- Admin
- #1
This is what he had to say for himself earlier:
Q: Gary, I suppose it's been a bit of a whirlwind few days for you?
GS: Yeah it has. It's happened really quick and I haven't had much sleep. I haven't had a lot of time to think about stuff but I'm thankful and grateful that I'm here today.
Q: When were you made aware of this opportunity?
GS: Sunday I got a phonecall to say that the Chairman would like to see me and that was the first time really. So Sunday... yesterday yeah...
Q: No second thoughts?
GS: No. To be able to manage a club like this at your first job is a great opportunity for me and one that not many people get and one that won't come round again if I turned it down so I jumped at the chance to be able to be in this position.
Q: Did you ever presume this opportunity would come your way in the near future?
A: No, not at all. I worked under Kevin Blackwell, I learnt a great deal from him and ideally in a perfect world I'd still be working under him and the longer I'd have been a coach, the more I'd have learnt. But that happens in football and we're all disappointed with what happened on Saturday and the events following. But like I said, once the opportunity... you know, that the club wanted me there was no doubt in my mind whatsoever.
Q: Have you spoken to Kevin about...
GS: Yeah, I've spoken to Kevin... I've spoken to him a couple of times. We speak about certain things all the time and we were very very open with one another and with Sam so... we never kept anything from one another and I spoke to him a couple of times yesterday.
Q: Sam Ellis is staying. How key is that for yourself?
GS: I think it's very key. It's totally my decision. I asked Sam if he wanted to stay on and be delighted if he was. Sam has got so much experience in the game. I don't feel that I'd be able to do my job as well without someone like Sam Ellis here. He's done everything in the game and sometimes when you're a manager... I know I haven't been a manager yet... but you can't see the wood for the trees and you need people like Sam Ellis maybe, to tell me what I'm missing or what I'm not doing. You know it is a different job, it is a tough job and I need people who I trust there who will tell me and, not just yes men who'll tell me I should be doing this and I should be doing that. I'm certainly not the finished article yet, I'll need Sam to help along the way.
Q: Will you be bringing your own people in in terms of coaching staff?
GS: Yeah. Hopefully within the next day or two we can bring a coach in as well. Another thing with Kevin Blackwell is that he put a great infrastructure here of staff and so the staff that are here are great and I get on with them great and they're really good at their jobs and everyone's behind us and everyone's shooting in the right direction.
Q: Have you spent some time with the players already?
GS: Yeah we had a chat this morning... we had a session this morning and we've put a couple of things in place already and they seem in good spirits and ready for the job. The fortunate bit about this is not just joining a great club like this, it's the players that are here. We've got a fantastic bunch of players who really really want to do well and who really want to be successful. It made my decision easier, like I said there was no doubt but knowing the players we've got here, how driven they are and have the same drive as I do then it made the decision a lot easier.
Q: And you're thrown right into the lion's den with a game against Middlesbrough on Sunday?
GS: Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it now. It can't come quick enough for me. Funny how things work out in football, it's going to be live on TV against Gordon Strachan and Gary McAllister, two of my old teammates. Gordon probably had as much influence on my career than anyone else really in a playing sense and it'll be nice to see him after the game but I'll be desperate to get a result.
