[Transcript] Meet the Manager - Thursday 9th September

[Linz]

We've found a way to save my poor fingers but this is still going to be a lengthy process

Anyway, here's the first part of the transcript from Thursday for the benefit of those without Bladesworld access.

Andy Pack: Captain Chris Morgan, new signing Leon Brittan chief executive Trevor Birch, and last but not least looking very dapper new manager Gary Speed.

Beginning with Morgs. Injured, didn't play the last game and you notice we won and kept a clean sheet...

Chris Morgan: What you trying to say? That you found a weakness?

/audience laughs

Chris Morgan: Yes it's all right now. The only thing with the injury is that I picked it up on the Thursday and obviously from Thursday to Saturday we didn't have a great deal of time for it to calm down so the manager pulled me and said that I don't want you to risk making it worse which is sensible. So I trained Monday, Tuesday and today so I'm back up for selection if the manager wants to change the team...

Andy Pack: Pass it [the microphone] onto Leon please. Leon Britton. London boy, played most of his football in Wales, up in the North. How is it going for you Leon?

Leon Britton: Yeah, it's going well. I’ve settled in. I spent a couple of months in the hotel but found an apartment now and it makes things easier not living out of a suitcase and I've got to know the boys well and it's a great bunch of lads and I've settled in pretty quick.

Andy Pack: Not easy for you because I think your family’s back down in London, including a small child?

Leon Britton: Yeah I've got a daughter in London so I try to see her as much as I can. Got a girlfriend still in Swansea kind of thing so I've got family all over the place at the moment.

Andy Pack: Girlfriends in all cities!

Trevor Birch. Being a busy time for you Trevor. Did you greet the closing of the transfer window with relief?

Trevor Birch: Well I did until the loan window opened yesterday so yeah it's been a busy period. We've had 14 or 15 transactions to complete during that period so yeah I'm glad that's over.

Andy Pack: We'll get to the main man. Welcome to Bramall Lane Gary and to this sort of event. We’ve talked about Morgs and what he's been up to. But how has the last two weeks been for you without a game?

Gary Speed: It's been a bit frustrating after the win against Preston. Fortunately we’ve only had three or four away so it wasn't that disruptive but on the other hand it enabled us to do some good work on the training ground which has been really good for the preparation for the game against Derby on Saturday.

Andy Pack: For a new manager coming in I suppose it may have been a bit of a boon to have that time without the distraction of a game?

Gary Speed: Yeah like I say, I think it's a double-edged sword really. It would have been great to have another game after Preston and work on the things that we need improving and play somebody else while were confident. You're always a bit wary after the international break because you never know how the lads are going come back after not having a game for two weeks but like I say on the other hand we’ve had a lot of training and a lot of work on the training ground which hopefully will come to fruition on Saturday.

Andy Pack: Thank you Gary. Over to you now let's see the hand shooting up.

Question: Evening gents. You mentioned there training Gary, throughout the break, I was just wondering how if you change the training regime since you've took over?

Gary Speed: Well I brought in John Carver from Plymouth . He was a coach down there and I was with him at Newcastle. He was our coach at Newcastle under Bobby Robson and John is a great coach and his expertise is sort of passing and moving type thing. He's taken a lot of weight off my shoulders in terms of the drills that we do in training and I will concentrate more on the way the team play and the aspect of the team shape and that sort of thing so the boys aren't hearing one voice all the time.

When I was coach it was myself and Kevin Blackwell doing most of it and John takes a lot of off my shoulders and I can come in and do the team shape and the team play but I think if you asked the lads that they'll say the same. We've been doing a lot of passing drills that I did throughout my career.

You’re never too old to improve, you’re never too old to learn and we do that every day. Sometimes it can get a bit boring for the lads but they realise it's important. I think if you asked Britt when he was at Swansea I think they did them every day and a lot of possession. Not a lot’s changed in structure that much because you can't fill the lads’ heads with too much too soon. Change it radically and then you’re going to forfeit results then and the results are the important thing.

You try and change things gradually so we been trying to do that in training and I think the boys have responded really well and every training session has been great. Sometimes as a manager you worry because you worry that things are going too well and that's where I'm at the moment. I'm thinking it can't be this good. You can ask the lads, the quality of training has been excellent but you've got to keep on your toes and you can't take things for granted.

Andy Pack: Thank you for your question.

Question: Against Middlesbrough and Preston we tried to pass it around a lot more, you've even got Chris passing it about. Is that something, circumstances permitting, that you're looking to keep carrying on?

