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00:23Just before we start, we'll talk about this game and then we'll just do two or three questions at the
00:28end, which will embargo till lunchtime on Tuesday to preview the Preston game on the Wednesday.
00:37Andy, do you want to start us off?
00:39I do. Congratulations on the win. What are your thoughts on the performance and a very important win?
00:45I thought there was a good performance for lots of the parts of the game.
00:51I thought we didn't do well enough on the transition in the first half where we should get lots of
00:57more chances from what we've done.
00:59And when they transitioned because of the two different systems in the game and the way it played, when they
01:03transitioned, I thought their chances were better than ours.
01:06Obviously, the goalkeeper makes a great save. It looks like the centre forward should have probably scored with the one
01:11that hits the post, I think.
01:15But I thought we had opportunities to have big chances and I didn't think we'd done it as well in
01:20the early part of the first half.
01:21But the goal from Kieran just before half-time, I thought the game sort of toed and frod a little
01:26bit.
01:27It was an incredibly open game, I thought, certainly in the first half.
01:30And Kieran seemed to be just, his influence was growing just before that.
01:35It was growing. He was one of the ones who's done with making a couple of passes a little bit
01:38cleaner and better when we broke.
01:40But his goal was very good and, you know, I don't know what he got last year, eight or nine
01:45goals for us.
01:47So, it's a good start for him. You know, he gets off to scoring a goal.
01:51David, the thing that was so evident in the second half was, like, there was contributions from everyone.
01:56The second role, Hayden Hackney, Tyreek George, everybody seemed to play a part.
02:03And if you're going to progress, that's the template you've said today.
02:07Yeah, I mean, I've got to say, I'm really pleased with, I thought Hayden's performance was good.
02:11I thought Harrison performed well. I thought Merlin performed well.
02:14So, I think a lot of the ones who are relatively new to the team and the ones who I'm
02:19probably expecting to take a bit of time to settle, you know, breaking them into the Premier League in some
02:25cases.
02:25I know it's not the case with Merlin or with Tyreek, but it is still, they're very young in the
02:33sort of number of games they've got in the Premier League.
02:36You know, Merlin went in, has played right back and, you know, is doing as well as Emdy. Done very
02:42well.
02:42But you can't sort of underestimate the importance of the confidence that a win like that will give you today,
02:50coming through something difficult early on and then.
02:53Absolutely. You know, for us, I don't think we've won, I think you say for four years, I don't think
02:59we've won in the opening game of the season.
03:01Yeah, 2021.
03:03So, even for us and what we want to build here, and I said in the press conference on Friday,
03:09that, you know, we're trying to make the Hill Dickinson a bit more,
03:13where points total away from home last year was fantastic.
03:16And if we reach that again this season, we'll be in another really good position.
03:21We just need to make sure that our home form is a bit more regular if we can and get
03:27a few more wins here.
03:28So, to win today's was really big for us.
03:34Dave, you also said in the build-up to the game that you'd been struggling over the summer to get
03:38that kind of fade out towards the end of the season out of your system.
03:42Has that today done it?
03:44Yeah, it has.
03:45But I think that when you've been in it this long, you know, I'm always one of these people, you
03:49know, you don't want to miss a chance in football.
03:51Because when you miss the chance, it's, you know, someone else will take it and quickly.
03:56And, you know, for long, long times last year, I was sitting here saying, you know, we'll get an outside
04:00chance at Europe.
04:01And it got very close at one point.
04:04So, but today was, today was a great way to start it off.
04:07And, you know, I think because of the likes of Hayden Hackney coming in, Harrison, I mean, Harrison's 19 and
04:15played really well today.
04:16Hayden Hackney, I would have probably ideally sort of built him into the team, which I'd done with Phil Jagielka,
04:24Leighton Baines.
04:24You know, you could name bundles of them at that time when we brought the boys in the championship.
04:29And I don't think everybody should be expecting them to come and hit the ground absolutely running and be, but
04:35I thought Hayden and Harrison done a great job today.
04:38Hi, David.
04:39Can I just ask about Barry?
04:41It's obviously the perfect start to the season for him to get on the score sheet.
04:44Is that number nine shirt now his to kind of keep and maintain his first choice?
04:49No, I think, look, we, I think the centre forward shared the goals around last year.
04:56I've certainly won more from him.
04:58He scored a good goal and, look, strikers will be judged probably on their goals.
05:03So he can walk away and be really happy with it.
05:06I thought it would be wrong not to mention the quality of the cross from LENGI.
05:11You know, I mean, Tierno getting in the right spot was huge.
05:17And scoring with a header was really big for us because it was an important time in the game.
05:22And actually after that part, we should have probably gone on and got us, it looked like we were more
05:26likely to go and score more goals for probably the next 10 minutes after that.
05:31And that's the bit I feel as if we're needing to be better when we've got a chance to score
05:39more goals.
05:40We scored a bit better and finished it off maybe a bit better and got another goal.
05:44And in terms of his kind of development this season, what are the next steps you're looking at?
05:49Is it like more consistency?
05:50Is it finding that kind of ruthless streak?
05:52Things like his play.
05:53I need his build-up play to be better.
05:55I need him to be able to retain the ball for us so that we can play into him more
05:58often.
