Nigel, I speak on behalf of all City fans in saying it’s good to have you back in the building. How are you?
I’m okay thanks, I’m feeling okay thanks.
Good news, have you had a chance to see the footage of the game against Reading?
Yes, I’ve seen what I need to see. Suffice to say that it was a very welcome three points.
What pleased you in particular about the performance on Wednesday?
Three points!
Simple as that was it?
I know Curtis (Fleming) said in the build-up to the game about the need for us to win a game, the performance is secondary. Some of our defending had to be pretty committed and it wasn’t particularly pretty at the end but we’ve experienced that plenty of times during the season and clearly we could have made the night a bit more comfortable.
We need to give the players for being able to win a game which most people would recognise as a very important game for us to try and win. Any teams that are ever below you or are having struggles themselves we have to stick the knife in a twist it and it’s as simple as that.
There’s no feeling of anything other than a ruthlessness about our own situation. We have to keep teams that are having difficult time in a difficult position, but it won’t always happen so it’s a good result for us.
We know there are areas in every game that we can improve on so I’m really pleased for the players.
Just to pick out a couple of individuals that were very positive on Wednesday, I’ll start with Timm Klose, what has he brought to the building since he’s come to the football club?
I think you know the answer to that already. Reading peoples comments about his performance from the other night but I’ve seen it in all the games actually, he’s an organiser, he’s got experience and the calmness that comes with it.
Experience of playing in pressure situations, and pressure situations can be some really nice ones when you’re trying to win things, also a pressure of avoiding failure as well. They aren’t more difficult pressurised situations to exist and he comes with a really positive personality as well and the ability to communicate with people.
As soon as he came in the building, provided he was fit for purpose fitness-wise, it was an absolute no-brainer really.
Lots of City fans picked out Zak Vyner as well, he goes about his business quietly doesn’t he, how pleased are you with how he’s performing?
Zak’s had some really good games for us. He’s had some games where he’s struggled to maintain the high standards that he’s capable of. Zak’s 24 so he’s not in the same bracket as some of our younger players but when you’re asking players to play at full tilt in a side that’s not always finding the levels we’re looking for on a regular basis it’s not easy for individuals to deal with that.
Going back to the Timm Klose situation, Timm will give benefit to all the players he plays alongside with and if you ask them I think they’ll tell you that, I don’t need to sell that idea to you. Those are questions that you can ask the players because I would imagine those would be the answers that you would probably get.
Antoine Semenyo has been named the Championship Player of the Month for January, only the second City player to ever win that award. What’s clicked for him because he made an interesting comment about his injury saying it was a blessing in disguise because it gave him time to study his game, have you noticed a different Antoine since he’s returned from injury?
He’s maximised what he’s had and that’s all you can ever ask from players and for young players to recognise the need for the reflective process is quite a mature thing to say. It’s very interesting that he can come out and say that because he said it to me during his injury but for him to recognise the potential for a learning experience even when he’s not plating, don’t underestimate the size of that as a comment in itself.
He's an intelligent lad and he’s also very grounded and humble sort of guy with a very strong link to his own family. I’m pleased for him because he will recognise that his teammates have certainly helped him to maximise that himself.
It’s good for him and it’s good for us but now the challenge is to go on from what he’s already done.
I read today that City will look to extend his deal, is that something that will look after itself in time?
It never just looks after itself, no. But of course we want to retain his services for as long as we can.
He’s currently got a year and a half left with an option for another year in our favour so we’ve got him for two and half years to at least persuade him to stay but whether that materialises or not I can’t give you a definitive answer.
We have time to work on those possibilities but I can’t speak for other peoples intentions and it will take a lot of money to get him out of the building at the moment.
There were one or two knocks on Wednesday, how’s Han-Noah (Massengo), will he be okay for the weekend?
We won’t be able to tell until tomorrow (Saturday) and that’s not me avoiding it, he came off early in the game which meant on the night that Joe (Williams) had to go on early, it was good for us on the night but it’s not particularly helpful for us in terms of managing Joe’s load because he can’t play three games in a week and he’s already played half a game at Blackpool because there was a necessity to put him on and a necessity on Wednesday night.
It's one of those things.
Nahki (Wells) missed Wednesday with Covid, will he be okay for Sunday?
I don’t know. He’s been out running but maybe he will, maybe he won’t. Covid we can’t just put one outcome suits everybody, we’ve seen payers struggle to return to form from it, we’ve seen players have no ill effects and if you open that up to the wider population I think that happens to everybody.
We can’t just make the assumption that players who experience Covid can just shake it off. It may be another month before it hits them, we don’t know and that’s the unpredictability of the situation.
From memory one of the most promising performances of the season was against Swansea at Ashton Gate, even though you lost, what are you expecting from the fixture in South Wales on Sunday lunchtime?
Well, it’s a derby so it’ll be a tough game. We’ll be well supported whether it be in person at the stadium or whether our fans watch it elsewhere I know there will be a lot of interest in how we perform and of course the result.
We’re expecting what everyone expects when you play against Swansea and that is a team that like to keep possession, we’ll have to make sure that we’re good at what we do.
There aren’t many teams that have scored goals more goals than us, the problem has been letting into many throughout the season but certainly recently. We’re a more potent force than people have given us credit for.
