00:00How far off is Tom Bloxham? I know he was back on the grass last week.
00:02Maybe a week, maybe a week, maybe next week at Exeter.
00:06Is that realistic?
00:08Yeah, it's realistic. What I've seen this morning from training, yeah,
00:12realistic that he can join in Monday, Tuesday next week and yeah, it's unfortunate he's picked
00:17up the calf nickel but we've got a box clever with muscle injuries and his is one of them.
00:23And Danny Murray, how long and what problem is that?
00:26He's got a knee which we don't think is, well, it's been scanned and we think it's going to be two,
00:31three weeks, so frustrating for Danny. But yeah, he caught his knee in the grass last week at
00:38Doncaster and unfortunately he tweaked it a bit. So thankfully it's not a really, really bad tear
00:44but it's enough to keep him out for two, three weeks.
00:46And finally Hubby, what's the problem there?
00:48He hurt a hamstring coming on last week and not really recovered.
00:52Obviously it does look pretty thin on the bench this weekend but are you calm about the situation?
00:57Yeah, we are. Yeah, we're a bit thin. As I said, look, we're five or six of the squad who,
01:04yeah, we're a bit thin and we know that we're trying to bolster the squad.
01:11That's been a frustration and difficulty because of the staggered start, as I've said.
01:15But look, we're doing our utmost to try and bring in the type of quality player. It'd be easy for me
01:22to go and go four or five, no problem. But you have to get a certain, we're looking for a certain type,
01:27a certain quality and it'll be worth the wait.
01:30Yeah, it's important to remain calm and look at what you've got.
01:33Yeah, yeah, look at the bigger picture. I have to look at the bigger picture.
01:36Every coach would love a full squad to choose from, singing and dancing. We'd all love that.
01:42It doesn't really work and especially now with this staggered start, with the big boys,
01:47it filters down to everybody and they're still on tour. A lot of them, the Premier League,
01:52are on tour with their young players. What are they doing with their young players?
01:55Does it interest the championship? Of course it does. And then it filters down to our end.
02:00So it's been a difficult, difficult transfer window because of that reason.
02:04You said if you do get anyone in before Saturday, they probably won't feature.
02:08So you've got a set plan in mind? Yeah, I've got a set plan in mind. Of course we have.
02:11But we could have a couple of them on the bench. We could have that, I would think.
02:18It's now Thursday. Can they get signed by tomorrow lunchtime? Quite possibly, we'll see.
02:23Against Doncastle, obviously you went to a win-back system. I know in the past you've not been the greatest fan of that,
02:27but is that under consideration again? Well, it's under consideration of what we've got, yeah,
02:31because we haven't got any natural white players, have we? So it's under consideration. I'm just taking
02:37my time on that one. It's something which, if we have to use it, we have to use it because I used it
02:43last week. If we have to, then it's not coming as a shock to the players because we've probably gone away
02:50from that. We know what we are, we know what we want to be and I think the supporters enjoy playing
02:57that way. We won't want to change, but circumstances, unfortunately, when we've lost, we're two white
03:03players and we've lost two with injury, maybe three, then we're up against it a little bit.
03:10People thought we were talking about a bit of doom and gloom, so we'll go positive.
03:12I'm not doom and gloom. I'm not doom and gloom. The season's upon us. It's used doom and gloom.
03:16It's, yeah, it's used doom and gloom. It's, yeah, it's part and part of football. It's a frustration,
03:24but I can assure the supporters, and you might help me on this, that of what we're looking at,
03:30by the end of the month, we'll be unrecognisable to where we are now. So I can assure them of that.
03:36It's a bit like Christmas Eve these next couple of days. Are you ready for us to start the new season?
03:39Yeah, it's all getting ready and geared up. Look, can we get off to a good start? We've got a really
03:44difficult month, and going into the first week of September too, with Luton in there as well.
03:49You know, Luton, Huddersfield, Bolton, all in the first month. Difficult starter, but look,
03:55we're up and getting ready for it, and that's what we've been working on over the last six weeks.
03:58Yeah, I think Luton and Huddersfield are top of the bookies at odds for the title. Are you up for
04:03challenging balls kind of teams and showing how good you are against them?
04:05Well, we've got to be, of course. You expect them to be with the resources they've got.
04:10But I expect us to be in and around it. That's why I've been brought in. It's what the owner wants.
04:15And let's see if we can achieve it.
04:18Yeah, at times last season, you really matched some of the top teams.
04:20I remember, obviously, Birmingham over Christmas, should have got some of the Wrexham over Christmas.
04:23So is it all about doing that again?
04:25Yeah, and that's the strength of the squad to deal with it. So we're wary of that too.
04:31Yeah, I thought we were there. We were close last year. Close.
04:36We weren't quite good enough. So we've got to try and improve if we possibly can.
04:40I think we've done that and certainly defensively in the midfield areas of what we're brought in.
04:44Now is the most important thing for me. Strikers, wide players, what can we do?
04:50And we're trying my best to see if we can get the best we can.
04:53You mentioned, obviously, the Lutons, Boltons, Huddersfields, but there's so many teams like that in this division that have been, obviously, in the Premier League and around.
05:00It's a really, really difficult division, you know, a really, really difficult division. And that's why it's intriguing. There's six or seven or eight teams you could all make a case for and hopefully we're one of them.
05:15Going back at the transfers, a few weeks ago, we spoke about Dale Taylor. Obviously, you've continued to be linked with yourselves and other clubs. Is there anything happening there that you can discuss?
05:22I think you know me by now. I think it would be wrong of me to sort out individuals. I can just assure the supporters, I think they'll be delighted of what we're trying to achieve. We're close to two, three things. So let's hope we can get them over the line very, very quickly.
05:42I know we spoke about his profile before and obviously we've seen, obviously, Rob was with the club before, but Carl Joel hasn't come in. Is that the kind of profile that does appeal to you as someone who's young and can be built up?
05:50Yeah, of course. I mean, yeah. I mean, look, everybody wants to buy a young player, don't they? For obvious reasons, you know, but they're not easy to come by, you know, and so we're doing our best. We understand what we're trying to do. Everybody wants a young player and we're no different.
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