00:00 You mentioned the style of Scotland's formation,
00:02 getting the Sumos...
00:04 Yeah, it got, yeah.
00:05 And we've also seen United holding on to their goalkeeper,
00:09 but not enough for the game against you.
00:11 Quite a big difference in terms of join-up times,
00:13 a bit of an inconsistency there.
00:15 I just wonder how you feel about that,
00:17 and if it feels entirely fair to you?
00:20 Yeah, I don't think it's fair.
00:23 Unfair is just, you know, each club can deal with it the way we want,
00:27 and, you know, there's other reasons for these kind of things,
00:30 but, no, I don't think...
00:32 It certainly doesn't...
00:34 What other clubs do doesn't...
00:36 Yeah, it doesn't sort of affect me or the way I view it.
00:41 Ultimately, we're bound by FIFA rules with these things,
00:44 and, you know, we want our players to represent their country,
00:49 their big tournaments they're going to,
00:50 and hopefully they're all successful,
00:52 and more importantly, hopefully they all come back healthy.
00:56 Were you surprised that you missed a couple of that extension?
00:58 No, I've been all right.
01:00 Spends the right time, not bothered at all what other clubs do.
01:03 Matt?
01:06 Similar theme on using the players to the cup competitions.
01:11 Would Spurs have to consider that now moving forward
01:14 from when they do enter the transfer market?
01:16 Because three first-team players is a significant amount,
01:20 and any more and it's going to be pretty catastrophic.
01:24 So is that something the club have got to be wary of now
01:27 when they look at signing players?
01:29 I'd hate for that to be the case,
01:33 because you'd be setting up some fantastic talent.
01:35 We've got a generational player from Asia
01:38 that's been representative of our club,
01:40 and, you know, if we lose him every four years for five weeks,
01:44 I think it's a real small price to pay.
01:46 And I love international football.
01:47 I think it's important.
01:48 I don't like the way the calendar has been crammed,
01:50 but the events, the tournaments they're going to now
01:55 are significant tournaments.
01:56 They're not sort of just thrown together in the last couple of years.
02:00 The African Nations Cups are very important.
02:01 The Asian Cup's very important for these nations.
02:03 You've got to understand that these guys,
02:07 this is where they were brought up.
02:10 You know, this is where, you know, a lot of their,
02:14 who they are today comes from.
02:16 And when they co-represent and put their shirt on,
02:18 it's not just another game of football for them.
02:20 So I'm sure Sonny would love to have been here with us in Pape,
02:24 but it doesn't diminish what they do there.
02:26 And I would never rule out somebody because,
02:31 you know, they're going to represent their country.
02:33 Or they're representing a country helps a player develop
02:37 both professionally and personally.
02:39 Tom.
02:41 Thanks.
02:42 You talked about Sonny earlier in the work,
02:45 he's been in the season.
02:46 He's been nominated for the player of the month as well.
02:51 The Asian Cup's been on the agenda for a long time though.
02:58 So how long have you been preparing for this absence?
03:01 How do you feel you've prepared as you could be?
03:03 Yeah, I was preparing for, since the start of the season,
03:08 but I wasn't preparing to lose half a dozen other players at the same time.
03:11 So, you know, you kind of understand that.
03:16 I mean, if we had some of our injured players available and fit,
03:21 it would be, the absence would be diminished,
03:25 albeit he's still a significant person at our football club.
03:30 It's not just about what he does as a player,
03:32 he's the captain of the club.
03:33 He's been our leader, our standing leader from day one,
03:36 on and off the field, and it's a significant absence.
03:39 So, but, you know, from that perspective,
03:43 in terms of the presence he had on the field,
03:45 you know, Romero and Maddison were available and, yeah,
03:49 you could diminish it, but they're not available.
03:50 So with all the other challenges we've got, it makes it more difficult.
03:55 But it's been like that from day one.
03:56 I think, you know, we've had to overcome these things
03:59 and it's just another challenge for us.