Gary Speed: Absolutely. Yeah definitely, but like I said before not at the price of letting goals in or losing games. I'm not going to play total... or, you know, I'm not the change things too quick too soon because we're in the middle of the season and we want to get promotion. So I think it's a fine line between changing things and losing football matches and we don't want to be losing football matches at this time of the season so it's a work in progress if you like . Obviously, like I said before you never too old to improve. Our big hard centre half in a pink flowery shirt on the end there... he’s obviously changed as you can see!

/Audience laughs

Gary Speed: I'm glad I'm not sitting next to him now. But I’ve always been a footballer and I want to play the game and if you buy people like Leon Britton who’s great on the ball then you’ve got to use them in the right way but that's not taking anything away from Kevin Blackwell because we did try to implement that in the latter days and there was a lot of things that he put in place the implemented that we'll still carry on and we'll still use.

 

[Linz]

Andy Pack: Seeing as tonight has already progressed from Fans Forum to a slag Chris Morgan night, I can add to that and this is the gospel truth, a colleague over there can vouch for it. I went to the training ground yesterday and he was trying on a pair of white boots.

/audience boos

Chris Morgan: I hung them straight back up though! I got my black ones are this morning.

/audience laughs

Andy Pack: I think you've the tenure of what the response would be Chris.

Question: Congratulations at being appointed manager and I wish you every success because your success is our success...

/audience applause

Right if Sheffield United did, not necessarily this season, get up into the Premiership, do you think you could sustain Sheffield United being in the Premiership. Not on the likes of West Brom, up and down, more on the lines of Stoke City which is a comparable club to Sheffield United and really have made their mark in the Premiership. Do you think as our manager you could do that?

Gary Speed: Yeah of course I do because I wouldn't be sitting here if I didn't think that. It's always difficult for the team that goes up but first things first, let's get up and worry about that then but I did spend a few years the Bolton Wanderers and Sam Allardyce prided himself on that. Keep himself in the Premier league and sometimes when you go up as a promoted team it's difficult to see the final goal where teams can get beat five or six nil against Chelsea and Manchester United. They're not really the results are important, nobody wants to get beaten like that obviously, but the results are important are the ones against teams around you are not losing games, winning your home games.

We had a presentation earlier on in the season to the lads about what we can improve on this year that we didn't do last year and it struck a chord with the lads. And it's exactly the same if you do go up, Stoke have done a great job, Tony Pulis has done a great job. They get points where they need to get points. They've never climbed any mountains, people say “Stoke, what a great team they are” but they don't really beat Manchester Uniteds and that in this world but what they do do, is beat the teams that around them at home. They've got a great following, they've got a great crowd and that's how they sustain and improve their Premiership status.

Question: just a question for the players and for Gary. I only found it stepping off a coaching role to the managerial role? And how have you found him stepping from that role?

Gary Speed: do you want me to go first? It's being different I must say. The easy thing for man I was offered the job, I think it took me about two seconds to accept it, because I didn't have to think about it because I knew the players I had and I knew the players I could work with and believed in them and believed I could do a job because of that.

I've been offered jobs in the past and I’ve ummed and arred because I didn't really believe in the players but this was a no-brainer for me because of the players we've got here. In terms of the transition from coach to manager it hasn't been that different except when you're standing on the touchline. When I was there as a coach and everything seems so clear, clear as daylight, I could see things but when you're a manager it is a different responsibility and that's what I found different is the emotion that you feel when you stand on the touchline because it's you, it's on you really. The buck stops with you and rightly so.

But that's the big thing I found, that's why I brought John Carver in, that's why I kept Sam Ellis because they know they've got opinions and if they've got an opinion they'll tell me whether I like it or not. And I've got to accept those opinions, we might disagree, but I've got to take it on board and then make a decision based on that. So that's why I've got good people around me because I'm a young manager and I will make mistakes but that's why they're there.

Leon Britton: From a player's point of view, it's been pretty smooth I think for me on a personal point of view, I've not been here long so not too much is changed but maybe Morgs, who's been here a long time and has played with the gaffer it might be a bit different. I had a similar situation at Swansea with Martinez, you know he was a player there and all of a sudden he became a manager. The first few weeks it does become strange calling him gaffer but it's been a smooth transition and I'm sure the boys ... they get fined every time they call in by his first name.

/audience laughs

But the lads have got onto that now. They used to calling him gaffer.

Chris Morgan: Like Britt said, I was lucky enough to play with the gaffer when he came as a player and I think the biggest hurdle for him was when he first became a coach, possibly that was the most difficult thing. I've seen it before with players who go on to coaching and into managing and I think that says that when you first come out of a group of players and having the banter and all of a sudden you're somebody that in charge.

