Joey, that felt like a big three points at full time as you celebrated with your supporters.
Yeah, a big week for us. To win four games on the spin in this division is a big achievement. To win three games in the week we’ve had when there’s been a lot of emotion.
The boys went to Cheltenham. They had a day at the races. We trusted them and then they came and put on that kind of performance. A real tip of the cap for what a group of men, what a group of young men. What a really good team ethic and spirit we’ve got building here.
As I say, you're going to be tested when you come here. Northampton are a good side. They ride where they do in the division because they’re very effective at what they do and we had to stand up to that challenge today. I thought to a man we were outstanding.
You’ve played some attractive football this season, but it was a battle out there and you stood up to that challenge.
Before the game you could see they hadn’t cut the pitch. We were warming up on it and you could see it was lively. They didn’t water the pitch either. A major part of their arsenal is Pinnock’s long throw and the set pieces and we had to defend them properly.
There are many many ways to play football. If I’m honest, would I pay to come and watch them? No, I wouldn’t. They’re awful to watch, a glorified rugby team. They’re not pretty on the eye, but they’re effective and they could get promoted.
As I say you don’t get any points for stylistic creativity in this division. You have to grind out results. As I say Jon’s got them organised. They’ve picked up loads of points. That’s the first time we’ve kind of gone above them in the table.
You have to find many different ways of winning League Two football and as you’ve seen our lads have got the bit between their teeth and have real maturity way beyond their years.
That was your quickest goal of the season. How pleased have you been with Harry Anderson since his return to the side and a goal that is his sixth of the season?
He’s finally got that goalscoring touch. That comes hand-in-hand with us playing him in his natural position which is on the front line.
Harry is another one who played out of position probably for the first 20 games because we had injuries and we had to find different ways of balancing the team and Harry was moved around, he’s played left-back, right-back, wing-back and finally getting him in his best position has allowed him to flourish.
An opportunity came obviously when Sammy Nicholson, who’s been brilliant, got his injury. It’s been a real group and squad effort and we’ve got eight to go and as I say we’ve given ourselves a right chance.
We saw a side to your players that we don’t always see. Antony Evans was flying into some really strong challenges. There was some real fight to your players today, wasn’t there?
You have to, certainly when you’re playing teams in the top end of the division. It’s getting that first goal and managing the occasion in your first and majorly winning your second contacts. For us, we’ve got a lot of flamboyant, skilful and technical players but every single one of them to a man does a shift for the team.
I think of the tireless running up front from Aaron Collins today. It was his running that opened the opportunity via a mistake for Harry Anderson. Billy Elliot was superb again taking the ball in contact areas. Harry gets his goal.
The way the lads managed the game was superb. You wouldn’t think we had two 19-year-olds and 20-year-olds starting.
You said today that nothing would be won or lost, but how significant was today, a fourth straight win and you’re up to fourth in the table tonight?
For us, there’s a long way to go. There are going to be twists and turns. We’ve got to play some sides in-and-around us and we’ve got to play some sides fighting for their existence.
But again, we’ve just got to keep turning up for each other. Taking each game with that cup final approach over the last ten games.
We’ve been coming over the rails for a long time. We’ve just got to make sure we manage out the final part of the season in the correct manner. But as I said during the week you’d be a fool to bet against us, such is the team spirit and quality we’ve got.
It’s a great time after the terrible last couple of years with what’s gone on and the club getting relegated, it’s nice to see so many supporters again. I think we had nearly 1,400. It’s incredible. That is incredible.
They’ve got behind the lads and they get rewarded with a superb team performance and the club riding in the right part of the division.
Are you forging this relationship with the fans? You did the old Jurgen Klopp at the end.
I got really emotional after one game so I ended up doing it and then the next game they were going ‘Ohhhhhhhhh’.
I haven’t had that rapport with them. I really haven’t. There were times I was getting sausage rolls lobbed at me, cans lobbed at me and all kinds of profanity because the team weren’t getting results.
So the fans for me our massive. They really can make a difference and we intend to take them on a journey as a football team that inspires a lot of belief in the next generation of fans.
We want the next generation that are coming and we see them in the stadium in the crowd at the Mem. That’s what football can do in the doom and gloom and all the nonsense going on in the world, football is a really special place.
