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00:00Morning Chris. Morning. You touched on Saturday about it being a tough 48 hours for the players after Saturday.
00:06When you watched the game back and you obviously talked about what they could have done better,
00:10did you get that sense of ownership from them as well?
00:12Did they realise what they could have done perhaps differently?
00:15Yes, I was in a situation yesterday because when we came in, I was going to, you know,
00:19I talked to the coaches about, you know,
00:21shall we just park it and move it quickly on?
00:24Because it's something that's not really happened a lot this season,
00:27where we've not played well and not won.
00:30So, my discussion with them was, you know, that or do we stick it in front of them
00:39and have a painful 45 minutes and show there's no getting away from when it's on that big screen
00:48and highlighting stuff that we didn't do very well in terms of ball speed,
00:53in terms of not getting the centre-halves out, in terms of our positional work,
00:56in terms of our anticipation instead of a reaction, in terms of our quality right the way through.
01:06So, decision-making, everything.
01:09As I said, it's not a game of FIFA.
01:12Players have got to make good decisions and they've got to be good out of possession
01:15and they've got to show the quality in possession and we didn't.
01:17So, I spoke to them, I spoke to the coaches and I said,
01:22will we be showing this in August, September?
01:25And they went, yeah, well, let's show it now.
01:27What's the difference?
01:28You know, players have got to be mentally strong enough to look and own it.
01:34We all are.
01:34We're all part of it.
01:36We're all part of the process and it was a painful, painful 45 minutes to watch.
01:41I've got to say the reaction, I didn't go around seeking reaction,
01:47but feedback through coaches and players, various ones, was, yeah, that's what we needed.
01:57It wasn't good enough.
01:58It wasn't up to the standards that we've set.
02:02We needed to see it.
02:03So, delighted in terms of that, that they are prepared to enjoy the moment on Friday night
02:12when we're walking off the pitch and everybody's talking really glowingly about how we played
02:15and how well we've done to accepting it.
02:18But, like I talked about Adam, there's accepting disappointment and receiving disappointment
02:26and accepting the criticism, but there's a level and I'm not going to stand up.
02:33I'm not going to not say anything in terms of, and I should imagine it happens at all clubs.
02:38I should imagine it's happened at Leeds United over the last three or four games.
02:43I should imagine it happened at Burnley when, I think one of their games when they were
02:48booing them when they'd drawn a game at home or something like that and, you know,
02:55singing a song, we've scored at home or something like that, just the way football is now.
03:00But I ain't going to accept it.
03:02And I suppose, you know, Daniel maybe wouldn't accept it internally and Scott wouldn't accept it internally.
03:09They'd both be not very happy about it.
03:11Whether they come out and say anything is up to them.
03:15But I think you know my character well enough now, Dan, after 10 years of talking to each other.
03:25So I'm going to back my players.
03:27So, yeah, we all took it.
03:29We all accept it and own it and have to take those disappointing situations on the chin
03:37and come punching back.
03:42You touched on something that I was going to ask about as well, that sort of consistent message,
03:45because now, in your experience, is not the time to rip everything up and go,
03:48listen, we need to start again.
03:49Everything's wrong.
03:50This is wrong.
03:50This is wrong.
03:51Go actually, listen, you know what?
03:53We're not bad here.
03:54You know what I mean, right?
03:54Yeah, we're all right.
03:55We're not bad.
03:56That's a good way of putting 85 points off the 40 games, over 2.2 games, whatever it is.
04:02Not bad for a team that's got chucked together.
04:04So, yeah, we're all right.
04:05We're all right.
04:06We're comfortable.
04:06We're calm.
04:08We're comfy in our own shoes.
04:10You know, we're all right.
04:11We have to stick to the plan.
04:14So, the highs and lows of football.
04:16So, it's important that messages from myself and the coaches to the players and the players internally to each other,
04:22to look after each other and go again on Tuesday night and produce, hopefully, what we can produce.
04:30As we know, Coventry game was an outstanding effort and I'm sure if we can produce a performance in and around there,
04:36then it gives us a great opportunity of getting a win.
04:39You talked about that reaction that the players are looking for in there and they'll be determined to put things right, won't they?
