00:00Good afternoon everyone, welcome to our pre-match press conference to preview our game against Burnley.
00:05We'll start off with Alan from Sky.
00:07David, do we start with some injury news, how are you looking?
00:12Just about the same as we were at the weekend I think.
00:16Not too much change, so yeah, just about the way we were.
00:20Has Jarrod moved on a bit more?
00:22Yeah, they've all improved as we get on, you know.
00:25Jarrod's getting closer to the grass now and getting closer,
00:28so hopefully, you know, we hope we can maybe get them by the end of the month,
00:32but it might be a bit longer than that, we'll need to see.
00:35How do you manage this period now?
00:36Because I think you've got, you know, two away games and then three games in six days or something, you know, at home.
00:42How do you manage that?
00:43Well, you just go about it the way you would do at this time of the year for over many years of being in the job.
00:49I think it's always been the case.
00:51We've always had business, busy I should say, busy Christmas and New Year's.
00:55And it's what we do in this country, isn't it?
00:59And we have to find ways of managing it.
01:01I've got to say, it's probably felt a bit more difficult for many clubs and certainly the clubs who have been in Europe.
01:07We've got more clubs in Europe than we have in the past.
01:10I think they'll probably find it tougher than ever.
01:13But from our point of view, our toughness comes from probably just not having as many players in their squad
01:19and, you know, picking up an odd injury here or there at the AFCON.
01:23So they've really been our concerns.
01:28Yeah, Pep talked about putting pounds on when they go away.
01:31Is it a conversation you have to have?
01:33Well, no, no, no.
01:35Well, I hope they're not putting pounds on when they go away, that's for sure.
01:42I was reading the CEO's notes in the programme for the Arsenal game and he was talking,
01:48it felt like there was not going to be a lot of movement in January.
01:52I might be misquoting him there, you know, but that's what it felt like reading it.
01:55Have you got in your mind that you want to bring the players in in January?
01:59Well, I think in all the press conferences I've been in here and we're in again today,
02:03I've always said that, you know, I don't think that we'll be doing loads of business in January.
02:07If we find some players, we'll be delighted to do it and the CEO will be as well
02:13and so will the owners if we can do it.
02:15But I think it's more to do with, you know, trying to have a plan.
02:19The ownership wants us to have a plan and wants us to prepare and do everything in a certain fashion.
02:25So it won't be, I don't think it'll be coming up with loads of sort of quick fixes.
02:30And yeah, that's the way it's moving.
02:32You know, that's maybe some of the difference which is taking place at Everton at the moment.
02:37If an opportunity come up, is a strike or something that you'd like to bring in?
02:42Maybe I'd like to bring other things in as well if it came up,
02:45but we'll just need to wait and see.
02:47So, you know, we're not wanting to get everybody's hopes up.
02:50There's an awful lot of speculation and I sort of laughed at it a little bit.
02:55I must talk about Tim Rebunum and the way he's reacted to, you know,
02:59I think many people thought a bad game against Newcastle,
03:02but the way he's reacted to that in the last couple of games is,
03:05you must have been pleased with that.
03:07We like Tim.
03:08We think Tim's got a lot of really good attributes.
03:13I thought he played well at the weekend and we want him to continue.
03:16You know, there's other things we want him to do.
03:17We want him to improve.
03:20We're at him all the time.
03:21You know, we want him to keep his training levels really high
03:23and, you know, looking to play forward and, you know,
03:26make key passes when required.
03:28So all those other things were on his case as much as we can,
03:32but really pleased with how he's done
03:34and I hope he keeps improving.
03:38Just finally from me, Burnley, I think we saw against Bournemouth that clearly they're fighting for their lives
03:45and, you know, they got a draw right at the end of the game and, you know,
03:49that's always a good sign, I think, you know, that players are still looking to get something
03:53and they'll be a tough task.
03:54Yeah, I'm sure they will be in.
03:57Like over the years, Burnley, going to Burnley's always been a difficult game, you know,
04:00and it'll be no different.
04:03They've done really well.
04:04Burnley, they've got themselves promoted and I'm sure they're not going to give it up lightly.
04:08They want to keep fighting to stay in the Premier League.
04:10So I wouldn't expect to end another than a real difficult game.
04:14Thanks, David.
04:15Cheers, thank you.
04:16Thanks, Alan.
04:16We'll go to Fraser at Premier League Productions.
04:18How you doing?
04:19David, I'm good.
04:19Thanks to you.
04:20Just on that, obviously, they know how difficult it is having been promoted fairly recently
04:25and dropped back down to the Premier League again.
04:27But do you think that difficulty of bridging that gap these days is probably as hard as it's ever been,
04:33if not harder?
04:34Well, I think probably at the start of this season, as I said it,
04:37until you've seen how well Sunderland have done.
04:40And, you know, I lost out as the manager of Preston North.
04:45Then the three teams get promoted, Fulham, Blackburn and Bolton, who beat us in the final, I should say.
04:54And I think those three teams stayed up at that time for the next seven or eight years.
05:00So there is a different era now where it's much harder.
05:02I think probably the finance makes a big difference.
05:06And if you get up and you can stay up and continue.
05:10But, look, Sunderland this year are absolutely disproving the thing that, you know, it means if you come up,
05:16it's very hard to stay up.