But, you know, the gaffer went from player to coach and I think because of what he's done as a player the players had so much respect for him, I think the transition from player to coach was so easy for him, and I think we all wanted to back him 100%. You know as players you always think... you wanna be a player, you want to go into coaching, you want to go into management so I think he did easy. So when he was offered the manager's job, I think he’d already done the hard bit of separating himself from the lads and becoming coach so I think it'll be a breeze for him becoming a manager now and I think the two or three weeks that we've had, everything is gone really well.

Like the gaffer says, he’s not come in and wanted to change a hell of a lot because that wasn't a hell of a lot wrong. But he is his own man, he's got his own way that he wants to do things, he's already started implementing them and the lads are taking it on board. We’re looking forward to it, were looking forward to having a good season and we want it to be a successful season.

 

[Linz]

Andy Pack: Leon Britton stole my line there about the fines. I was looking at them this morning, laughing at them this morning, because the sheet goes up outside the dressing room. They get fined for virtually everything and it all goes into a fund for good causes. Two people have been fined, Monty was one of them. One for calling the manager “Gary” and the other one, whoever that was, for calling him “Speedo”.

/audience laughs

I don't know whether or not there's a differentiation in the level of the fines because Gary is just plain sucking up whereas Speedo is just a bit cocky isn't it? They both got done anyway. Can we have another question please?

Question: It's a question for Gary. Obviously you played for a lot of well-respected managers in your career, and I'm sure that you'll say you've taken a bit from everyone, but is there one manager in particular who you've probably taken a lot of what they did and you will bring it to your management style?

Gary Speed: Probably Bobby Robson. He was a good coach, he knew the game obviously, he was a really really hard worerk. I think that was to his detriment really because somethings with Bobby he wouldn't let other people do. I think these days football managers are so busy that you need to delegate things to people you trust, but Bobby didn't, he did everything himself. I think, looking back, he might have done that differently where he delegated a bit more.

But just his passion for the job and more importantly the way he treated players. I think in this league more than any league, if you've got good team spirit it goes a hell of a long way. Blackpool last year were a good team but they got up, I would say, 80% on team spirit. I mean, we played them here towards the end of the season and we battered them three nil and then they went five games unbeaten after that. I think in this league team spirit accounts for a hell of a lot and we’re lucky that we've got that here.

The thing that sticks out with Bobby is the way he treated players. He spoke to them like adults, he respected them and when invariably we went out on that pitch we'd run through a brick wall for him. I had a few arguments with him after games and I get home and sit down and I'd have to ring him up and apologise because I felt really bad, especially if we'd lost and we'd had a row. I'd have to ring him up because I felt bad for him. He'd say "don't worry son, it's football, it happens." It make you want to play for him. There's loads of other stories you can tell about Bobby Robson.

I remember when Kieron Dyer, I think he’d been out on the toon on a Sunday night and he didn't phone in sick for training the next day but everybody knew why he wasn't in. We were sitting there Tuesday morning and Bobby comes in and says:

“Where's Kieron?”

There's me and Alan Shearer sitting there having some breakfast.

“Where's Kieron? I’ll have him! Tell him I'm looking for him when he comes in. Little bugger.”

Next minute Kieron comes in and sits down and start having breakfast, Bobby comes in:

“Alright son. Feeling better?”

“ Yes thanks gaffer.”

“You training? Good lad!”

Me and Alan looked at each other and we're thinking that he's lost the plot, he’s losing his marbles. But then I thought about it and he was telling everyone else that Kieron's was in trouble but he knew the character of Kieron Dyer and he thought that if he did have a go at him, he would lose him. So he was telling everybody that he was in trouble, which he was, he would probably get him in on his own later on, but he knew his players and he knew how to treat them. Kieron Dyer was a fantastic footballer at Newcastle, he played his best football there because, I suppose I played my best football there, and it was down to Bobby Robson.

Andy Pack: have we got any Kieron Dyer's here?

Gary Speed: (pauses for effect) ... No we haven’t!

/audience laughs

Question: It's for Morgs. When it comes the time, do you think you would take the role of the coach and go for the managing position if it comes to the time?

Chris Morgan: As a player it's something that you always want to do. There's a few of us now, five or six of us, wanting to start our coaching badges. The gaffer has been kicking us up the backside for a long time to start our badges and to get things done. Obviously you've got to have them otherwise you haven't got a choice.

It's something that, I’ve said to the gaffer, I must admit, at this stage I'm 50-50. Sometimes I think I want to be a manager, I want to be a coach, and other times I just think when I finish playing I'm just going to hang my boots up, stick my wellies and my flat cap on and walk the dog. It's one of those things that I must admit I'm torn.

But then I see what the gaffer’s done. Last week I was sat up in the box and watching the gaffer on the touchline and it makes the hairs on your arms stand up with excitement so it's definitely something that would excite me but I want to finish playing. I still think, I've signed a three-year contract, I've still got a lot to offer as a player. But in the future I'll get my badges done and if an opportunity comes up, I'd love to have a bash at it.


