00:00 Scott, thank you for joining us after yet another positive result.
00:02 We take a trip to Grimsby this weekend.
00:04 Can I get your thoughts on the Internet game?
00:06 Yes, obviously, we're in a good place at the moment.
00:07 So, a game we're looking forward to.
00:10 It's a tough place to go.
00:13 You know, they're very hard-working side.
00:16 Paul's a good manager, you know, very experienced manager.
00:21 Someone I've got a lot of respect for.
00:22 But yes, we're looking forward to it.
00:24 Like I say, we're in a good place at the moment.
00:27 So, it's another game that we're looking forward to.
00:32 Yes, we're about to hit a very busy run of games as we head slowly into October.
00:35 But a full week on the training ground.
00:37 How's it been this week?
00:38 Yes, a really good week.
00:39 You know, we've got some much-needed work put into the players.
00:43 So, yes, we're in a good place.
00:44 The mood around the camp is very good.
00:47 The players are very buoyant.
00:49 We've worked hard.
00:51 I think they always enjoy working hard.
00:52 I think they enjoy tough sessions, you know, early part of the week and some more structure
00:57 but kind of the detail of how we want to play at the back end of the week against a strong
01:04 side in Grimsby.
01:05 So, yes, we've had a good week.
01:07 We've had, obviously, three home games on the trot, all wins, with Charlton, Tramere
01:11 and Newport.
01:12 I suppose the lads are looking forward to getting back on the road and trying to convert
01:15 some more away wins, which we were able to do just at the back end of last year.
01:18 Yes, we're mindful of that.
01:20 We're mindful that we want to tidy that up really as quickly as possible.
01:25 We want to try and make sure that our record on the road is as good or somewhere close
01:33 to what we are at home.
01:35 We're very good at home.
01:37 Listen, we've done okay on the road this season already.
01:43 We've picked up some vital points at some tough places.
01:47 We want to try and get that first win away from home.
01:50 I think it's important that we try and, obviously, achieve that this weekend.
01:53 Do you think now is the best time to do it, on the back of those victories?
01:56 You've already touched on the morale around camp, it's really high, isn't it?
02:00 Yes, we're in a perfect place now to go and do that.
02:05 We're full of confidence.
02:07 The team are playing well.
02:08 We're scoring goals.
02:10 So, yes, if any time, why not now?
02:15 Against, like I say, a good side, a tough place to go.
02:18 The pitch will be nice.
02:19 So, yes, I'm looking forward to the game.
02:22 We've spoken a lot about selection headaches that you might have.
02:25 Obviously, J Ballou has come back in from suspension, potentially.
02:28 Is there any hard choices you're going to have to make this weekend?
02:31 I think there's always hard choices, given the squad that I've got.
02:34 We've got players who are coming off the pitch and scoring goals and making an impact,
02:41 and asking questions of me as a manager and making sure that they're in my eye line always.
02:49 That's what I want.
02:50 I want it to be difficult.
02:52 We've also got the players who are starting the team who are playing really well.
02:57 We've won some games of late, so wholesale changes are not needed, obviously.
03:05 But certain players are kind of knocking on my door, and rightly so as well.
03:11 But we build a squad for a reason.
03:13 Like you say, in October, there's a lot of games coming thick and fast, and we're going to need every one of them players,
03:19 which is why we work extremely hard on the training ground to make sure that players are always prepared and ready.
03:24 Like you say, you saw Lola on Saturday come on.
03:27 We worked extremely hard with him, and he wasn't a starter, but he came on and kind of won us the game with that strike.
03:33 So, it's important that we keep these players who are not playing,
03:39 we keep them kind of ready, because in a minute, we're going to need them.
03:43 Yes, not just at home, but away as well.
03:45 We're starting to see a lot more people coming to follow.
03:47 Our home attendances have increased to an average of 3,000, which in the last few years haven't been heard of.
03:53 That's a lot down to the football we're playing and how much fans are enjoying watching us play.
03:58 How pleasing is that to you as a manager to know that they're enjoying the football that you play?
04:02 Yes, exactly right.
04:03 It is really pleasing, obviously.
04:05 We want the fans to be proud of how the team play.
04:09 We want them to come and support us in their numbers.
04:11 We want them to be loud, like they are.
04:15 They've been brilliant, like I've always said about the fans and how well they've done since I've been here, certainly.
04:22 They've really supported the team.
04:24 They're very good.
04:25 But like you say, the flip side of that is that the players are playing well for them on the pitch.
04:32 They're spending a lot of money to get themselves all the way up to Grimsby, which is not round the corner.
04:37 It's a long journey.
04:38 It's a tough journey.
04:39 If they turn up in their numbers, fair play to them.
04:42 Hopefully we can give them a good spectacle on the pitch.
04:45 Hi Scott, when I spoke to you on Monday, I think you were just about to start watching the Wrexham-Grimsby game.
04:51 What were your main takeaways from that?
04:53 Obviously, they lost 3-0, but what did you see in the Grimsby side that could be a danger to you?
04:57 Lots, to be honest with you.
04:58 There's lots of dangers.
04:59 They've got really good legs in the middle of the pitch.
05:02 They're hard work inside.
05:03 They press really well.
05:05 There were moments in the game that they could have scored and should have scored.
05:11 But yes, they're a tough side.
05:15 I know results have been kind of indifferent in many ways for them,
05:18 but I think Paul's a really good manager.
05:23 Somebody like I've got plenty of respect for.
05:25 They're always a tough side to play against.
