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INTERVIEW 51: Andrew
Archer |
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World Soccer magazine
caught up with Ipswich manager Andrew Archer after the match with
Barnsley and was asked his thoughts on the season so far.
WS: Good afternoon Andrew thanks for taking the time to speak with
us this afternoon
AA: It’s a pleasure
WS: So then Andy, how do you feel the season is shaping up?
AA: I feel that we have started really well, everyone expected us to
struggle but we have got out of the traps quickly so to speak.
WS: Why do you feel your fortunes have changed so quickly over the
summer?
AA: Well we made a couple of great signings in Shay(Given) and
Helder (Postiga) and this has given the whole club a lift
WS: How do you rate your chances of success this season?
AA: Well, if we continue in the way we have begun, I can see us been
there or thereabouts come the seasons end.
WS: What was the argument with Matt Walling all about last week?
AA: Things were said and the media blew it out of all proportions I
feel that it is over and I will say no more on the subject.
WS: On the game at the weekend, how do you feel your side performed
after the disappointment of last weekend and the capitulation at
Leeds?
AA: I feel that we played exceptionally well, it was pleasing to see
Saviola get on the scoresheet and we were solid from back to front.
WS: What are your thoughts on the forthcoming KO cup game against
Blackburn?
AA: They have had an indifferent start to the season, and will be
looking to beat us and kick on from there, however I feel that if we
play well we are capable of beating anyone on our day, and with
Postiga back, we have a chance
WS: Many people had tipped you to finish in the lower reaches of the
table at the start of the season, what is your response to them?
AA: The response to them is quite simply wait and see. I know the
strengths of my squad, and I know we can go far.
WS: So who do you think will be challenging for honours come the end
of the season?
AA: I think it could well be Coventry’s year, and I hope that we can
carry on our good run of form and mount a challenge to them, but
don’t write off Barnsley especially next year when their squad comes
together Matt Walling is doing a good job down there and despite our
differences I still feel he is a good manager.
WS: One final question, where are you gonna finish in the league?
AA: First place, for sure and we’ll win the cup aswell
WS: OK Andy whatever you say, cheers for talking to us
AA: Always a pleasure |
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INTERVIEW 52: Matt Birch |
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BBCi "Newcastle
boss Matt Birch joins BBCi for a live web-chat. Welcome Matt"
MB "Moahahahaha haa haaaaa
haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
BBCi "Sorry, that was a bit
crap! Right, first question is from Richard who's 45."
Jake "Matt, will you stop
making so many bloody transfers. I've got four sons who are all Toon
fans and want replica shirts with their favorite players name on
them. I'm almost bankrupt trying to keep little Daz, Terry, Simon
and David happy."
MB "I am an economics
graduate as well as a soccer genius Richard. I had planned on this
and the club shop coffers are doing very well out of the replica
shirts!"
BBCi "You robbing git Matt.
Next we have Jim, 20 from
Leicester"
Jim "Matt, I've been a
massive, massive fan of yours ever since you first hit the scene a
few years ago. Have you any advice for youngsters wanting to get
into the management game?"
MB "Well Jim, just be
realistic about what you can get out of your team and plan well
ahead. Don't expect to immediately have the level of success I've
had, take it one step at a time and try and progress bit by bit
every season."
BBCi "Good advice Jim. Take
it from the expert.
I think we have Adam from
Ipswich now with a question"
Adam "Boooyaa, Birchy in da
place... big uppa, respect to da man in da Toon army van... da man
wid da plan... he's a"
BBCi "Adam, do you have a
question?"
Adam "Sorry. I just wanted
to ask Matt how does he have time to coach his team when he has all
da ladies chasing after him?"
MB "What do you think I
employ my assistant for? I get a few hours good shagging in while
he's doing the physical training with the players. That still leaves
me a couple of hours per day to run the lads through the technical
aspects of the game. Obviously if I accepted every offer I got from
the ladies, I'd be at it all week so I have to be seletive about
which lasses I take back to the managers office."
Adam "Peace out"
BBCi "Indeed.
Right, next question is
from accross the pond. Let's hope Gabriel has more brain cells than
young Adam!"
Gabriel "Matt, are the
rumours true that you are signing Arsenal pair Viera and Ronaldinho?"