04:44Does that make you a dangerous proposition?
04:47Because you're a wounded animal, almost, in terms of...
04:50Well, we've got to produce it.
04:51I would put my money on it that we would produce a positive front footed performance.
04:56It's a little bit quicker, a little bit more positive and showing a lot more quality than we did on Saturday because they're good players.
05:04You can't legislate for stuff going on on the pitch and you're scratching your head and you're going,
05:08you know, Koss has gone behind the goal and there's a misplaced pass and free kick, no quality and slow and,
05:17as you put it and rightly so, ponderous at the back, hesitant and not being quick enough to move the ball and some poor decisions.
05:26So, I would go on past history in terms of players, where they've played the football and what they've done for this club
05:31and the qualities that they've shown here to replicate that in the last six games of the season.
05:38You know, current form, I think we're still in and amongst it.
05:43Last month's current form was outstanding.
05:48The form all season, to get to the position that we are, is outstanding alongside two other clubs.
05:55We're way ahead of everybody else, way ahead.
05:59Teams that are fighting in the play-offs, what are we, 25 points, eight, seven, eight wins ahead of teams like that
06:11and some good sides in there that are desperately trying to get into the play-offs.
06:15Some good sides in the play-offs and some sides that are nowhere near getting in the play-offs as well.
06:21It's going to be a season of mediocrity.
06:27We haven't got that because we've been really good all season.
06:31And we just have to, as I said, we have to deal with that disappointment and come charging back.
06:40So, yes, we're OK.
06:42No wrecking ball to it.
06:45Belief in the system, belief in the process and belief that we can win games at football this level.
06:54Yes, as you quite rightly say, you put some good players in that squad in the summer to add to the ones that were already here.
06:58But you put a lot of character back in as well, didn't you?
07:00Is this times like this where that's really important?
07:02Because, like you say, when the sun's shining and the ball's being played around nicely, it's almost not easy, but it's easier then, isn't it?
07:09It's times like this when those characters really come out.
07:12This time, Dan, as well, is not three or four games or five games where all of a sudden we've gone under.
07:19I can put my finger on it in terms of a lot of stuff where I can't put my finger on it all collectively,
07:27where they all come together and have a really bad day.
07:29So it's not Commentary and then Sheffield Wednesday and then a couple of games before or Preston or whatever.
07:37It's not something that's been coming, you know, we're in a great place.
07:41We just, on our day, all brought our five out of 10 game to the table and you don't see it coming.
07:53If I saw it coming, I possibly thought, shall I make changes or I need to do this or I need to do that through experience over a thousand games.
08:01You know, you see it, you feel it.
08:03I'm with the players all the time.
08:05We all didn't see it and I imagine the players didn't see it, but it happened and you have to deal with it.
08:09So it's not, like I said, four or five games where we have to reflect on it and, you know, they need to dig themselves out of a hole.
08:17We just need to be better on a few of the aspects of our game to get back up to the standard that we set.
08:22I've set all season and last set at home, which, you know, it's not a one-off.
08:27We can do that again.
08:29Yeah, and just finally, for me, we all know what Bramall Lane can be like at its best.
08:33I think against Coventry, it was really good, wasn't it, as well?
08:35They really got it.
08:36It was at its best.
08:37It was at its best as long as I've known it, whether it was Premier League, whether it was 1980s, whether it was Harry's time,
08:47whether it was us going up out of League One, us going out of the Champs, the Premier League year that we had, which was outstanding.
08:57What I watched and felt while I wasn't here and how it has been this season,
09:04on a par, I would say, to the local derby, which absolutely takes care of itself, it was outstanding.
09:11Outstanding.
09:12The energy that the supporters gave us, the backing that they gave us.
09:15I know that the away end's not going to be filled, and usually that is the case.
09:20I know it's a Tuesday night and people have got work and understand sort of that, but we've got three home games left.
09:28Blackburn game takes care of itself.
09:29Friday night, Good Friday, takes care of itself.
09:33This is a huge game for us and at its best, like it was against Coventry, it's a huge support, energy, belief and everything that the proper supporters give us.