Gary Speed: I was like that though, when I was doing my badges. I didn't know what I wanted to do, I didn't know if I wanted to be a manager. But I think the fact that you get them, and you get them in the bag, if that opportunity does arise you can take it. Even up until last year, 18 months ago, I was thinking well I don't know if I want to be a manager or not yet, I don't know. It depends on what opportunities arise.

Obviously I did a bit of TV every now and again, I could have gone that way so I think the fact that you get them and they are there if the opportunity arises, you can take that opportunity. If you feel you can do it, you can go and do it then.

Chris Morgan: I think I'd have to do radio, gaffer, instead of TV. I'm not as good looking as you!

/audience laughs and applauds

Andy Pack: You're not as good looking as me, never mind him!

Question: Question for Gary. We've been linked with a couple of players this week - James Vaughan, who was gone elsewhere, and Peter Halmosi. What can you tell us about any potential transfer targets you have? What areas would you like to strengthen in?

Gary Speed: We're always looking. We're constantly looking with the transfer window closing and the loan market opening, there's always players. I've got lists and lists of players in my office, loads and loads of them. So those players are on the list, that's it.

I think we got 19 fit players this morning, a couple injured and I'm not going to just go out and buy anybody willy-nilly. I think we saw in the loan market last year that it can get you in trouble and you’re spending unnecessary money. So if I'm going to buy or loan anybody, it's going to be someone who has to improve the team.

At the moment we've got two loans. We've got Kyle Bartley and Nyron Nosworthy so we've got 3 to play with. What we don't want to do is use them up. But at the moment with a fully fit squad I've got, I'm not going to rush into anything. There is always that scope you've got to go out into the loan market but at the moment I'm fine. We’re always looking for players. We’re looking for players of January. We're looking for players for next summer, whether it be permanent or on loan. You need to be constantly, whether the transfer window is open or not, you constantly have to keep monitoring players on whether you think they'll improve your team.

Andy Pack: I could sense a feeling of relief within the room that willy-nilly wasn't on the list of transfer targets. I think there was a lady over that side ...

Question: (very deep voice) I'm not a lady!

/audience laughs

Andy Pack: I said it's gloomy!

Question: I've got a long fringe but come on! Staying on your transfer policy, you've said that you don't want to waste a lot of money with bringing loans in willy-nilly. Does that mean you'll be looking largely at loans with a view to permanent to avoid faces coming in and they're going?

Gary Speed: I think they've just got to be right for the club. There was loans last year which, I think cost us... not cost us but I think there were times when where... we went through the set pieces at the start of the season on how many we conceded, in defending set pieces. It's an area where we've got to improve in, conceding corners and that sort of stuff. One of the reasons for that was loan players that we had in.

We had loan players coming in the day before a game, or the day of the game and playing straight away so you can't get any organisation in set pieces and defending corners and that sort of thing that is losing you goals when you get players coming in like that. That's what I want to avoid. At the moment with a fully fit squad we've got players on the sideline who deserve to be in the team some of them but I can't get them all in.

So once were in a position where we struggling and we need this and we need that I'll go into the loan market and seriously think about it. There is a couple of areas in my mind which I want to strengthen, a couple of areas in the team and what I want to bring into the team but it's got to be the right one. At the moment nothing is jumping out at me.

 

[Linz]

Question: One for Gary. Going back to the Preston game, I agree with what the chap was saying earlier about the passing, it was noticeably better but towards the last third of course we seem to lack that killer instinct. Would you like to comment on that? And also corner kicks didn't seem to be going very well...

Gary Speed: Well you could be sitting here, because that's what I've been telling them [the players] for the past two weeks!

/audience laughs

No I agree with you, totally. As I've said before it is a work in progress, I don't want to be sacrificing the results by changing things for the sake of it. The results are the important thing and one thing that... the Preston game and the Middlesbrough game shows there was the lack of chances created and the lack of efforts on goal. And I'm glad it's that way round where we're all right at the other end, and glad it's that way round at the moment. If we were conceding loads of goals I'd be a bit more worried but it is one area where we've been working hard to eradicate the last two weeks.

We've been showing a lot of videos, a lot of clips on things that we need to improve on. It's not going to improve overnight, like I said it's a work in progress. We need to start creating more chances, we need to start having more efforts on goal and hopefully we can do that because that's what we've been doing in training for the last two weeks.

Question: There seem to be a number of corner kicks which are just passing by, and nobody touches them ...

