What were your overall thoughts on Saturday’s win over Forest Green?
Obviously pleased. Pleased with the result first and foremost and pleased with the reaction from Tuesday night (2-1 defeat at Port Vale). The beauty of having so many games in a short space of time is that you can put the previous one to bed, which is what we wanted to do. There were a lot of good performances throughout the team, which we really pleased with. So the reaction was really good and it was important to bounce back quickly and get back on the horse, if you like, so we were really pleased with that.
Forest Green played with a back three and Oldham do too. Why do you think so many teams are using that system now?
The game is changing. It’s filtered down from a higher level and teams want to play out from the back and be more expansive, which is obviously leading to freakish results all over the place. You look in the Premier League and there are a lot of goals being scored. Teams are pressing from the front as well, which naturally leads to mistakes being made and teams being higher up the pitch winning the ball back and they haven’t got as far to go. It’s changing and the game is evolving, with a different style of football. One time it was all 4-4-2 and everyone played that. We’ve noticed over the last 18 months that we’ve been doing this, most teams were 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 then, but now there are 3-5-2s and all different types of things you can tweak in that too. We have to do what we can do and do it as well as we can and the good thing with us is we’ve stuck to a similar way of playing for nearly two years, with not that many changes. We’d like to think we are ahead of the game from the majority of the clubs. Personally I like the way the game is going, with teams trying to play out and taking risks. It’s good to see.
You lost at home to Forest Green exactly a year ago, but the response was very good. Now you have beaten them, how important is it to kick on now?
We have got rid of that 22-year stat now, or whatever it was and we’ve only been in their league for six of those seasons I think. But yes you want to crack on with the next one now, plan what we need to plan, keep the boys in a buoyant mood and don’t come off what we do too much. We will be aware of what the opposition will try and do, but it’s important we focus on what we do and do it as well as we can. By and large, the boys have been very good up to now, third in the league and it’s nice to be in around it and keep things ticking along. With the amount of games we’ve had you have to manage the group and monitor who is where fitness wise. Fingers crossed we haven’t had too many. We’ve had Finn (Azaz) out for a little bit and Sean Long was always going to be a long-term one. Other than that people have been in and out so we’ve been able to manage the group quite well and adjust it in training and keep moving on. It’s always good if you are winning and you are always looking forward to the next game. We will certainly be looking forward to Oldham on Tuesday night.
Matty Blair was back on the bench on Saturday. Is he in contention for Oldham?
Yes, Blairy has reacted quicker than we expected, so we are pleased with that. It was never going to be anything too major, more a precaution when he came off. He has a high energy game so he needs to be in tip top condition, but he’s a fit lad and he was a late one for the bench on Saturday. He’ll be in consideration yes. We’ll see what we go with after training. It’s good because we have decisions to make. There are lads in good form and lads who have been in and out, coming off the bench have done well too. You want that competition.
The youth team are in FA Youth Cup action on Monday night. Will you be there to watch them?
Yes, we’ll have a look at it. It’s where I started, with the youth, so it’s always good to cast your eye over what’s coming through and give our support to Pete, Antoine and the rest of the guys there. Yes, it’s against Tuffley Rovers and you can’t get much more of a local derby than that. Hopefully there is no banana skin in it and they give a good account of themselves. They did well last year, getting through a few rounds and playing Arsenal in the end and hopefully they can have a similar run again.
Have you been given any indication as to whether the South Shields game will go ahead next Saturday?
We haven’t been given any assurances yet. It’s down to National League North and South that’s definitely okay to go ahead. We will plan for Oldham first and then look at that one after that. You have to plan as if it’s going ahead. Things are up in the air, but hopefully we can play it. They are not a bad side, who are full-time and all the accounts we are getting back is that they are not a bad team at all, so when we do play it we’ll have to give a good account of ourselves again.