It’s one of the few environments where grown men hug, jump and kiss each other and I think the world needs more of that now.
People need more love and more care for each other in the world that we currently live in.
Joey, you came here last season in what was a similar staked game. The biggest takeaway I had from that team was its immaturity. It couldn’t manage a game to save its life. The game management there was outstanding. You’ve got those key lieutenants in key positions that are getting you through big moments in this season.
Yeah, that team was a lot shorter on confidence than this group. Confidence in football is everything. Fortunately, I’ve gone over that and kind of route-mapped that for anybody if you see old interviews there were cards on the table where that group was at.
This is a totally different team, apart from one or two. I remember the fans being behind that stand, there were no fans in here because of COVID. I was laughing come off at half time with Cian Harries because he’s been one of the 'Day 1s', here since I’ve been here.
We spoke about Ed Upson hitting the bar. In the first half they hit the bar at that end and we were saying 'Do the omens owe us one?'.
We’ve come a long way in the season as a football club and we’ve just got to keep fostering that. Keep turning up and doing the things we're doing because there’s a real feel-good factor running in the blue and white quartered part of Bristol.
Connor Taylor was outstanding. When you come here today you know exactly what you’re going to get and he completely stood up. He dominated Horsfall and Guthrie who have been the aerial forces in the division this season.
He was superb. The amount of times he went and won that first contact for us and it seemed that with everyone he got he got bigger and bigger. It felt like he finished the game at 8 foot 6 not 6 foot 6.
He’s grown into the jersey. I remember them turning up with their tops off and that’s how you judge the physique of your players. As I say when you see Connor with his top off now he’s really matured into that masculinity. A real colossus figure about him.
Plus you’ve heard him when you’ve interviewed him. He’s so mature. Well beyond his years. I think he’s got an enormous future in the game and we’re so pleased to have him. He’s coming of age at the right time in the championship rounds.
What day did they go to Cheltenham? And just talk to me about the trust you have in them as a group...
They were there all week. We haven’t trained this week so they’ve been over all week. We just said to them make sure you only have 15 or 20 Guinnesses a day and just make sure you come back without any money. So I think they’ve had a right go.
Then we’ve just turned up at Northampton today. We gave them the week off and we’ve managed to get maximum points. So we’re looking at the racing next week. Market Rasen on Tuesday Sedgefield on Wednesday.
Nah, I’m joking. They popped across after the Tuesday game on Wednesday. They were all there as a group. They respected it. They turned up. Thursday they were maybe not at 100 per cent but the team spirit was a lot more than 100 per cent.
Sometimes being an ex-player and knowing the week we were in... Steve Black’s funeral on Wednesday. Obviously, I was in court Friday and then sandwiching those was a game Tuesday and a massive game Saturday. As a group, we spoke about how big of a week this would be for us with everything connected to it and all the noise on the outside. So to get through the week with nine points and no goals conceded is a really, really good sign of where this group is at.
We’ve got a long way to go. Eight cup finals. We’re right in the race and you’d be a fool to bet against us.
You weren’t able to be at training yesterday. Just how much of a role do the team behind the team play in situations like that. Obviously, they did it earlier in the season as well. I know you were keen to pay tribute to them then. Just how much of a role do Andy Magnan, Kevin Bond and the support staff play in getting that performance set up for today?
Massive. Factoring into that as well, Tom Short, our strength and conditioning coach, had gone out to Portugal on Wednesday to scout where we’re going to go for pre-season.
Then because of the COVID and the paperwork he couldn’t get back into the country for Thursday. So we were all in on Thursday but he struggled to get back in. Then the law changes overnight.
That’s where your group is really tested. We’re a tight-knit group and we’re very close to each other. So if somebody has an engagement or misses a day through illness the group picks up and the ship doesn't lose any momentum
Again they’ve been superb in terms of preparing the lads. Luckily for us with modern technology, you can watch training because we film it every day, it’s always recorded because we like to do that in terms of teaching the players.
That gave me the opportunity last night to see how the players trained on the Friday to get a feel (of how they are) and as I say the staff have been superb in that and they deserve enormous credit for the work they’ve all done in getting this football club to this point.
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