00:00A little reset after a difficult start to go again now.
00:02It certainly does. It's like a reset with people being fit and especially the last two weeks.
00:10All of a sudden I've got to leave. I mean, we know hubby's not around till Christmas,
00:15but I've got to leave three people behind and not traveling with us, which is never an easy
00:20conversation. Four weeks ago, we were struggling to name a substitute bench. So we knew we had to
00:29be patient. I couldn't tell the supporters that, just wait. With Josh, for example, we had
00:36to be patient and wait and hope that we would get him in earlier than we could. But I think
00:41from the back of our minds, we always knew it was going to be a late one. And then somebody
00:47like Scott Banks comes along and they've been made available from Germany. At the end of
00:52the window, it saw us bring in two quality players.
00:56Yeah, you've done a lot of change, obviously different styles, different formations because
01:00of injuries and stuff. So if you've got a settled squad, you know exactly who you've got now
01:04and everyone's pretty much...
01:04Yeah, I think so. I don't think I've changed in the nine months since I've been here, apart
01:10from the start of the season. And I think that was where we were at that particular time
01:16with injuries, white players, white players injured. CJ dislocating his shoulder at the
01:21rate at the wrong time. So the first game of the season, for example, we didn't have a white player.
01:26Now we've got four quality ones where we'll give us what we want and how we want to play.
01:32Plus the fact of a centre forward to join with Fletch and Niall. Then we've got the makings
01:39of a very, very good squad of players. And I've just said to my staff there, when I look
01:44at the squad, of course, I've got to make a big decision of leaving three behind. There's
01:49a lot of quality in it. We have to now put it to the test and OK on paper, we've got to
01:55put it on the pitch. And there's 40 games to go. We've had a difficult start, but I do believe
02:00we will get better.
02:01You've always wanted to play with wide players, but for whatever reason, no matter
02:04it seems what you've done, you've always been out there too. Now you have got well-stocked
02:08in that area. So does that feel like, you know, there's not going to be any backwards steps
02:12anymore in that position?
02:13Well, absolutely. We've got people who can, we've got to get them up to speed. A lot of
02:18the players have been not involved in pre-season, not involved training. They've been training
02:25with bomb squads or under-21s, whatever you want to call it. You know, so that's
02:30difficult for them, but they've had now a really good couple of weeks under their belt.
02:35We look a lot more settled and the squad is, as I said, taking shape.
02:41Yeah, Josh and Scotland, two new ones. What have they been like coming in? Are they fully
02:44up to speed, ready to go and start there?
02:46I can understand why Josh was a crowd favourite, that's for sure. You know, he's got a wonderful
02:54natural ability, which you can't coach. He's just got that little swagger, that
03:00really good wide players have got, and he can beat you. He just drops his shoulder and
03:03he's away. And Banksy is somebody who we've been associated with for a good couple of years,
03:10really. I think we've first monitored him at Bradford. We've kept an eye on him. We tried
03:16to get him before he went to Germany, so I believe, and unfortunately missed out. He hasn't
03:23had the best of times in Germany through injury, but he's played in the Bundesliga, so it tells
03:28you what sort of ability he's got. So, as I said, all throughout the squad now, fair play
03:34to the owner and everybody concerned behind the scenes. We've put together a very, very
03:40good squad of players. We now have to have that reboot like you're talking about to say,
03:45everybody's here. This is the way we're going to go about it. This is the way we're going
03:49to play and go and get up that table if we possibly can.
03:55Also, the two new guys came in on deadline day. Was that in anticipation of Malcolm going,
03:58you needed to get another wing going? Well, I think we're all really, really genuinely
04:02disappointed in what happened with Malcolm. I certainly wish him the best of luck with it.
04:09It was obvious that he was having problems settling in and there was a few personal issues that he
04:14had, so I think it was a wise decision for everybody concerned. We're disappointed that
04:21it's happened like that way, but it's best snipped in the bud and be dealt with and that's what we've
04:25done. How did the friendly go during the international break? Did people get the minutes in the league?
04:28Yeah, we got a lot of minutes under our belt and all the rest of it. There was a lot of good signs.
04:33Fraser Harsall was one of those who was out with injury before the break. He's played his first 90
04:42minutes, really, since the first day of the season. So, he's better. He's out of the boot. He still
04:50needs a lot of training, I still believe, but he's in and around the squad and that can only be a good thing.
04:56Yeah, there's a lot of increased competition over the next two weeks.
04:58We've got it now in abundance. We've now got two players for every position, basically,
05:04which is very, very healthy. We've got the squad in terms of numbers. I'm not leaving eight behind,
05:10I'm leaving three. So, we've got that bit of quality in all sorts of areas. As I said,
05:15we've got a squad of players who are as good as anybody in this division, in my opinion. It's up to
05:21us to approve it and start from now. We've had a difficult six weeks for whatever reason.
05:26So, let's get started, up and running. I've seen glimpses over the last couple of weeks,
05:32in particular, that we've got Macon's a very decent team.
05:35Obviously, you've got players back because of injury, but you've also got Nalannis back at
05:38the end of his suspension, so that must be pleasing.
05:40Again, you know, there's our luck. We didn't just lose one strike. We lost Fletch and him at the same
05:46sort of time. So, that's been where we've been for three weeks. It's been frustrating for everybody
05:54concerned, but as I said, everybody's trained well. Everybody's back. Everybody's looking good.
06:00So, it's now, let's get the season started. Two fit strikers and two options on each wing.
06:07Well, there you go. There you go. You've seen the problems. We've been, for one reason or another,
06:13it's been quite remarkably strange and difficult. So, yeah, but a long, long way to go.
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