00:00So John, the last training session in Slovakia, what do you make of the training calendar?
00:04It's been really good so far. The weather has enabled us to train a bit harder than we have in previous years
00:09because we've had the low temperatures and the rain. The pictures have been absolutely immaculate.
00:14The picture here today that you guys have seen, the ones you saw the previous couple of days out there.
00:19So really, really good in terms of the facilities and yeah, very, very pleased with everything.
00:23And the fans of course came down for an open training session.
00:26Yeah, brilliant to see them all here. I think a really good opportunity pre-season.
00:31I know we don't play the game on the away trip now, so really nice that we have the open training session.
00:35There's some English fans from Bratislava, English fans from Vienna.
00:40There's some Slovakian fans over here and obviously all of the staunch supporters that come out pretty much every year as well.
00:45So yeah, a nice opportunity. I think it's something a bit different, I suppose, for them to be able to see us train and see how we work day to day.
00:50And obviously you fly back tomorrow. What's the schedule then?
00:53Once we're back, it's going to be the weekend off for the lads off the back of the work this week.
00:59We've got a couple of runs we're going to send them home with to make sure that they're fresh and make sure they keep themselves ticking over.
01:04And we'll be back in on Monday ready for the games on Tuesday and Wednesday.
01:08So in fitness, everything's on track, is it?
01:10Everything's on track, yep. We're looking like we're in a good spot.
01:13We did a bit of a top up in terms of the runs after the training session today, but overall in really good space.
01:18And injuries, how are people?
01:20Good. We've got Colby and Langer who didn't participate in the session today.
01:23So Colby's just taken a knock, nasty bruising his ankle.
01:26Callum felt his hamstring slightly when we were back in England last week, so we've just taken him out things as a precaution.
01:32But I suspect both will be back in full training on Monday.
01:35Whether they play Tuesday or Wednesday, we'll wait to see. I don't think we'll risk either of them, but we should see them at Crawley.
01:40In terms of the other injury situation, Harvey's still on his rehab from the hamstring tear that he picked up at the back end of last season against Hull.
01:48And yeah, we're managing a couple of others. Reuben Swann's just throwing his hip flexor slightly.
01:53Iban, nothing to worry about, but we're just as a precaution to come out of the session today.
01:57Obviously, there's a couple of players up that aren't here. We'll start with Matt Ritchie. What's the situation there?
02:01Yeah, I think it's probably the cat's out of the bag with Matt. We had a conversation at the back end of last year and again a couple of weeks ago about Matt's role this year and the potential for playing time.
02:12And we basically ended shaking hands and saying that Matt's free to find other opportunities if available to him.
02:20You know, there's a real desire, I think, in Matt to still play and to still feature every single week in the Championship.
02:27And he was, you know, he's absolutely terrific for us last year in terms of everything that he did to get us into the position we're in now.
02:33But, you know, Matt's expectations versus mine or versus ours as a club didn't necessarily match up.
02:38And we thought rather than, yeah, make sure we end on a high and make sure we end with that relationship intact.
02:44And yes, see if Matt can go and explore pastures new.
02:47You say playing time. Was he expecting as much playing time as he had last season?
02:52You know, probably more. Even Matt's someone who's incredibly fit, incredibly ambitious.
02:57I think Matt started 28 games last season. I'm pretty sure if you gave him the option, he'd be ready to start 46 games the season after.
03:05So, yeah, there's definitely a hunger and a desire there, even at Matt's age, to play as many games as possible.
03:11And we completely respect that.
03:12Was there much of a disagreement?
03:13No, no, not at all. We ended up speaking very amicably about it and that's the best way to try.
03:19And I think what we wanted to avoid is having any disagreement further down the line if and when games started.
03:24So that was the best way to try and deal with it.
03:26So has he trained at all with you guys this season?
03:28Yeah, he trained for the first couple of days that we were back and then we had the conversation off the back of that.
03:33So we've just given him a bit of time to make sure he stays fit and give him the opportunities if anything arises whilst we're away.
03:39So how has he progressed in terms of potentially leaving then?
03:43To be honest, that hasn't been anything that I've been thinking about this week. Obviously we'll be really, really busy at the camp.
03:48So, yeah, that's something for the club and Matt and his agents to figure out.
03:52Obviously he's got a year left. Are you guys prepared to write off that year and leave him a free?
03:57No.
03:58So you'd like money for him?
04:00No, we don't need a fee for him. But we'll see how that pans out.
04:04And Abdoulaye Kamara's here, aren't there?
04:07Yeah, I mean, different situation to Matt. But Abdoulaye, we've had a conversation around what that looks like for him this year.
04:12Abdoulaye Kamara needs to go and play somewhere. And yeah, we want to give him the best opportunity to try and do that.
04:17So we know he's not going to be part of the side and part of the squad this year.
04:22He needs to go and find something else. And that's the decision that, you know, again, very amicable.
04:28And we shook hands and, you know, Abdoulaye Kamara's looking for other opportunities.
04:32Obviously he came over here with high expectations. What was the issue there with him?
04:36Sometimes things just don't work out for whatever reason. And a lot of that is on myself and the way that we changed the playing style towards the front end of last season.
04:45And probably recruited abs for a certain role that we didn't end up using.
04:49So, you know, plenty of, I've always acknowledged that there's plenty of blame that I'll take for that.
04:54And yeah, sometimes these things just don't work out.
04:56Did he settle in in this country, would you say?
04:58Yeah, I think he did.
04:59And then how was he in training as well? Because obviously we haven't seen too much of him.
05:03Absolutely fine. Yeah, no issues with abs at all in training. It was just a case of the way that we were playing and the situation we were in last season.
05:10And what we anticipate, the playing style and how we're going to be this season, they're not really fitting abs in his strengths.
05:15Is there much interest in him?
05:17Again, nothing that I've been too focused on this week. I've been focused on the training pitch and everything off the pitch is taking care of itself.
05:23As you say, a lot of good players have arrived in the last few years. Some don't work out, do they?
05:27It happens. Even when we had success in the first season in terms of getting promoted, there were plenty of players of the 14 that we brought in that aren't here today,
05:37where it didn't necessarily work out for them and plenty that contributed in different ways.
05:40So everybody that we signed, I think, has definitely contributed in a certain way, whether it's, you know, we spoke about some players where it hasn't necessarily worked out,
05:51but they've still made huge contributions in small ways. And that's been very, very important for us over the past couple of years.
05:57And finally, Nathan Fugles is here. What's the situation with him?
06:00Just having a look at Nathan. He's been here for the last couple of weeks and I think we'll try and find a spot for him in the games on Tuesday and Wednesday.
06:06And then go from there.
06:07Are you going to assess him as it goes on then? Is there a chance he might stay apparently?
06:11Yeah, we'll just keep assessing him day to day. I think the games will be really important to see where he's at.
06:15What does he bring? What sort of player is he?
06:18I think he was a player that had a huge amount of talent early on in his career, burst onto the scene and, you know, got a very, very promising move at a young age.
06:26And unfortunately for Nathan, it's just been injuries that's held him back since then.
06:29And so the most important part of this pre-season for Nathan is making sure he gets through injury free.
06:36And then, yeah, we'll assess that for the back of it.