05:18But I think in past history in the Premier League, that's been the case.
05:22And, look, Burnley have got every chance of staying up.
05:25It's not over yet.
05:26It's only halfway through the league.
05:27And, again, we understand how difficult a game will be.
05:31And, again, with that in mind, then, if somebody had said to you at the start of the season,
05:35given the season you'd had last year, you'd be going into Christmas right in the middle of the table,
05:39would you have been happy with that?
05:43Sort of.
05:44Sort of.
05:45I'm always hoping that I would get a little bit more.
05:49You know, a couple of weeks ago we were sort of, I don't know, fifth or sixth, you know, hoping to go higher
05:54if we could have won one of the big games recently.
05:56So, the way the Premier League is, you know, if you can win two or three games in the bounce,
06:00you know, it makes a big difference.
06:01We had a run of four games in the bounce where we won a few weeks ago, which helped us.
06:06So, I hope that we've got another couple of them to come in the season
06:09and we can keep sort of challenging near the top end of the league.
06:13Thanks, Fraser.
06:14We'll go to Julia at Radio Miss.
06:15Hi, Jo.
06:16Hiya, David.
06:17I don't know if you saw the game last night.
06:18There's quite a debate going on about inconsistencies around penalties, obviously.
06:22Fulham, it felt very similar to, you know, Barry's.
06:25Where do you stand on this?
06:27Do you think there are some inconsistencies?
06:28Well, I was actually half choking last night when I saw the decision given
06:32and, you know, where else wasn't.
06:35So, it feels as if it looks like, you know, certain clubs seem to get those decisions
06:39and other clubs don't.
06:40We seem to be the one of the ones on the latter side of that.
06:44But, I think there was one early in the season as well.
06:47I think it was Brentford with Van Dijk as well, quite similar.
06:49And, I think, eventually, it was given.
06:52So, no, we're disappointed it wasn't given on the day.
06:57We're looking at others, which look as if they have been.
07:00Is there a forum that you can speak about at this point in the season?
07:05I mean, I guess in the summer when they looked at it,
07:06I know there was a lot of changes in about how things would operate
07:09and things would be faster and all that.
07:12Is it too late in the season to discuss anything?
07:15I don't really know.
07:17They don't make it easy, whatever you want to know.
07:20They don't want to have a conversation about it, really.
07:22They will have, but they don't really want to
07:24because they find it probably very difficult to explain the decisions.
07:30Does a game on the 27th, as opposed to Boxing Day,
07:33change anything around Christmas plants for you in here?
07:36I think it might change a little bit,
07:38but it doesn't change much when you look at the amount of games we've got.
07:40I don't think it changes too much with the programme for many teams.
07:44I just think it's obviously Christmas Day falling on a Thursday
07:47and Boxing Day falling on a Friday.
07:49It looks as if that's affected probably the Premier League's deal with Sky TV,
07:54probably.
07:55So they're needing games for the weekends, I think,
07:57and that's where I think the effects come.
07:59There are reports about Dwight McNeil potentially going out this January.
08:03Is there a plan for players to leave?
08:06Can you afford for any players to leave this January?
08:08Well, I don't know where that's come from
08:10because unless somebody else has heard it,
08:12as the manager of the football club, I've not heard any of that.
08:15So it's difficult to answer.
08:17So there's no plan for that, no.
08:20And I guess with the numbers you've got and absences and injuries,
08:24do you not want to lose anyone out of your squad?
08:26No, I don't really want to lose MD.
08:28If we did, then we would probably need to add to it.
08:30And that would be the bit which we sort of discussed earlier,
08:33that it's probably going to be a – I'm not saying that we won't do business
08:38or we're not trying to do business.
08:39We certainly are doing that and seeing what's right.
08:41But obviously we're struggling with numbers at the moment.
08:45But that could change.
08:45In a couple of weeks we get a couple of boys back.
08:47We hopefully get Jared Brantwaite back soon.
08:51And we've just got Merlin Roll back,
08:53still needing to get up to sharpness and fitness.
08:56But at least we're getting some of them back.
08:58But look at all of these things,
09:01it's looking more like end of January, beginning of February
09:04before we get all this back together again.
09:06Thank you. Good luck.
09:07Thanks, Julia.
09:08We'll go to Carl at the Press Association.
09:11Hi, Carol.
09:11Just a quick one on Jared.
09:14He's been out for such a long time
09:16and he's now nearing fitness or return.
09:21Do you have to sort of factor that in?
09:23Is there a plan for him in terms of
09:25would it be an integrated return
09:27because he's been out for so long?
09:29How do you get it up?
09:31He's not due to integrate back in
09:33for at least another two to three weeks, maybe more.
09:36So it's not as if I'm getting him back quickly or that.
09:39I'm just saying it's beginning to look better than it was.
09:42We're getting closer to a point of that.
09:45But I think my bigger worry is
09:46he's missed so much of the season
09:47to get back into it,
09:49back into the swing of it quickly
09:51and those things that we need.
09:53But we need him back
09:54as even if just to have him back in the squad
09:57would be great at the moment
09:58before the numbers.
10:00So, yeah, but there is a plan for him
10:03and how he works
10:03and he's on that at the moment.
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