Gary Speed: Yeah the delivery has been a problem on the corner kicks. We've got to concentrate on our delivery more and that's one thing we've been practising. John Carver, the coach who has just come in, he is excellent at that sort of thing. Set pieces is something where it's not so much my forte but he's brilliant at the corners and set pieces so hopefully we’ll have more success in the future in that respect.

Question: Question to Gary please. Can you give is an update on Lee Williamson and do you think is going to play any part in this season's games, probably towards the end? And also how is Henderson going on?

Gary Speed: Starting with Lee. He's doing really well. He had a really bad do in the summer with his back, he had the infection in his back and everything which was really really bad but he's managed to get through that. He's looking really good in training. I think you'll be seeing him back in training in October time but then because he hasn't played or trained for so long we're not going to shove him back in. He needs a good pre-season behind him, he needs a good four or five weeks training so he's coming back into the team where he’s at speed.

If you bring them back into the game too early, you're going to suffer injuries and that sort of thing. So we've got to be really careful. He's a good player and we want to give him the best opportunity. We've got some great medical and fitness staff there so they are monitoring the situation. He's looking good in the bits he joins in with us, he is running freely. He's done a lot of running but he's got to be really careful. Once he's fully fit we can get a full pre-season into him and hopefully then, you never know, before Christmas he might be ready. But we've got to take our time with that one obviously with the events of the summer with his back, we've got to err on the side of caution.

And Big Hendo. He's had an operation on his hamstring where it's come away from the bone. He's just been away for a week because he was on crutches and a leg brace, we couldn't do anything so he's back in training now but he's still on crutches. Again, probably you'll see him speeding up over the next 4 or 5 weeks. Again I'd say Christmas time, New Year time when he's back ready.

Andy Pack: going back to Lee Williamson, back injury. You had, I don't know if it was the same injury ... but maybe you could been of assistance to Lee during that rehab.

Gary Speed: Yeah. His wasn't as, his first one, wasn't as severe as mine. I'd lost, and still lost, all feeling in my leg and my muscle is not activating so I'd never be able to play again whether I was 25 or 45. Lee's wasn't as severe as that because he's still got all the function in his muscles and his nerves are still functioning. He got back and then had another do and it went again. We just need to be on the side of caution because we don't want that to happen again we've got some great medical staff and they know what they're doing.

Question: It's a question for Leon. He’s sitting there nice and quiet. You've come from Swansea where you've been more famous for your passing game. I'd just like to know what you thought when he came on that first training session and saw the silky skills of Morgan and Monty?

/audience laughs

Leon Britton: Obviously I’ve come from Swansea like you said, a team who in recent years have passed the ball very well. When I joined the club I spoke with Kevin Blackwell and he told me about what he wanted to do and how he saw things going this season. He wanted to keep to his beliefs but he wanted to try and change things a little bit, try and pass a little bit more than maybe he had done in previous seasons.

When I got on the training pitch, you can still see there’s quality there. There’s quality to be able to pass the ball ... at Swansea, like the gaffer said, these things don't happen overnight. To get them to pass the ball really well takes a long time, and at Swansea it took two or three years to get them to play the football that they did. The lads here they've got quality, they've shown that, they've been in the Premiership, they've done really well in the Premiership and obviously in this division. The quality is there, you can see straight away as soon as I come in for my first week of training that the standard of football is really good.

Andy Pack: I suspect that the gentleman who asked that question will probably be first out of the room.

Question: Another question for Leon. You were linked with a couple of clubs in the Premiership, particularly Wigan and linking up with Martinez. I'm delighted you are here but why did you choose Sheffield United over going up to the Premiership?

Leon Britton: Obviously there was interest from Wigan. I know the manager pretty well there, he was an ex-roommate of mine at Swansea and my manager and I spoke a long time with him. That was an option. I had a long think in the summer, it was a very difficult decision for me. I’m at 27 now, this was the most important decision in my career so it took me a long time to think, I sat down with people close to me, my family, spoke with the manager.

I played the last home game here, the second last game of the season and I saw the atmosphere and I thought this was a club I wanted to be at. There's a great setup here, the training ground, the facilities, the fans and I just decided that I'd got the right feeling about this club and this is why decided to come here.

Andy Pack: I'll just take a break from your questions for a minute as some of you will have seen on the website that out for questions from people who couldn't get here just in case you couldn't think of any. There was one to Chris which says, from Euan Laycock, what have you made from Leon’s start? The fans as far as I can gather have been impressed with him as a mark of a more technical team. So you play behind him, watch your take on it Chris?

Chris Morgan: He spoke to the previous manager in the summer and I think if there has been one area where we've fell down over the last few seasons ... we've always had the organisation, we've always been a high tempo team, we've always been brilliant at closing people down but I think at times we could have kept the ball better, we could have been better in possession and to do that you've got to go and get the right people. Britts, you talk about passing the ball and the question previously.