05:59I want him to get in the right spaces, which he did today for the cross.
06:03I want him to be in a position.
06:05He had a couple where the ball get played and he didn't quite deal with his feet.
06:08You know, sometimes he's out linking up when he doesn't need to be out linking up.
06:12So I think there's lots to his game.
06:14But I said last year, when you're a young striker coming in, I think he's come in with a really,
06:19really positive attitude this year as well.
06:21He's come back with something which has stirred him up a little bit more as if he's got something to
06:26prove.
06:26So today he got his goal and he started really well.
06:31Joe?
06:33Hi, David.
06:34Talked about how well some of the younger players stepped up today.
06:37But you also had some big moments from some of the more senior players as well.
06:39Brilliant save from Jordan Pickford in the first half at 0-0.
06:42Then obviously the goal from Keane and Dewsbury Hall.
06:45Just how important is it to you that those senior players do step up to provide moments like that because
06:49they've changed the games?
06:50Yeah, well, it was good because, you know, we've lost a couple at the moment.
06:55We've not got Jimmy Gardner, we've not got Norgaard.
06:57So we're playing with a really, really young and inexperienced team.
07:00The goalkeeper made a save, which could have made a difference.
07:02If they score, you know, we might have been having to chase the game in a different way.
07:06And maybe these younger players aren't ready for that.
07:08And not going to be, once we get the goal, they were able to play a little bit with a
07:13little bit more comfort.
07:14It was a brilliant save from Jordan.
07:16It really was.
07:17So he was, and I have to say, if I've got any praise for Jordan, you know, the training he's
07:24done when he come back,
07:25he's looked as sharp as a tack.
07:26I think he looks lean.
07:28I think he's kept himself in good condition or he's got himself ready.
07:34So I've liked to look at Jordan since he's come back into training after the World Cup.
07:38It was great to see James Gardner back in the squad as well today.
07:41How far is he off a start, do you think?
07:43Well, we wouldn't have put him on the bench if we had anything else only.
07:48So we've tried to get, I don't know, maybe 15, 20 minutes out of him today, whatever it was.
07:53He's not had any games.
07:54He's not done the preseason.
07:56But we've needed it because we don't have anybody else at the moment, you know.
07:59And I knew that if we got in the game like we did, you know, I might have needed him
08:02to cover for sort of more worried about their boys there.
08:07You know, they would tie her quickly, he'd in a little bit.
08:12But Harrison's got great legs, so we're not quite so worried about him and Kieran a little bit as well.
08:16So we needed him around.
08:17But is he ready? No.
08:20Hi, David.
08:21There's been a lot of talk about right back so far this summer.
08:23You mentioned that James has played there quite a lot.
08:26He isn't ready fit-wise.
08:28You know, Jacob Bryan on the bench as well.
08:29But Merlin got the nod.
08:31How do you feel like he did?
08:32And do you think it's something that he can develop into over the course of the season?
08:35Yeah, he's keen to do well and show us that he could be a right back, Merlin.
08:42And because of that, you know, we're happy.
08:45You know, he can play other roles for us, pardon the pun.
08:49But he can play other roles which mean that we can play him further forward.
08:55We can play him in a different way.
08:57He's got a different sort of level of athleticism to some of the other boys in some ways.
09:02And he's a good footballer generally and he can score if we get him closer to the goal.
09:08So, but he's also doing okay.
09:11And I was saying, again, I'm just referencing my press conference.
09:14I was saying that, you know, everybody's talking about a right back.
09:17So I'm saying, well, I hope it's better than Jacob Bryan.
09:20I hope it's better than Merlin Rowe or what they're offering.
09:24And obviously, we're always trying to get better than what we've got in every position, to be truthful.
09:29You're always, as a manager, you're trying to think.
09:31And it's not that easy to just go and get yourself better than how those two.
09:37Merlin in pre-seasons played really well and certainly deserves the chance to play.
09:41If you weren't able to get another one over the line, are you confident with the players who you've got?
09:46I mentioned, obviously, James and Jake as well as Merlin, that you'd be able to survive the season?
09:50Yeah, no, we definitely would like a right back.
09:53We would.
09:54But I think that we're all concerned about it because it's more that, so for example, today,
10:00while we're playing Merlin right back, I couldn't play him in midfield as well.
10:04So today keeps me short on numbers in midfield and I'm having to balance a little bit of what we
10:11want.
10:13Look, we can still play Jacob Bryan right back.
10:15He's proved, certainly against a lot of the quick boys, he's really good and he'll give us something if we
10:22need it in that position.
10:23But he prefers to be a centre-back.
10:26I'll take one more from you, John, and then we'll move on to this.
10:28It's only something little.
10:29Are you aware you sent the Prime Minister home very happy today?
10:33Yeah, I spoke to the Prime Minister on the phone, told him, lads, there'll be tax cuts and there'll be
10:38free beer for everybody.
10:42No, no, don't say that.
10:44But he'll not be coming back again.
10:49But no, actually, somebody put him on.
10:52Andy Gray came down into the office and his assistant, Peter Reid, phoned down.
11:00So, yeah.
11:04We'll just take two, three questions on...
11:07We'll just take two, three questions on...
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