04:00 And it's inconvenient at times of season,
04:03 as perhaps some producers are looking from the outside saying
04:05 you should change your style, adapt to the Premier League.
04:09 It sounds quite familiar to the suburban thinking,
04:11 as far as you this season.
04:12 How much do you respect the way he's stuck to his guns
04:16 and how hard is it to take that?
04:19 Yeah, look, I keep saying I respect every manager
04:22 and the way they go about it,
04:23 because I know how tough a job it is,
04:24 whether that's in the Premier League or anywhere else.
04:26 But it's obviously amplified here in the Premier League where,
04:28 but, you know, we played Dornmouth on the weekend.
04:32 I think there was similar criticism around Adonis' work
04:36 at the start of the year.
04:37 He stuck to his guns in the way he wants his team to play.
04:40 And it's, yeah, it's not easy,
04:45 but ultimately it's the biggest measure of, I think,
04:49 of who you are, you know, what you stand for,
04:51 because invariably if you change in that moment
04:56 just because people want you to change
04:59 and not because you feel it's the right thing to do,
05:01 then you're on a slippery slope
05:03 because those things never end.
05:07 There's always challenges, you know.
05:09 There is in the manager, irrespective of where they are,
05:11 even the ones who are on top
05:13 still get criticised for something they do.
05:16 So it's part of your existence as a manager.
05:19 You need to embrace that and understand that.
05:21 And like I said, the test then becomes is, you know,
05:23 when people are calling for you to change something,
05:28 and it doesn't mean you don't.
05:30 If you think it's for the right reasons,
05:31 then you should do it.
05:32 But if you're just changing 'cause you think it appeases
05:35 or somehow will mean people cut you some slack,
05:38 it just doesn't happen.
05:40 It's a slippery slope.
05:41 Like I said, you end up becoming someone
05:44 you don't wanna be and ultimately you fail.
05:47 - Hamza.
05:49 - Hey, Jonathan.
05:50 You've been coaching a long time.
05:52 This company not so long,
05:54 but I mean, equal amounts of time.
05:58 How hard do you think it is for a young manager
06:01 to learn a trade in the Premier League
06:03 and how do you see that happening?
06:06 - I think it's hard wherever you do it.
06:10 I guess there's more focus here for sure,
06:14 but you also got more resources.
06:16 You know, there are other managers
06:19 who their first job is, you know,
06:22 a real hard shift as well, you know.
06:24 But wherever you start, I guess, like I said,
06:26 the important thing is that ultimately, you know,
06:31 especially when you're kind of first getting into it
06:33 is you kind of try and figure out
06:35 who you wanna be and how you want your teams to play.
06:40 And every opportunity you have to do that,
06:42 you try and take.
06:43 And it's obviously harder under the spotlight
06:47 of a competition like the Premier League
06:49 because every little thing gets scrutinized
06:51 and sort of dissected.
06:54 And there's plenty of opinion, plenty of advice,
06:56 but ultimately you realize that none of it really matters
07:00 if it's not who you are, you know.
07:02 And like I said, I have a great respect
07:05 whether it's, you know, somebody like Winston
07:09 in his first year in the Premier League
07:12 and somebody like Roy, who's, I don't know,
07:14 then he's not escaping criticism either, is he?
07:16 So that's your existence.
07:18 Like, you've got to understand that that never goes away.
07:21 It'll never go away.
07:23 And as long as you know how to deal with it,
07:26 and like I said, you don't allow it to change you,
07:29 then you can live with it.
07:31 - I appreciate that everyone's always learning all the time,
07:33 but is there anything that you've learned in particular
07:35 that perhaps the past few months?
07:38 - Well, there's a word I shouldn't use from now on.
07:42 (laughing)
07:44 So you're always learning, mate, you know,
07:47 even at my age.
07:49 And I've always tried to make it,
07:52 I've always tried to make it sort of,
07:55 you know, a pact with myself that,
07:58 you know, I'm never gonna stop learning,
08:01 whether that's about life, football, or anything else.
08:04 And, you know, I've enjoyed the experience so far.