For me, and the gaffer’s put this over to the players, there's a right way and a wrong way to pass the ball. People think just because a team passes the ball about its nice to watch but you've only got to realise we've beat Swansea here the last two seasons. Just because you pass the ball it doesn't make you a good team. You've got to be able to do both in straight away the manager said to us I want us to get on the ball, I want is to be better in possession but I don't want us playing kamikaze football. I don't want is playing football in our own 18 yard box, 20 yards outside our own goal, losing it and getting beaten. You've got to play football in the right areas so Kevin brought Britts in to get on the ball for us and it links things up.

He's always available, he comes showing and again, not being disrespectful to other midfield players, everybody has their own role within the team. The gentleman earlier spoke about Monty. We all know Monty is not a footballer ...

/audience laughs

And you all know what I mean! Monty is never going to get on the ball, and do a pirouette and smash a diagonal out to a full-back. I tell you what, if I was picking a team and the gaffer has the same opinion as me because he spoke about him, he loves Monty. You've got to have people like that in your team. You've got to have grafters. You've got to have people that go and get the ball back for you to give it Britts and let Britts go and play.

Britts can't do what Monty does and Monty can't do what Britts does. So that's what makes a good team. You need people like Britts. If you're going to play football you've got to have people that are comfortable in possession and when we do it at the back he's always one of those people who comes and shows for the ball and wants it.

/audience applause

 

[Linz]

Andy Pack: I've got a question here from Neil Colclough. I want to bring Trevor in if I may?

Trevor Birch: I was enjoying it so far...

Andy Pack: A slightly more difficult question. He talks about Kevin Blackwell going, I don't really think it'll serve any purpose by going on about why, who and all the rest of that kind of thing but he said to improve fortunes on the pitch and get us up to where we deserved to, it's really only fair that the new manager is given a reasonable budget to push the club forward and rid it of its long ball tag forever. How do you intend to do that Trevor?

Gary Speed: Yeah Trevor ... how do you intend to do that?!

/Audience laughs

Trevor Birch: Thanks for that hospital ball Andy! I should hand it back to Gary really because it's in his hands. I will try and do my bit behind-the-scenes to get the funding right at the club. We have to do that in a responsible way because my sole objective I think in this harsh economic environment is to protect this club, its culture and make sure it's here in 25 years time because I really do think that there will be club to go to the wall...

/audience member coughs “Wednesday” and audience laugh

Who knows? And not just Administration I think they will actually fold and when a big club goes and I mean a big club with a 25,000 crowd...

/audience murmurs “not Wednesday then”

... it will make a dramatic impact on the game. We have to be cautious, we are custodians of the future of this club. Having said all that we do want to get promoted, obviously this is a club which should be in the Premier League. Gary needs to put his mark on the club, he needs to do it with players that he feels are right for the club as well but I've got to do my bit behind-the-scenes to provide the wherewithal to enable them to do that.

Gary Speed: can I just say something on that? I was given the job with two weeks of the transfer window left so I was out every night of the week watching players, watching games ... who can we bring him before the transfer window shuts? And there was hundreds, literally hundreds and hundreds of names thrown at me before the transfer deadline. You look at these names but then I didn't have time to go out and see these players play so I'm not going to spend the club’s money on buying players that I'm taking a chance on. So I need time to go and see those players play and will they be good enough for us? I'm not going to do it from a DVD, I'm not going to do it from hearsay, I'm not going to do it from what they've done in the past, I'm going to go and watch them.

So in that respect that's why it's going to take a little time to get where we want to be really because there's no point in splashing money about early on just to get players in for the sake of it and they're not going to improve your team and they're not going to be better. So that's what we're trying to do and that's why we're still looking now to be bringing players in but they've got to be the right ones.

Andy Pack: Do you feel personally under some pressure with your profile and contacts in the game, that these good people have great expectations of you that you can bring in a better quality of player whether it be an established one or indeed a youngster?

Gary Speed: Well I'm manager of Sheffield United. Bring it on. That's why I'm manager of Sheffield United. There's pressure involved with that and I love that kind of pressure because there is expectation there. You go the other end where there is no expectation, it's no fun at all, trust me. That's all part of being in a big club, the expectation and if that's pressure then give it me.

There's lots of people at the moment who are struggling for work, struggling for jobs, struggling to pay the mortgage ... that's pressure. Not ... there is pressure involved in it but it's a nice pressure.

/audience applause

Question: This is for Gary. Are there any youth players that you're looking to bring into the first team this season and if so are there any in particular that you feel are ready to make the step up?

