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Welcome to
"Interview With a Manager", a feature on the website that
will publish any interviews that Kick Off have with any of
the managers in the game about anything at all to do with
Kick Off!. Remember, any managers posting an interview will
be paid £500,000 into their clubs balance. |
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THIS WEEKS INTERVIEW:
Matt Walling |
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Ahead of this
weekends televised match at Valley Parade the Sky Sports News team
caught up with Barnsley manager Matt Walling to get his views on the
season ahead with the Tykes, as well as giving his thoughts on how
the season will progress across the rest of the football league in
the coming months. Chief football reporter Nick Collins met up with
Walling at the South Yorkshire clubs training ground earlier this
week.
NC – Hello Matt, first off why don’t you tell us how your pre-season
went, and what the mood is like in the camp ahead of this crucial
season in Division 2?
Matt – Things have been progressing quite nicely for us, we only
just missed out on promotion by 3 points last season so we know that
we have the quality in the squad to challenge for a top 2 spot.
We’ve been able to bring in 4 players so far and that really adds
some much-needed depth to the squad. All the lads are in great
spirits and there in a great feeling in the dressing room that this
will be our season.
NC – You’ve been widely tipped for promotion this season, is that
your main goal? And who do you think your main rivals will be?
Matt – The last couple of seasons has been a real rebuilding
exercise at Barnsley, we needed to go in a new direction, and that
involved shipping out some of the deadwood and bringing in fresh new
talent from around the leagues. Of course by playing some of these
younger players the results on the pitch have suffered slightly, and
it’s only now that we are beginning to see the fruits of our
labours.
I believe that this is the best squad I’ve ever had since I began at
Barnsley and I’ve finally got things to how I wanted from the start.
Promotion has to be our main aim but it’s not something that I
expect will be easy. Division 2 is now a very competitive league
with some great teams, and it could be quite a dogfight at the top
come the end of the season. I fully expect Chelsea, Birmingham and
Sheffield United to be up there challenging with us, so it’s going
to be tough.
NC – You’ve already picked up your first points of the season
beating Birmingham at home last week, how big of a lift was that for
you?
Matt – It was a great feeling when the final whistle went. We didn’t
look great at all against Birmingham, looking back I think we were
quite a way off with our tactics, but that’s always the way it goes
on the opening day of the season, it’s more of a lottery. I’m very
encouraged by the fact that we still took all the points despite our
lack of quality on the day, I believe that is the sign of a good
team high on confidence.
NC – Who are going to be the key players for you this season?
Matt – At the moment I believe that there is quality throughout the
whole squad, but we have some terrific individuals too who are more
than capable of taking the game by the scruff of the neck and
pulling results out of the bag for us. It’s going to be a big season
for Calvin Makongo and Lenny Pidgeley; they’ve both been here for 2
seasons now and have come on leaps and bounds. Their talent is there
for everyone to see but now is the time for them to step up and
really show what they can do. Along with Maldini and Oddy they form
the backbone of the team and they are crucial to our future success
I’m sure.
NC – There has been quite a lot of speculation in the tabloids that
some of your youngsters have been linked with big money moves to the
premiership, namely Pidgeley. Is there any truth in this?
Matt – It’s true that we have received some very substantial bids
for Lenny, but then again I’d be worried if we hadn’t, it just
proves that everyone can see how much quality he has. At this moment
in time he and Calvin are not for sale. Both have recently signed
new 4-year contract extensions, and as far as I’m concerned they’ll
be staying for the duration of that contract at the very least.
NC – How big of a signing is Voronin going to be for you?
Matt – Absolutely massive. I believe that there was way too much
pressure on Makongo up front last season, and that restricted him in
his play. A big target man was my number one priority, and when I
found out that Andrei was available I knew he was just the player I
wanted. He brings a real presence to our front line and I’m sure he
and Calvin will form a lethal partnership in the coming years. Our
front 2 is the envy of most other league clubs, and it’s only going
to get better with time.
NC – Moving on, how do you see the other two leagues panning out
this season?
Matt – I think everything is stretched out evenly across the whole
board; it’s very difficult to pick out who’s going to do what this
season. As far as the premiership is concerned I believe that
Manchester United are looking very strong indeed, they’re certainly
favourites in my eyes at the moment. Though I’m sure Newcastle and
Liverpool will have something to say about that.
Division 1 is very tricky. There are some really great managers and
the league is incredibly tight. At the moment I’m going to say Spurs
and Manchester City for the top 2 spots, at the bottom it’s going to
be a long old season for Ipswich, who were rather fortunate to win
promotion last season, but it will be interesting to see what Andy
has in his locker as the season goes on.
NC – Well thanks for your time Matt.
Matt – My pleasure. Any time
NC – You can catch all the action from Barnsley’s trip to Bradford
live on Sky Sports 1 on Sunday from 5pm. |
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