It’ll be an interesting game, it’s one that we don’t want to lose, but one that we want to win.
Klose has been fantastic since he’s come in but this will be his fourth game in two weeks, is there any concern about his fitness going into Sunday?
Are you sure he’s been fantastic because I thought you lot at your paper like marking people down when we lose.
He was excellent against Reading, especially in the first half.
I know that, and he was excellent against Preston. He’s been excellent per say but he was crap against Blackpool apparently, which he wasn’t, but go on…
Did you have to tailor his training for the run of games?
No, he’s a good pro, a really good pro. We don’t have to be concerned about how he recovers from games, yes we do have to be sure we manage a players load but he’s not one of the players we worry about for that because he understands how to look after himself, his recovery strategies on a personal levels are exceptional.
People want to reflect on his age and that he’s not played for a long time but his track record is great. We need him because you know yourself that we’ve suffered with a few injuries, a couple the other night as well. He’ll be fine, he knows how to manage himself.
And Massengo, if he plays on Sunday does that mean he hasn’t had a training session between Wednesday and Sunday’s match?
It depends if he trains tomorrow. That’s the key to it, he’ll either be available because he’s trained and he’s okay or he’ll be not fit to play. Nothing else is of any relevance and if he’s not fit then we’ll have to find a different solution.
Jamie Paterson is a player that’s well known within the changing room, does that make it easier to stop him?
I don’t know, I’m not in the dressing room and I’ve never played with him so I don’t know. We’ve had quite a big change around since his days here so I’m not sure that that’s important or relevant.
When he left he left with our good wishes, he’s a good player, but whether your question has any bearing on it or not I don’t know because like I say, I’ve never played against him so I don’t know. You’ll have to ask the players that one.
Up until November your away form was one of the best in the league but that’s reversed since Christmas, can you put your finger on that?
If I could put my finger on it we wouldn’t be in the situation that we are. It happens. I’m a lot happier that at home we’re winning games, we haven’t played too badly too often away from home but we haven’t picked up the results that we want.
Blackpool wasn’t a great day in terms of defending but they weren’t very good either by the way. It’s about getting results and we are very thankful for our away from at the start of the season because we couldn’t find a win.
Yes, we recognise that we want to improve it on and we have the tools to do it but the reason that we’ve not been able to win games away from isn’t because we haven’t be able to score goals, it’s as a team and not the defence we’ve not been able to keep clean sheets or defend our goal well enough.
I find it interesting that when we lose a game everybody wants to blame individuals at the back, it’s not the case. We win as a team and we lose as a team, we attack as a team, we defend as a team. That’s the responsibility that they all have.
Semenyo is obviously very happy in Bristol and he’s spoken very well of you, does that give you confidence that he’s going to sign a new contract?
I don’t think of it in those terms. I think of it as he’s one of our players and we want to keep him. He’s a player learning his trade, we’re very glad that we have him. If somebody else wants him he’s going to cost them an awful lot of dough.
Keep your hands off, we’ve got him for two-and-a-half years.
That victory against Reading means you don’t have to look back anymore and you can look forwards, can the players now play with the shackles off a bit more?
Who says they have to always look forwards? They can look backwards and reflect on things if we want to. We’re always looking forwards at what we can do in the future but to improve in the future you have to reference the past and the present, what’s always important is that we don’t get bogged down with how other people look at it. We are our own biggest critics, we don’t need other people to tell us when we’re not very good, we know it.
We have an honest group of players and a very diligent group of staff that are working very hard to change what this club represents.
I want and we want a very hardworking team that our fans are proud of but is ultimately successful and we’re a way away from that at the moment. But we’ll do everything we can to realise our potential as a team.
It’s difficult at the moment because we have a number of players who aren’t available but opportunities for somebody else. There might be more youngsters involved at the weekend that you don’t know of, fine, if we have to do that then we’ll do it.
We’ll continue to move forward without worrying too much what people say. We will continue to work to make the best with what we’ve got, and what we will have in the future.
Apart from Massengo’s knock and William’s fitness, are there any injury concerns?
Callum O’Dowda will be out for a number of weeks now. He came off with injury but you didn’t ask him so he’ll be out and it normally takes four to six weeks. That’s life.
Is Paterson a player that you wanted to keep at the end of last season and had to go because of finances?
No, I told him early on that it was time for him to move on. It was nothing personal, he was injured and he had come to the end of his contract and I think for him it was time for a different challenge.
I know he is a really good player but sometimes players can be at a place for too long and need freshening up, I think he’s benefited from moving away. He was quite a popular player here and I know he’s quite popular with the fans.
Every player has a shelf life and that doesn’t mean that in terms of their career, it means at football clubs players can be there too long. He’s a player we need to be aware of because he’s technically very gifted, physically he can get about the pitch too so he’s capable of affecting games in a positive way. We respect him as a player.
And you’re not surprised at the impact he’s had at a new club?
I’ve not really looked to be honest with you. I don’t spend a lot of time trawling the press about other people’s players, I don’t know particularly how well he’s played.
I know he’s a good player and that he’s impacted some games, I believe there’s been interest from other teams to take him away but other than that I’m not really bothered.
There was interest in Alex Scott this week…
There’s been no interest in him. It’s in the paper about him but we’ve had no enquiries about him.
There’s interest in the media about him but that’s as far as it’s been.
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