the day it is an extra thing to worry about?
01:20 I think it is a little bit unfair. Let's be fair. You would hope that most clubs would
01:25 all have their work done before deadline day. That is the way it should be. But obviously
01:30 Sky rely a lot on deadline day so you live by it. But the truth is most clubs should
01:37 have their work done probably before then. But I think it is unfair that we are on deadline
01:40 day. I think there have only ever been three games on deadline day and we are one of them.
01:47 So it means you know what is going on but you won't be able to pay too much attention
01:51 to it?
01:52 I probably don't know what is going on anyway half the time. Obviously we are still in the
02:02 market but maybe not heavily in the market at the moment that is for sure.
02:06 So it could be the message, the reality could be that that is it?
02:12 No I didn't say that. The reality is that we are still in the market and we will be
02:17 right up until the last minute. I have no doubt about that. But obviously being on deadline
02:22 day makes it really difficult for myself and everybody else to be involved in anything
02:26 at the last minute. We have got a game to prepare for and that is the fact.
02:30 Can I just quickly then before we move on play that game where I say a couple of names
02:34 to you and you tell me you can't comment about other teams players?
02:38 We can do that game no problem at all.
02:40 Hugh Gallagher-Katsiki?
02:43 Player at another club. You wouldn't get me commenting on a player at another club.
02:46 Philip Costich? We know that you are an admirer of his?
02:50 I am an admirer of a lot of players but again I would never comment about a player at another
02:54 club.
02:55 The start you have had, if you don't get anybody else in then it is not the end of
03:01 the world is it?
03:02 Well we always had to add some players to the squad. We lost Declan and Lanzini. So
03:10 we have sort of done that. I said also that players had to move on for us to create spaces
03:15 for people to come in. I don't think I am changing the words I said probably four weeks
03:18 ago when I was doing the press conferences. So that is the same. You have to get a balance.
03:23 We don't want too many players. Where we find it could be a problem. We want to try and
03:27 get the right numbers in. At the moment we are in pretty good shape.
03:31 The party atmosphere, despite their perhaps less than so attractive start to the season,
03:37 the first game at home in the Premier League a new look, Kenilworth Road, is that something
03:44 you will have to bear in mind?
03:46 Very much we will have to bear in mind. It has been a brilliant achievement for Luton
03:52 to get themselves back in the Premier League. They have done great work. Last season it
03:56 was incredible how well they have done. But let's be fair they have been knocking on the
04:00 door for a couple of years. Over the years they have been picking up. I think it has
04:06 always been going to a newly promoted team for the first game of the season has always
04:11 been tough. Unfortunately we have been given that call when it shouldn't have been. We
04:17 should have been probably the second Premier League game there I think.
04:21 Is it making it more difficult to think that they will be massively up for this game? Of
04:25 course you are always up for a Premier League game. It is an extra ingredient.
04:28 That is a question for Luton Town, not for me really. All I can do is get my team to
04:33 perform the best they can and make them aware of Luton's qualities in the whole situation.
04:41 Everybody knows it is a tight environment and Luton will use that to their advantage
04:46 I have no doubt. Not just with us but with most teams through the season.
04:49 A new experience for Rob Edwards, I was lucky enough to speak to him in his last interview
04:53 before the season started. He spoke about going toe to toe with some of these quality
04:58 managers. He mentioned Pep, he has read all of Pep's books. He mentioned Eddie Howe as
05:03 an inspirational young English manager. He said he did his badges, his pro licence with
05:07 Mikel. The only other manager he specifically mentioned by name was you saying he admired
05:11 everything you have achieved in the game.
05:14 Well that is very kind of him. If I was going to pay the compliment back I would say what
05:19 he has done for Luton to get Luton in the position they are in, get them in the Premier
05:23 League is a great achievement. I think while I was at Watford he was pretty harshly treated.