Gary Speed: There's none ready at the moment, no. There is a few that we've had preseason, there's Jordan Chapell and Kingsley James who perhaps one day if they keep working hard and keep going will have a chance. It's a difficult one at that age especially now it's getting harder and harder to make it as a professional footballer.

There's a couple in the youth team that have got the chance, obviously there's some that already play for England and that so there are some good players. But the transition between that and playing in the first team is huge, it is absolutely huge.

I think Matty Lowton is a good example of that really. Sometimes you never know how good someone is going to be until you put them in. You always look to Matty Lowton in training and in games and you think he's got something, he's got something but because he's playing reserves in youth team, he doesn't really stand out and then at Ipswich away we were hammering for him to play and he had a great game. He seems to have the attitude and the temperament to be able to handle the first team and he's certainly got the ability and I think when you get to the first team that's what all of it is about. It's mental ... can you handle being in the first team? I think if Matty Lowton hadn't have played that last game of the season we don't know whether it still be here or not but we saw then that he had the aptitude to step up to the plate and play in the first team. We knew we had the ability of the footballer but sometimes it's that transition that some players find hard and sometimes it's too much for them.

We've got a couple there where if they step up to the plate like Matty Lowton and Kyle Walker and Kyle Naughton then they've got a chance. It's all part of the Academy process bringing those players through it’s not about football ability sometimes it's about nurturing them as young men and giving them the mental strength to go out on the pitch for the first team and do it.

Andy Pack: If I can hog the question there. We were involved in an interview this afternoon, I was interested to hear you talk about being a very young player, at Leeds, when you got very experienced pros coming in like Gordon Strachan and how in awe you were of them. I want to know from you whether or not you find that perhaps intimidating or character building and how you would like your senior players to be around when the youngsters are around?

Gary Speed: Yeah it is character building. With the players you have in the dressing room, when I first come here we had Greg Halford come in. Now Greg did great for us, I think he played his best football in his career at Sheffield United and I think the reason for that was ... because he was a bit of a ... funny one old Greg.

/Audience laughs

He was a bit big-time. A big-time Charlie. A bit like one of them. But then he walked into the dressing room here and there was myself, there was James Beattie, there was Morgs, there was Monty, there was Paddy ... there was great characters in there. And he walked in and went “oohh ... I'm not as big-time as I thought I was”. And he really knuckled down. It took him a few weeks to get into the swing of things and the gaffer used to hammer him because he wasn't doing the things ... but in the end he really knuckled down because he knew if he didn't we'd be on him, we'd be at him.

I think that's the culture we've got here now with the players we've got here when the likes of Kingsley James and Jordan Chapell come up with us and train with us, they've got the likes of Morgs, Monty and Cressy around and have to do it because if they don't they'll get buried alive, so they have to step up to the plate. That's why when these kids come to train with us is really really good and they've improved a hell of a lot over the last three months because they’re training with us because of the likes of Morgs, Monty and Cressy and the people I've just mentioned.

Andy Pack: ... looks male from here.

Question: Thank you! Going on the dressing room I just like to ask Gary and Morgan because you probably know him, how much of a difference has Kozzy made to the dressing room now he's back?

Gary Speed: He hasn't painted it yet! Kozzy’s a great lad. I played against him a few times, I played against him at Barnsley and some of the things he said on the pitch I was laughing my head off. He's a funny lad but Morgs knows him a lot better than I do...

Chris Morgan: When you have dressing rooms and you have groups of players you've got to have people like Kozzy. I do think that people at times forget that Koz is actually good player as well. I think if you talk about Kozzy it's always things like yeah he's a character, he's a comedian and stuff like that. I don't know if any of you have ever seen his player of the year dinner things and he's just something else.

He's one of those people within a dressing room that sometimes, especially on a match day or if you're sat on a coach on the way to a game, and sometimes there's a bit of tension ... he just comes out with something stupid ... he'll spot somebody on the street that looks like one of the players and he will be banging on the window – “we’ve forgot Britts!”

And all of a sudden the lads have forgot the tension and stuff and everybody is then relaxed. I've kept in touch with him while he was at Barnsley and things like that and he's a great lad and I'm pleased to see him back. I think he knew when he signed that he was coming back as a squad player and that's not being disrespectful to Koz. I think he knew was coming back not necessarily to be a first-team player, he'll get his head down and he’ll work hard, he’ll work hard in training every day. He's a fit lad, he’ll give everything and I think if the gaffer does need to call on him than the gaffer knows that he'll do him a top job but yeah, what a great character to have. I think we're lucky to have him back really.

Andy Pack: What you do know is that you’ve hammered Koz in the programme ...

Chris Morgan: I only said tongue in cheek that him and Wardy ...

Andy Pack: What you don't know is that he's hammered you in next Tuesday's programme.

Chris Morgan: They've been after their own page haven't they?