08:08 It's been everything I've kind of wanted it to be
08:11 in terms of challenges and in terms of,
08:13 you know, the space I'm working in.
08:14 But at the same time, I think,
08:18 you know, the years of experience that I've had
08:21 have prepared me well for it.
08:22 - Matt, you've got nothing?
08:26 - Yeah, no, I just wanted to,
08:28 - Do you ever picture yourself lifting trophies,
08:31 as a more general question?
08:32 - I've got a lot of pictures, mate.
08:34 (laughing)
08:36 There's quite a few, though, mate.
08:39 - There's actually one thing you do.
08:40 - Where?
08:41 - A few pictures.
08:42 - No, I just look at the ones I've got, mate.
08:43 - You're lucky as to be able to do that, but--
08:45 - Yeah, no, I've earned them, I'm not lucky.
08:47 - You don't put them above your seat.
08:49 - No, no, no, I know what you're saying, but--
08:51 - I'm saying, is that what inspires you,
08:53 and spurs you on those pictures?
08:55 - I like--
08:56 - It's a debate between fourth, isn't it?
08:58 - Yeah, no, I get that, but I love winning, mate.
09:02 That's all I've done my whole career.
09:03 And I don't say that dismissively, that I've got pictures.
09:07 And I don't, but no, I don't have them on my ceiling, mate,
09:11 as you suggested, but that's what drives me.
09:15 Every year, I start the year hoping that,
09:18 at the end of the year, there is a picture of me
09:20 with a team and lifting a trophy.
09:21 That's what I've tried to do my whole career,
09:23 and I've got plenty of evidence of that.
09:25 So that's what my sort of intent is here.
09:28 It's not something that I have to visualize.
09:29 It's what I do.
09:30 - I suppose, with lifted trophies in the past,
09:33 are you keen on having those around us,
09:35 using those to motivate the players,
09:37 to show them what it's like,
09:38 or are you somebody who finds shy in them,
09:40 that are putting pressure?
09:42 - No, they're around.
09:43 They're around.
09:44 The people who've had success at this football club
09:46 are rightly honoured.
09:47 If you walk in the home dressing room,
09:50 that's the only pictures we've got up there.
09:52 Teams and individuals that have won things,
09:54 'cause we know how important it is to our supporters
09:56 and these football clubs, so they are on it.
09:59 You don't hide those things away.
10:00 You absolutely put them up as an example
10:03 of who we want to be.
10:05 - And because of Spurs history,
10:06 is it a bigger deal, the FA Cup, of this club,
10:09 that perhaps it would be other Premier League clubs?
10:12 - I don't know about other football clubs.
10:14 Again, I'd hate to think there'd be any football club
10:16 who wouldn't care about winning a pretty significant trophy,
10:21 but certainly for us, we're, like I said,
10:24 we want to try and win every competition we're in
10:29 because I think that's the kind of,
10:31 the stature of this football club.
10:32 - What do you do with your winners medal?
10:35 Do you use someone who has a little
10:37 trophy room type thing in your house
10:39 or do you put it in the access door?
10:41 - No, the thing is, like,
10:43 and to be fair, my wife's in Australia at the moment
10:46 and she's been moaning about it as well.
10:49 She said, "We've moved so much, mate."
10:51 It is, it's just, I don't have, like, a house
10:54 where you go, you know what,
10:55 I'd love to one day and they're all somewhere.
10:58 You know, I've still, obviously I've got the Celtic ones
11:02 'cause they've traveled with us at the moment,
11:03 but all the other ones, I don't know,
11:06 you know, they're somewhere, they're packed away,
11:09 but yeah, we've had an interesting sort of existence,
11:14 not a normal one where you have, you know,
11:17 your family home and I can set up my,
11:20 that'll come at some point, I hope, very soon,
11:23 but you know, we've been nomads a little bit
11:26 and you kind of live that sort of existence
11:28 with all your possessions.
11:30 I've got my family, mate,
11:33 that's the only sort of trophies I need.
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