05:29 So it is great that he has recovered because quite often managers when they lose jobs it
05:33 is not so easy to get back on the horse again and get on it. But he certainly has and proved
05:39 any doubters wrong. I certainly admire him for that. I think Luton play in a style which
05:47 I don't know if it is his fully Robb style but he has gone to a club and sometimes the
05:53 way the club, the culture is you have to be able as a manager to fit into that. I think
05:58 he has done it really well at Luton and he has given their supporters Premier League
06:03 football again.
06:03 It is funny for me the England squad is just out, I didn't want to give that chance to
06:08 say it but James and Gerrard not included. Are you surprised?
06:13 Look, Gareth is a really good manager and picks his England squad. England have got
06:18 an incredible choice of players. I am glad that Gerrard and James are with me, especially
06:25 because he plays Scotland as well. I am keeping good players back. I am happy that those two
06:31 are staying with me.
06:32 You knew what you were getting by signing James Fort Browse, but how would you reflect
06:40 on the time he settled in with the quarter-table leadership he brings here at West Ham?
06:44 I think those points are very valid because that is one of the reasons we did bring him
06:50 because of his Premier League experience. He has been captain of a side for a long time.
06:55 He has been a really loyal player over the years for Southampton. He has come in and
06:59 settled in really well for us. It goes about his business exactly how you would look at
07:04 his personality. He created goals, scored a goal. We have to say we are really pleased
07:10 with the start he has made.
07:12 You are second in the Premier League table at the moment. What are the chances of you
07:15 being in and around the top four at the end of May?
07:20 It is a bit early to call that, isn't it, with the level of the competition we have
07:24 got. Overall, you are better being up there. I don't want to hit the front too early, as
07:30 I said earlier. I am really pleased that we have got ourselves in a strong position. We
07:38 can work from that much better than this time last year. Let's see if we can build on it.
07:44 Did you expect such an impressive start to the season, especially after Declan left?
07:49 The team is working really well as a collective.
07:52 I said before, when I lost Wayne Rooney at Everton and he went to Manchester United,
07:57 I found it was more that it is always about the team. Quite often the focus goes on to
08:03 one player, the media, everybody talks about the one player, how important he is, how big
08:08 he is. Sometimes people forget that it is the team that is the most important thing
08:11 and it always will be the team. We are trying to get a team here who work hard, committed,
08:17 determined to be competitive. At the moment we have got that and we have certainly seen
08:23 that in the games we have played so far.
08:25 You have so many years of managing in the Premier League. Against Rob Edwards, it is
08:29 his first season managing in the Premier League. As a coaching, what would be the best advice
08:34 you can give Rob from your years of experience?
08:37 Rob is doing a really good job. He has had a couple of parts of his career that have
08:41 been good and then he has had a couple of dips. I don't think you go into football
08:44 management unless you are going to get that. He has now got a big challenge of taking a
08:50 look in the Premier League, which won't be easy for him. He has got a lot of things to
08:55 his advantage and he has taken a club up which hasn't been there for a long, long time.
09:01 He will get a bit of room to make some mistakes but also like any other manager in football,
09:07 you tend to be judged by your results in the end.
09:09 You may not be thinking about top four but you may have room on the Magic Deez for the
09:17 Manager of the Month award yet?
09:19 Not even thought about it.
09:21 You didn't manage all three City games.
09:23 Let's hope that is the case because it is a sign of the team doing well. I know the
09:29 manager gets that award but if that is the case then it will be because of the team's
09:33 performances.
09:34 In all seriousness, two amazing results home to Chelsea and especially Brighton.
09:44 As you well know, being a West Ham supporter, getting results against Brighton over the
09:50 years has always been incredibly tricky. Just to get away from the title which we have been
09:55 labelled with for so many years was something which I was so pleased to get rid of after
10:01 the game. From that point of view, it was a really, really good result against what
10:06 is a side which, as you rightly say, had scored four in each of the two games before. We are
10:12 in great form. For us to go down to Brighton and get a result.
10:16 Again, we have been away from home. This is going to be our third away from home game
10:20 already and when we have only played four. Many teams had three home games and only one
10:25 away from home. From that point of view, we have had a pretty good start picking up four
10:30 points from two away games this season so far.