MB "I'm afraid that this is
just tabloid hype. Obviously being the reigning champions, every man
and his dog wants to come and play for us but I take a look at each
player and see where he fits into the Newcastle squad. I'm afraid
that those two would struggle to make the bench here and at the
prices quoted for them that is just not an option for us at the
moment."
BBCi "Simon from Rotherham
has a question"
Simon "Oreyt Mr Birch, Sir.
I am a big Liverpool fan. How do you explain their rubbish start to
the season and will you please go and manage them. It's about time
we had a decent manager."
MB "Sorry Simon, I'm
staying firmly put at Newcastle till my contract runs out at the end
of the season. Then I'll weigh up my options for the future. And I
attribute the poor 'Pool form down to nothing more than bad luck.
Bad luck they have such
crap players and bad luck they such a poor management team"
BBCi "Very true.
I think we have young Jamie
with a question now"
Jamie "I have heard stories
that the size of a players testicles relates inversely with the
success they have on the pitch. I have been closely watching the
packages of all the Premiership players and it seems that most of
the Toon players have pea balls. Is this something that you have the
physio check during pre transfer medicals?"
MB "Jamie, I think you
should spend less time worrying about mens genetalia and more time
looking at girls. Try
www.teeniefiles.com"
BBCi "I think we have time
for one last question. This one's from Terrence who's from down
under."
Terrence "G'day Matt. I've
read many news articles about your private life, your drunken strip
teases etc. How come you get away with it and poeple still think
your god's gift? I have half a shandy and everyone thinks I'm a prat"
MB "Some of us just have it
Terrence, some of you don't."
BBCi "On behalf of the BBC
and your millions of adoring fans around the world, thank you Matt." |
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INTERVIEW 53: JP Thompson |
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In the first
instalment, Radio 5 reporter and fellow blues fan, Susan Bookbinder,
interviewed the Man City boss to find out how his thoughts on the
new season:
SB: Hi JP, good start for you in Division 1.
JP: Hello Susan, yeah, overall I’m pretty pleased with our showing
the league. Some might argue that a couple of the top teams have
under-performed but that’s not my concern. Our home form has been
fantastic but I was equally pleased with two draws away from home
against teams that were in the top division last season. Hopefully
the lads can continue their good form.
SB: Mixed luck in the cup though?
JP: A lucky win against the Toon, even if it always gives me great
pleasure in beating Matt Birch and an abysmal performance against
Bradford. I was not happy with the players for the way they
collapsed against a supposedly weaker side. That result goes to show
that the cup will throw up more surprising results. To be honest if
we qualify for the next round it will be a bonus, I’ll be using the
remaining matches to try out a few things.
SB: Is this where new signing Torrado comes into the equation?
JP: Yeah, he adds another dimension to the squad and I’m very
pleased to have captured his signing, especially when you look at
his stats in Division 2. I’m not unhappy with my squad, I just felt
that with the new options available in making the team, I didn’t
want our team to become totally predictable.
SB: So fans can ask you why did you allow the likes of Ortega,
Kewell and Lucio leave?
JP: I don’t regret any of those players leave and I’m glad they’ve
found success at their new clubs. The sales of Ortega and Kewell
allowed me to make the signings that propelled us to the
championship last season and has provided the platform for this
season. Those three players have allowed- Breen, Finnan who has been
replaced by Torrado, Basturk, Enrique, Hughes and Stewart to come
here. I’m happier with my squad now than at any time before.
SB: Well thanks for your time JP and I invite listeners to tune in
next week for the next part of the interview with the Manchester
City boss. |
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INTERVIEW 54: Adam Pyke |
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INTERVIEW WITH A
MANAGER - Adam Pyke (Nottingham Forest)
KO - Adam, Your still without a league win so far this season, is
this a worrying sign?
AP - Not at all, we have shown signs that we can compete against the
bigger teams in this division and although I have made our aim to
avoid relegation I'm sure we can finish mid table.
KO - A quick word on your reserves who don't know how to lose, they
look to be coming along great.
AP - Yeah, so far undefeated this season with 3 wins and a draw and
I can't be happier with the progress they have made, top of the
reserve league and they are pulling in large crowds too so that
can't be bad.
KO - One Forest player has found himself involved in a lot of
transfer specualtion over the last week, is there a deal imminent?