05:30 They're always hard-working and they'll press you.
05:32 They'll run hard.
05:33 They'll run after you.
05:34 They'll run off the ball.
05:35 They've got good runners off the ball, make good runs in behind you.
05:39 And they ask questions of you defensively.
05:42 So we're going to have to be on our guard for sure.
05:45 But we're going to concentrate on us as well.
05:47 We have to because of the way we're playing.
05:49 We have to concentrate on what we're going to do and how we're going to do it, which we have done this week.
05:53 But like I say, it's been a really good week in training.
05:55 So, yes, we're looking forward to the game.
05:56 And you've got Wrexham in a couple of weeks' time.
05:58 Is it hard to just focus on Grimsby or did you look at both sides?
06:02 No, I just focused on Grimsby.
06:04 I couldn't tell you anything about Wrexham.
06:08 I just focused solely on...
06:10 Obviously, I looked at their shape of what they played and where the spaces were and stuff like that.
06:15 But I solely focused on Grimsby.
06:16 I think it's impossible to watch two teams at the same time, if you're doing it in real detail, like we do.
06:22 So, yes, I focused on that.
06:25 I didn't just watch the Wrexham game.
06:27 I watched a number of games.
06:28 And like I say, especially games at home, they come after you.
06:32 They're a front foot team.
06:34 And I'm expecting the same on Saturday.
06:38 I saw a tweet earlier from... I can't remember who it was from.
06:40 It was like a League Two pundit who said,
06:42 'It's great to see Scotland getting the best out of Liam Kelly this season after a couple of tough seasons for them.'
06:47 A tough few seasons for Liam.
06:49 What is it about Liam that made you bring him to the club?
06:52 And are you surprised how quickly he settled in and hit the ground running?
06:55 I'm not surprised, no.
06:58 But, you know, listen, Liam Kelly's a really good footballer.
07:01 That's why he suits kind of what I want to do.
07:03 He's almost tailor-made to play in my team and to play in the position that I'm playing him in.
07:10 He's been fantastic.
07:11 Not only has he been very good with the ball, but you look at his running stats,
07:15 through the roof, he covers the ground really well.
07:18 He makes tackles.
07:20 He's an aggressive player as well.
07:23 But no, he's been great for me.
07:27 Why have I got the best out of him?
07:28 Just because it suits how we play, I think.
07:30 I think it suits him.
07:32 I've always been, I think he knows I've always been an admirer of him as well.
07:36 He came to Swindon a couple of seasons ago when I was the assistant manager there.
07:42 He had a pre-season with us and we never took him and I always felt we should have.
07:46 I thought we made a mistake in not signing him.
07:51 But that happens.
07:52 It wasn't my decision.
07:53 He went elsewhere and played a bit of football and did really well when he was at Rochdale.
07:57 In my opinion, I thought he was one of the best midfield players in the division,
08:01 even though they got relegated.
08:03 You've seen him score some good goals and there's moments where,
08:07 certainly when I watched him in real detail, like I do,
08:12 he was the best player on the pitch in a lot of the games he played in.
08:15 And I'd say he really suits what we're doing.
08:18 And you said to me earlier in the week you've pretty much got a clean bill of health at the moment.
08:21 Is that still the case?
08:22 And how hard does that make your job?
08:24 Yes, no, we are a clean bill of health.
08:27 You want that as a manager.
08:28 You want players to be available.
08:31 It does make it hard, obviously, which I want as well.
08:35 That's why I'm in this position, because I've got to make decisions.
08:40 But at the moment, with the team, the way they're playing,
08:42 there's not too many tough decisions to make, in my opinion.
08:45 I don't think there needs to be.
08:47 As well as the boys have done in the Charlton game and the boys have done when they've come on the pitch,
08:53 they've done great.
08:54 There doesn't need to be too many changes.
08:57 We're doing great.
08:58 The boys are starting.
08:59 So, hopefully, we don't get any injuries and hopefully we can rotate the squad around when it becomes relevant to do so,
09:09 in terms of Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, which in October is a little bit more like that.
09:13 So that's maybe when I do rotate it.
09:16 But at the moment, maybe there might be one change for Saturday, maybe two, but it won't be much more than that.
09:22 And just on a different note, just over the road tonight, there's going to be European football for the first time ever in Sussex.
09:26 Is that something you watch?
09:30 No, I actually nearly went to the game.
09:32 I was nearly going to go to the game tonight.
09:35 I speak to the Brighton first team coach quite a lot, actually.
09:39 Andy Crofts, a good friend of mine.
09:40 So I speak to him quite a lot and I nearly went to the game tonight.
09:43 But no, it's brilliant for the county, for sure.
09:45 I think it's the first time ever, isn't it?
09:47 So, yes, it's a big thing for the county, for Brighton.
09:52 And they've done great, haven't they?
09:53 I really watch them as well.
09:55 They play some great football.
09:57 And I speak to their first team coach quite often as well.
10:00 He's a big fan of us as well.
10:02 They watch us in their office at the training ground at Brighton.
10:06 He tells me that they watch us quite a lot and he's impressed with what we're doing.
10:10 So, no, we've got a good relationship with them.
10:12 Yes, so could that mean a link-up with the Loneys and stuff like that in the future?
10:15 Yes, for sure.
10:16 We have spoke, yes, definitely.
10:17 We have spoke about potential players coming in.
10:19 And we took, obviously, a couple of players last season from there, Teddy Jenks and Jack Spong.
10:24 you know. So, yes, there's definitely a good relationship going between the two clubs.
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