Andy Pack: They've got it!

Chris Morgan: I told them they weren't important enough yet for their own page.

Andy Pack: You know Kevin Cookson and I will do anything for a fast buck and they paid more than you did mate. While we’re talking about Kozzy can we talk about, and I want you to stay on here, the man who’s in front of Kozzy in John Calvé... impressed? Someone who can speak very little English, a bit like yourself ...

/Audience laughs

How does that work out on the pitch?

Chris Morgan: I was actually asked to communicate to the Argentinian triallist this morning because I'm quite good at Spanish. We were doing five passes and I just told him “cinco” ... so I might not be good at English but I can count in Spanish.

/Audience laughs

Andy Pack: That might be the Argentinian triallist that we haven't mentioned so we better get it on the website tomorrow morning!

/Audience laughs

Chris Morgan: Jean, obviously came in at Notts County and did really well in the game at Notts County and then sort of disappeared a bit, I think somebody else invited him for a trial. I think everybody liked what they saw, good footballer, comfortable on the ball, liked to get forward but could defend as well. He does speak good English but from a fellow defender's point of view, looking at him and his positioning and things like that he’s sort of fitted in that way as well.

Sometimes you get triallists and you’re in games in you’re thinking “this lad’s never played before” - he doesn't know when to squeeze, he doesn't know when to drop... so we all knew what he could do. I was sat up in the stand with Sam and I've seen him hit one first half and I'm thinking “what's he doing here?” And then second half he shapes up to hit another one and I'm thinking “oo he’s at it again” and I wish I'd had a camera to take a picture of Sam Ellis's face because the look of ... what a strike and what a way to mark your home debut.

But again, good lad, wants to settle in, wants to do it our way and he’s doing everything he can to settle in and we look forward to many more goals like that we hope.

Andy Pack: And if you've not heard the news tonight, John Calvé got a cramp during that celebration, he's all right and he’s available for selection on Saturday.

Chris Morgan: But he will get fined in court tomorrow morning for coming off with cramp. Which goes without saying ...

/Audience laughs

Andy Pack: Or dropped ... which gives you another opportunity to get back in the team.

Chris Morgan: I can't play right back... but I will do!

Question: This is for Gary. Given the hopeful improvements in football and the chance creation that were going to have, how big a player could Ched Evans be for Sheffield United?

Gary Speed: he could be a massive player. He's still only young, relatively young - he's still only 21 22 so he's still got a lot to learn. He's certainly not the finished article but some of the things you see in training ... he hits the ball harder than I've ever seen anybody hit the ball before. It's unbelievable. I just hope you can get to see out there once in a while. He's a bit of an enigma for us at the minute ... he's a great lad... he’s a bit dull sometimes. His attention span is not the best.

/Audience laughs

The more you tell him, the less he understands. So in his circumstance, less is definitely more. But he's definitely got talent, he's one of those that you really want to do well, it's just about giving him confidence. He tries his socks off ... when he scored that first goal of the season at Cardiff we were off and running and unfortunately if it hadn't been for the sending off I think we’d have won that game comfortably. So it all could have been a lot different but Ched’s just one of a number of players who got great ability and we just hope we’ll see more of it during the coming season.

Andy Pack: Gary can you explain it because when he was bought there was a flurry of excitement, a big fee, everybody knew he'd scored 10 in 20 with Norwich, he was younger then ... why do you think it's not happened? Is it to do with the plateaus of learning for young player, coming to a different club coming to a different culture? What would you put it down to? You must have seen it before with other players?

Gary Speed: Ched’s got natural talent and sometimes ge does things without being told that are the right things but I don't think he's been coached much in his career, I don't think he's actually been coached, I just think he's gone and played. The important thing for him is to relax. I think there's a case for somebody trying too hard.

I think Wardy did it the other day, he didn't have a great game. I think he ended up trying too hard instead of doing things simple and I think Ched’s is a bit similar. He tries too hard and it takes away from his natural game.

Andy Pack: And what did you say to me when I said to you after that game ”Wardy’s not had a great game and he knows it”. Can you remember what you said to me?

Gary Speed: From my experience, you don't have great games all the time, you're going to have games where you're a bit off - your touch is a bit off, your passing is a bit off so what you do then is that you do a job for the team. You roll your sleeves up and work hard, you chase, you harry, you tackle, you run, you close down and what Wardy did, he did all that but when he got the ball he tried to over complicate things because he was having a bad day. He tried to do something special every time he got the ball instead of keeping it simple.

And I explained that to him after the game and he agreed I said “we all have bad games. I had one once.” That's what I said to him.

/Audience laughs


There's about 25 more minutes left to post but it won't appear until tomorrow.. I've had enough for today!