Blackpool boss previews FA Cup test against Scunthorpe United

Blackpool Gazette

Ian Evatt looks ahead to Blackpool's FA Cup first round meeting with Scunthorpe United.

Transcript

00:00Obviously really excited. I got a little feeling for that at the Legends game in May.

00:08But yeah, it means the absolute world to me to be back here, of course. This is a fantastic stadium

00:15with so many fond memories for me and hopefully we can go on to replicate that. As I said,

00:22I'll take a second to take it all in but my focus is on winning the football match on Saturday and

00:27we're taking it very seriously and we know our responsibility to this football club to try and

00:32make that happen. I know you enjoyed the moment with the fans after the Peterborough game and

00:36obviously there's going to be the fans here on Saturday and then an even bigger crowd probably

00:39for the first league game so it's building up into that relationship between you and the fans again.

00:43Yeah and look, it is a good relationship and as I said, it's my duty to win football matches to make

00:49sure it stays that way. Yeah, I mean slightly out of my comfort zone with the fist pumping at the end

00:55but it's, you know, the players pushed me forward and it just felt like the right time and the right

01:00moment. It's the start, as I said, it feels good to get your first win of the bout and hopefully we can

01:07have many more. Not expecting a fist bump in regular length from yourself? Not that comfortable?

01:12No, absolutely not. It's not really my thing. You know, I let the players do the talking. It's

01:18it's their moment and the supporters obviously aren't there to support them but winning football

01:23matches is tough and throughout the week, you know, we draw the outline and the players have

01:27to go out there and paint the picture on a Saturday and perform and execute the game plan and I thought

01:33they did that at times well on Saturday, at times we need to improve, we know that but that was a

01:38special moment for them because they do care about this football club and the fans and the players

01:42have suffered so far this season so seeing that, you know, was really special for me.

01:46Obviously the FA Cup, Blackpool, past winners. Is there still a special feeling around this

01:51competition when you go into games? There always is. I mean, I'm a traditionalist, I love the game

01:56and I love what this cup means. You know, I'm a Coventry lad growing up and seeing Coventry win the FA Cup

02:03in 1987 is a memory that I still have as a kid, you know, what that meant to the city at the time and

02:10yeah, we are past winners and as I said, we have a duty and a responsibility to this club to

02:15try and win as many games as possible and just because it is a cup competition, it doesn't mean to

02:19say we're going to take it any less seriously. Yeah, could a cup run really help you sort of just

02:24to get a bit of that confidence that you saw on Saturday, that confidence to keep it growing?

02:28Yeah, I mean, winning games is a habit and yeah, we want to try and form that habit. That comes

02:35off the back of good process and hard work and I am process driven because I believe that if we get

02:41things right throughout the week and we can perform to the best of our abilities, it gives us the best

02:46possible chance of the right outcome and yeah, we've been doing really good work this week. I'm

02:51excited to see how the next couple of days shape up in terms of what we want to do on the training

02:57pitch and then go and execute it on Saturday better than what we did at Peterborough, which I'm very

03:02much looking forward to. I suppose Cup games, even though you're stepping back from that pressure

03:06of the league, obviously you've got a different kind of pressure. You don't want to be on the

03:10end of a giant killing. Pressure's a privilege for me. We are privileged to be here. I'm privileged to

03:15be the head coach of this football club. The players are privileged to play for this football club and

03:20we have to go out there with that attitude. We have to go out there and make sure that we

03:24give it the best possible shot we can and hopefully that's enough to get us through to the next round.

03:29Obviously Scunflops manager was here at a special time alongside yourself, so what was it like being

03:34part of that squad and is it no coincidence that we've seen so many of that squad go on to be coaches?

03:39It isn't a coincidence and that's credit to the squad itself and credit to Ollie for the education that

03:47he gave us. But yeah, I'm not surprised. I mean, it was a very, very special group, kind of a once in a

03:54lifetime group, really. I hadn't witnessed it anywhere else, really didn't get that feeling

04:00anywhere else. So, yeah, very special and very pleased to see so many of them go on to do good

04:05things in the game. What was Andy Butler like as a player here and does that sort of reflect what

04:09he's like as a manager now? I mean, I don't think he played too much because he had some very good

04:14centre-backs here, believe it or not. But yeah, I mean, he's a great guy. He was a really, really good

04:24player and brought many things to our squad really. And yeah, his team does resemble him, you know,

04:30really hard working, physically dominant, as I said, and that's what we're expecting on Saturday. So

04:37we have to match that and match their effort and intensity. And if we can do that, hopefully

04:42they're in some of the quality that we have. You spoke about obviously the battles you had

04:46within the squad during your time here. Obviously, are you hoping for the same now, especially at

04:50centre-back where Michael should be back for Saturday, so that gives you a different headache there?

04:56Yeah, I mean, the good thing is when everyone's available in this squad that we have different

05:00options. We have, you know, different types of players for certain roles and positions and

05:08League One and Cup competitions give you different problems. And then it's down to us to pick the

05:13right solution for the right problem. And yeah, having Michael back is huge. He's a fantastic player,

05:20very experienced and a good leader in the dressing room. So getting him used to me and what we want to

05:26do is really important, but there's quite a few in that boat as well.

05:29I think you mentioned George Henryman, James Hulzman, Hayden Coulson last week about

05:33players getting closer. Are they in that category of deciding between risk and reward this weekend?

05:38Yeah, exactly that. I mean, we know at the moment our priority has to be with the league.

05:45My league position is not acceptable and we need to make that better as quickly as we possibly can.

05:50But that doesn't mean to say that we don't want to win on Saturday. We certainly do, and we'll be

05:54picking a team that I believe is good enough to make sure that happens.

05:57With those names I mentioned, are they all fit to feature? Are they fit enough if you need them?

06:03Again, we'll monitor the next couple of days. Hubby, probably not. Obviously his injury is slightly

06:09more serious than the other ones, so we have to be more cautious. But the others are progressing very

06:16well. Again, it's how we get them up to speed as quickly as possible with being risk averse. I think

06:24that's the solution that we need to come up with. Is anyone else edging close, or is it also long-term

06:30with a peep on the list? People are doing well. I mean, Dale's doing really well.

06:35He's ahead of schedule. I think Al will be the same. Myles is quite a complex injury, so

06:42again, I urge caution with that. Again, he's doing great with his rehab and the physio team and

06:48medical department, sports science, are doing all they can to get them back to us as quickly as

06:53possible. But as I said, it's no good them coming back to us half-copped. When they come back, they need to be ready.

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