10:33 How important is that? Last season your away form was average to poor. This year you have
10:40 already won at Brighton and got a chance to back it up. Again, you have another away win
10:44 tomorrow night at Luton.
10:45 It is only the start of the season so we are not going to get carried away with it. As
10:51 you rightly said, getting the points on the board, getting the wins and away victories
10:55 has been difficult. Our form at London Stadium in the main has been pretty good but we have
11:03 only had one opportunity to do that so far. Sometimes your points in the league can be
11:09 looked at differently. If you are at the bottom of the league, you are trying to explain to
11:12 people that we are actually three games away from home and one at home. Whereas some teams
11:16 have had three games at home.
11:19 You people in the media are continually looking at the league table. You might be judging
11:23 people already. Let's be fair, in some cases it is not an equal balance.
11:27 You must have played at the Kenilworth Road?
11:35 Yes, I have. Over the years I have. The recollection is that everyone is well aware of the incredibly
11:42 small dressing rooms and the tight tunnel. There is part of that which is part of the
11:51 game in this country. I have got to say, I think a lot of the players really enjoy it.
11:57 Supporters are close to the pitch, you are not so far away. You can see every wrinkle.
12:03 You can see mine from further away, mind you. I would say that you are up close with the
12:09 players and it gives the players that feeling of the pitch being really compact and tight.
12:14 Does it remind you of where they have almost come from on their journey?
12:18 I think it is good. That is what we want, isn't it? We don't want the football to be
12:23 completely one dimension. We want teams who are probably not expected to get there. I
12:28 hope I wouldn't be wrong in saying that Kenilworth Road might be the worst Premier League ground
12:34 where most teams would have to go. That will also be an advantage to them as well. I am
12:39 sure they will try and use that to the best they can.
12:41 It is less than three months since West Ham were crowned one of the European Champions.
12:50 Tomorrow you will find out the draw for the Europa League. What are you hoping for?
12:55 Another good group if we can. Good travel, that it is not long distances if we can help
13:03 it because that is hugely important. Especially this part of the season when you lead up to
13:09 the Christmas period and we have Thursday and Sunday football. MD will tell you it can
13:14 be a drain in some way. We have actually made it look relatively good as far as the European
13:20 football goes. Maybe our Premier League results last season didn't back that up. Hopefully
13:26 we can do it again. Hopefully we can enjoy the trip. The supporters can enjoy what they
13:31 have done in the last couple of years and we can go and have another go at it. I am
13:34 really looking forward to it. Being a European winner gives us that feeling that we can start
13:39 to stick our chests out and go and take most teams on.
13:42 Do you agree with James Wood's social media outburst?
13:54 I wouldn't listen to social media too much. I would listen to the people who talk about
13:58 the game and talk about it, probably professional people. Overall, James has played two really
14:06 good games and we hope that that is going to relate into lots of goals, lots of really
14:12 good performances and more of the same from James. Overall, we are really, really pleased
14:18 with him.
14:19 What do you make of the time you have spent at West Ham?
14:39 I think my time at West Ham has been really special, more importantly. I think when I
14:44 came I said that I wanted to try and grow the club, make it better. I think most of
14:50 those things are certainly the case. I think we are growing it. We have European football.
14:55 We finished in sixth and seventh in a couple of years from a team that was on the verge
14:59 of relegation. We have now won a European trophy as well. We started this season in
15:06 a good moment. I hope it will be seen in many ways as really positive. There will always
15:13 be people on social media who might question that.
15:17 What have you made of Rob Edward's side so far? Results aside, what have you made of
15:28 how their teams have performed in the Premier League?
15:30 I think they have had two ridiculously difficult games like we had against Brighton and Chelsea.
15:36 I actually think his team has done well in both games. This will be obviously completely
15:40 different. They are at home. We might see a completely different looting team, which
15:46 I think a lot of people probably expect from their home performances this season.
15:54 What are your thoughts on Rob Edward's performance?
16:03 I think he is a good player. He has a good attitude. He is a good player. He is a good
16:20 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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