AP - Well, i'm sure your talking about Simon Francis and I can
confirm that Matt Birch at Newcastle has contacted us a number of
times about his availability and i'd like to assure all Forest fans
that Simon won't be going anywhere unless it is a ridiculous offer
that we can't reject.The board are more than happy with our current
financial status and we arent in a position where we have to sell a
player to stay in the black.
The board and myself had a long discussion before this season where
we outlined our objectives to push the club forward and in selling
Franny it would represent a big step back.
KO - Also on the transfer front, You have brought in young
FS_Pongolle from Tottenham for £5.5 million, how is he settleing in?
AP - The lads welcomed him on the first morning of training and is
getting on well with his coutryman Mikeal (Silvestre)You can see how
much he is enjoying his football with 3 goals in 2 games and i'm
happy with his general performances and he looks like a player for
the future.
KO - With the arrival of Sinama (Pongolle) does this spell the end
for out of favour strikers Bobby Zamora and Jack Lester?
AP - No, I've always felt that we were light up top and struggled
when Carl (Cort) was unavailable so i'm now happy with my lads in
attack and they can only go forward from here.
KO - Well thank you for your time Mr. Pyke and may I wish you luck
for the rest of the season.
AP - Cheers guy. |
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INTERVIEW 55: Gabe Frail |
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Arsenal Football Club
manager Gabe Frail sat down with BBC Five's Mark Chapman to discuss
the Gunners performance thus far and the outlook for the remainder
of the season.
MC: So Gabe, you have had a quite a run of success, starting back
really from the run out of last season, winning the Cup Final and
into the first 11 matches of the current campaign. To what do you
attribute this run?
GF: Well Mark, obviously good fortune, or more to the point luck,
but honestly I think that some of the sacrifices of key players in
the past to gather depth is finally paying dividends. Rather than
having a handful of ringers that would blaze hot at times and enable
us to romp but then go cold and make us very beatable. We have
depth, even if not so much in numbers like some other clubs in the
league, the versatility of the current squad has enabled us pull out
wins and draws that we would have previously dropped with the poor
performance of our strikers.
MC: So for example, this most recent Cup tie with Watford?
GF: Precisely! I didn't enter that match expecting Ashley Cole to
knock in the one and only score of the match, but the fact that he
could is more to the point. Of course I'm not excited about winning
this way to a clearly overmatched side, but the simple fact is that
we earned 3 points and won our group without a real strong push from
anyone else in the group.
MC: Now you say you're not excited about winning matches this way,
but that seems to be the way your team is finishing many matches of
late. Are you at the point of starting to worry that one of these
results won't bounce your way?
GF: Well, teams get up to play us. We are the hunted now, which is
new territory, but something which we don't mind finding a way to
deal with. I'll admit to not fielding the strongest team against
Watford as I felt a win wasn't needed to secure a qualification
spot. But I still fielded a team that I knew could win. Watford
brought out their best game because they could have easily lost out
on qualification with a loss. They are lucky that Tottenham was
unable to secure more than a point. Yes, other results have been
close but that goes hand in hand with being a defensively-based
team. You try and score just enough to gain the lead and rely on
your defence to hold your opponent off.
MC: Yet you play a very aggressive style of football. Isn't that
somewhat a contradiction to the concept of playing defensively?
GF: Not necessarily, I think of it as being proactively defensive
rather than reactive. I think that is one mistake that we made in
the past which is why we are not losing the close decisions like we
have in past seasons. I'd like to think that our defence builds the
pressure up and enables our midfielders and strikers to have room to
make plays. If the scorers are unsuccessful, our defenders are then
properly positioned to score, themselves. It's all about taking the
initiative in a match. I don't mind losing the possession battle, as
long as our opponent is possessing the ball on their end of the
pitch.
MC: Rather risky ploy isn't that?
GF: Oh yes, by it's very nature, which is why the extent of it's
implementation is tempered by the opponent.
MC: Now you are playing host to Liverpool this week, the third
challenger of the so-called "Top Four" of which you are a member,
but also the preseason favourites for the table topping position
which you currently occupy. So far you dispatched Manchester United,
although without vanNistlerooy, and held Newcastle United to draw at
St. James Park without Ashley Cole or Marcus VanBommel available to
you. You are fully fit, but isn't this the toughest challenge you
have had, possibly the match that will decide the debate on whether
your club has earned it's position and respect?
