Here is Barton's pre-match interview for tomorrow's game. I have not posted this on the match day thread because its a long interview and he hardly discusses the upcoming game. It is mainly its about his take on the future.
Some key points...
* He made a point of saying you need good fitness to have a good season and he wasn't happy with the training sessions that were going on before he arrived at the club. He has seen all the sessions (training must have been recorded then).
* He walked in on his first day at the training ground and found 11 chewing tobacco pouches on the training pitch and he immediately thought "what have I got myself in to"
* He said the table don't lie after 43 games and we deserve to go down. Will be a miracle if we stay up. Need 3 wins and a ridiculous amount of a goal return and even then we are relying on others.
* He said "the old team is dead. Good riddance to it. It died the 1st half vs MK Dons when it rolled over and get it's belly tickled!"
* He will be picking a team for the 3 remaining games who are in his plans for next season but due to a number of injuries and a lack of depth he will have to include players not wanted.
* He confirmed Ayunga is out injured for the remaining 3 games.
* He's been relegated before as a player with Newcastle and got promoted the following season so he thinks he knows what it takes to go straight back up.
* He said getting relegated doesn't happen due to bad luck. It happens because of lots of small decisions over a long period, usually 50 50 calls being made that they get wrong. It's not just because of 1 person.
* He knows League 2 is an unforgiving league. Salford has spent a gazillion and doesn't look they they will get into the play offs. He believes that league rewards good structure and good discipline.
* He has been watching some League 2 games to get an idea of what to expect, adding if you think the officials are bad in League 1 then... (he didn't finish that sentence)
* He believes a manager should be aiming to win the league each season and that is his goal next season whether its League 1 by a miracle or League 2 which is highly likely.
* He believes if we are in League 2 then we will have 12k fans each home game (wonder what he has been smoking) expecting us to win and but there is a 21% chance of going up at the first attempt and the average first season finish for a team who got relegated is 12th (one minute he says he will aim to win the league and the next minute it sounds like he was trying to lower our expectations)
* He said hard work ahead to be ready for next season. You don't go from bottom of League 1 to the top of League 2 overnight.
* He said he needs to figure out who stays and goes but then shortly afterwards he contradicted himself again saying he has spoken to Wael and they agree on the retained list!
* He confirmed the new training ground will be finished before pre-season starts and that will help recruit the right players, adding he will say to them "whatever you knew of Rovers beforehand, it is not what it is now" (chuckled to himself while saying that)
* He said new players coming in will be like firefighters putting out fires everywhere!
* He said there are players under contract who we have to secure because they will play a big part for us to be successful. He named Jaakkola as one of them. Players out of contract need to be tied down too and he named Leahy as one of them adding he has been a superb voice in the changing room and getting 10 goals from left back speaks volumes. And he said keeping our best players from clubs who will be sniffing around is imperative, not mentioned names.
* He finished by saying he is looking forward to the pressure.
Some key points...
* He made a point of saying you need good fitness to have a good season and he wasn't happy with the training sessions that were going on before he arrived at the club. He has seen all the sessions (training must have been recorded then).
* He walked in on his first day at the training ground and found 11 chewing tobacco pouches on the training pitch and he immediately thought "what have I got myself in to"
* He said the table don't lie after 43 games and we deserve to go down. Will be a miracle if we stay up. Need 3 wins and a ridiculous amount of a goal return and even then we are relying on others.
* He said "the old team is dead. Good riddance to it. It died the 1st half vs MK Dons when it rolled over and get it's belly tickled!"
* He will be picking a team for the 3 remaining games who are in his plans for next season but due to a number of injuries and a lack of depth he will have to include players not wanted.
* He confirmed Ayunga is out injured for the remaining 3 games.
* He's been relegated before as a player with Newcastle and got promoted the following season so he thinks he knows what it takes to go straight back up.
* He said getting relegated doesn't happen due to bad luck. It happens because of lots of small decisions over a long period, usually 50 50 calls being made that they get wrong. It's not just because of 1 person.
* He knows League 2 is an unforgiving league. Salford has spent a gazillion and doesn't look they they will get into the play offs. He believes that league rewards good structure and good discipline.
* He has been watching some League 2 games to get an idea of what to expect, adding if you think the officials are bad in League 1 then... (he didn't finish that sentence)
* He believes a manager should be aiming to win the league each season and that is his goal next season whether its League 1 by a miracle or League 2 which is highly likely.
* He believes if we are in League 2 then we will have 12k fans each home game (wonder what he has been smoking) expecting us to win and but there is a 21% chance of going up at the first attempt and the average first season finish for a team who got relegated is 12th (one minute he says he will aim to win the league and the next minute it sounds like he was trying to lower our expectations)
* He said hard work ahead to be ready for next season. You don't go from bottom of League 1 to the top of League 2 overnight.
* He said he needs to figure out who stays and goes but then shortly afterwards he contradicted himself again saying he has spoken to Wael and they agree on the retained list!
* He confirmed the new training ground will be finished before pre-season starts and that will help recruit the right players, adding he will say to them "whatever you knew of Rovers beforehand, it is not what it is now" (chuckled to himself while saying that)
* He said new players coming in will be like firefighters putting out fires everywhere!
* He said there are players under contract who we have to secure because they will play a big part for us to be successful. He named Jaakkola as one of them. Players out of contract need to be tied down too and he named Leahy as one of them adding he has been a superb voice in the changing room and getting 10 goals from left back speaks volumes. And he said keeping our best players from clubs who will be sniffing around is imperative, not mentioned names.
* He finished by saying he is looking forward to the pressure.
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