GF: Well firstly, I must say I'm surprised it took this long for
your Manchester United bias to creep into the conversation. We were
fortunate in that match, in many respects. Now whether we would win
head to head with the Dutch dolt in the lineup can only be guessed
until our trip to Old Trafford later this season. The fact that we
have not fallen to any other division team is what makes the
difference. Now their only other loss came to Liverpool, this week's
opponent for us and the only Premiership team we have not faced.
Newcastle are well coached but could only manage a draw at home to
us, not at full strength even I might at, and were shut out by Man
United to start the season, with a few other stumbles along the way.
They have beaten Liverpool though, so what I think everyone is
looking for is for one team to step forward as the clear favourite.
The 3 others of the top 4 have all lost a matches, I have not, and
anything other than a loss puts us up front. Easy to say, not so
easy to do, but I think we have as good a chance as any team to beat
them. regardless of the ridiculously high-profile signings they've
made to add to the power of that already superb team. Oliver Kahn
certainly presents a sterner wall than Marcos did, although if it
were me I would have gone after Kirkland in that deal rather than
Kahn. 4 tough defenders, a midfield to scare the piss out of most
opponents, and a good striking pair, although the lack of depth
could be an issue. It's not an inviting proposition to prepare for,
but that is what makes it challenge, which I would dare say is the
entire point of this business. Else, why bother?
MC: And the validation of your position?
GF: Well I deliberately ignored that Mark, but since you are asking
it again...I don't think any result will validate my position or
prove that I've just been lucky. My philosophy has always been,
"better lucky than good," but I would add that good fortune usually
favours the well-prepared. As I've said, a win or draw would make me
the only one of the usual top 4 in the game to come through our 3
results against one other without a loss. That in itself is a
statement. I've got to believe that is possible, again, otherwise
why bother? I expect to give my lads a chance to win every time,
regardless of the opponent or who I have available. Do I deserve the
top spot in the Premiership right now...yes. The reason beyond my
record is the consistency that it takes to keep from losing. If you
aren't losing then you are always in the hunt because you always
have a chance to break that deadlock, you are always earning points.
Liverpool will make that very difficult for me to be sure, but that
doesn't mean I'll fold and concede and just try and get points
because I'll still be in first even if I lose. Myself and my team
deserve our position because we go out and into each game as
winners. We are there to win, not just to play. Accepting defeat is
a loser's mentality. Winners win, and sometimes they may lose, but
losers will never win because they've decided their fate before any
action takes place.
MC: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
GF: MARK!?!
MC: Huh, oh yes, quite a valid point, erm, yes, anyway...
GF: Slacker.
MC: No need to have a go at me. So basically you're saying that you
expect Man United to win the title?
GF: There you go again, you are quite Fergie's little bitch.
MC: What?
GF: Oh, my mistake, you must lust more cleaning the crabs out of
Beckham's jock strap. How does it make you feel that dear old
saviour David has abandoned you for Spanish football, joined Real
Madrid to make it official that he is the sell out wanker that most
of have known he is for years?
MC: That's just bang out of order!
GF: Is it, then why so flustered? It eats at you, doesn't it? All
those years having to study up while Beckham had his tiny cock
sucked from the time he was a wee lad and had his game nurtured by
all the benefits usually bestowed upon a marked prodigy player. Now
sure, he's thick as shit and you are very knowledgeable, talented
and respected but you have never been hailed as the saviour of
English football. There is no film called "Bend it like Chapman!"
MC: What would you know about any of this, anything about football,
you Yankee puissant?
GF: Apparently a fair amount because I'm doing a fair job here, or
is that in dispute as well.
MC: Manchester United will have their revenge on you!
GF: Well, that may be if Ruud doesn't miss another penalty spot
kick.
MC: I'm finished with this conversation.
GF: Yes, best to quit before you get too far behind.
MC: This has been Mark Chapman for Kick Off PBeM Football Management
with the true arse behind Arsenal.
GF: Very witty. hehe
MC: Sod Off!
Extra Press Release:
Gabe Frail would like mention that he is actually a big fan of Mark
Chapman and his work but felt that his obsession with the Old
Trafford club, their manager and their former favourite son, David,
needed to be exposed. |
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