It's a quick turnaround between Watford and Derby, but I'm just interested in terms of your debrief of a game like Watford.
I think there were a lot, a lot, a lot of positives. What was negative to concede the two goals. That was the big negative, because the team started the game really well, front foot, dominating the ball, creating chances, it was all there.
Then one kick deep and they can be in front of our goal. And I have to say also, and I've know Myron (Boadu) for a long time. He's a really good finisher and he has really good speed.
Those were also two top finishes that he does two times in the corner, but you dominate everything and you give two goals away. So that's for sure a negative. But a lot of other things were really positive in that game.
You need to show both. If you play that game and you don't take these two isolated incidents in that game, then I think it was one of our better games of the season also. So yeah, those are decisive moments and we need to be better in that.
Andre Brooks is the only one now in the squad who started all 13 in the league. Is that a reflection maybe what he brings, but also maybe the lack of alternatives you've got in that position?
It's a big thing to miss him (Papa Diallo) for so many games, you saw also the impact that he had in the few games that he played this season. So, because of that Andre is playing indeed more minutes than was expected or what he ever did before in a team.
Also, with Ante (Crnac) coming back out of a long, long-term injury is also one part of that, he's not up to speed yet to start games. So, that's also one part of that the story that Andre is playing more minutes than he has ever done before.
I want to add to that, you try to look for other solutions and that's why Lucien (Mahovo) also got minutes there because he's showing really good things in that position and I think that he really can play really strong as a winger also. He has these offensive qualities, but he showed also in the way he came in the last game.
With the levels of sports science you're putting into the players now to try and monitor their load and monitor their intensity to get ahead of any potential fatigue, is there anything coming up with Andre on those ones, given the workload.
No, we're pulling the elastic that we know, but it's about keeping them well and that's why I change them at certain moments of the game also, when he's still good in the game to manage that.
Never in his career before has he played this amount of minutes in such a short time that he's been doing here. But it's also the only way to get to a better level. If year after year do the same things, you will not grow. So he's coping well.
Today he looked good in the training, so I'm really pleased about that. Is his level all the time consistently high? They are still ups and downs, but it's getting better and better. I think this spirit can be for him also a very, very strong foundation for his future to get this amount of minutes and game time.
I'll ask you about José Córdoba, just to assess his season so far. We know how highly you rate him. You spoke about how you monitored him at your previous clubs, is he at the level we've seen maybe last season?
You cannot say that about any player in our defence this season that they played at the level of last season. It has to do with individuals, yes, but also with the collective, how other people around them defend and with the situation.
With the beginning of the season, getting less points than they deserved, than we all wanted. So, it created sometimes that big desire to win every duel and to win every ball and to be more rushed and like that making fewer good decisions than when you are calm, relaxed, when you have full confidence because the team is in a good dynamic with taking a lot of points.
It's different for all the team, so, José is also one part of that. That's why it's positive. Now these last two games that they won, that gave also confidence and in the way they performed in the two games, but we need to take some details to make it better and then we go to a full performance and the level we want to get.
With José particularly, could there be an inevitable Post-World Cup dip with a player like that, with all your World Cup players, when they come off a really tough, gruelling championship season?
José is probably in our top three playing minutes this season. It can be one part of it but it's an easy excuse because there are a lot of players playing all over the world who played in the World Cup and who went much further than Panama did in that World Cup, so that means that they all cannot perform as the season before. That's not the case. So, I don't think it's a valid thing.
He had a short holiday but a decent time off on holiday. It has more to do with the dynamic in the team, how the results were in the beginning of the season. So, I see things changing also now and that they need to confirm now tomorrow in the game.
I want to ask you about Paris (Maghoma), only on the basis of last two games, two wins, two very good performances, two goals as well, but there's a few fans picked up, maybe it's rather new to goal celebrations. Is that something you've been made aware of?
I think it was 20 years ago that the team at Carrow Road won after going 2-0 behind. So that shows resilience, that shows passion, that shows that this team really wants to win, I want to speak about that.
I spoke with Paris about the celebrations and it's nothing special and I think if in the next game, no I don't think, I'm sure that next game, and I hope it's tomorrow that if he scores again, that it will be different.
But if I see celebration of some other players with masks and things and they do a show, it's part of the industry that we live and with the young guys it’s how they live their life.
I pointed out also that people can take it in the wrong way, so yeah, that's something that Paris understands now. But I want to speak also about positive
Jacob Wright, really felt like in that second-half, particularly alongside Sam Field, that personality, that maturity and leadership we've spoken about really came through again?
Yeah, and Jacob is making really good steps and I praised Sam (Field) and Mathias Kvistgaarden also after the game in the dressing room because Sam hasn’t played much this season and it's tough competition with Kenny (McLean), with Pelle (Mattsson).
But Sam has been an example for all that in the dressing room about attitudes, about work ethic, about going hard every day, being positive, supporting everybody, and being there also in the moment when the team needs you.
He's proven that before, last season, now again, to be that player that can be 90 minutes long, consistent and being there for the team and helping this young squad. So those things help Jacob also, but like I said a few weeks ago, I'm very pleased about the evolution that Jacob is making.
Derby is tomorrow and I know clearly your focus will be your side and your approach, but looking from the outside, what do you make of their season so far?
Yeah, they're not in a good spot, but it's a team with quality, also with their manager, somebody with a lot of quality and also a really nice guy. So when you come in that position and this club was there last season, then fans become more negative, that can create tension in your group and on the pitch.
It’s like a wounded animal and you always need to watch out with wounded animals because they can become really dangerous, so we need to be really prepared for that going there.
But we will play our kind of football and they are very direct, they use their offensive players really well with the qualities they have in all the duels. So, I expect a game where we need to be really strong in the duels but not only that to be good on the ball also because if you don't control the ball, you cannot control the game.
You touched on it there, you finished eighth last season, it just underlines in this league, you can fall the wrong side in some key areas and you can slip away pretty quickly?
Yes, that's this league and that's why everybody loves this league and following it. So, there's never a game that is played before the game is played, never in this league.
The first in the league can lose against the last in the league, it's really competitive and you need to be on your toes and it's relentless with a lot of games and a lot of periods with games every three days.
Then you have the circumstances with injuries and missing players and then finding solutions. That's why as a manager and for all of us in the championship it's also really interesting because it's never boring.
There's always something happening and all the teams are very competitive, and they battle really hard to get. You need a battle for every point.
Derby have lost three in the last four at home, they struggled at Millwall at the weekend, but at home they're still very difficult to beat?
Yeah, for sure and we know that we realise that, and we need to play a big game there to get the three points. It would be very important for us also if you can make three consecutive wins in a row, so that's our target.
But we know it's going to be a tough game to win and we need to assess now really well how people came out of the game and how fresh they are. If you need to make changes and how many changes you need to make towards this game. So yeah, I'm looking forward to the game, it's going to be a hard battle.
A player you know relatively well Shane Duffy has just joined Derby
Yeah, Shane, of course. I loved the time with Shane. It was not his best period that he had in the club here. He had several injuries already when I came in and afterwards also.
But he was brilliant in the dressing room, and he stayed positive all the time. He was also at every home game even when he was not in the selection, sitting behind the bench and really supporting the team like the biggest fan in the club. So, I really enjoyed that time with Shane and I wished him all the best after the season with finding a new club.
We wanted to go younger in that position and to work for the future, that's why Bruno (Alves) came into the building and I hoped that Shane would find a good team. It took some time, but I think Derby is a really good team.
It's a big club and it's a good challenge for him again and I think it's good for him to have this structure in his life to get everyday trainings and the atmosphere of a team around him because he's a really good lad.
The fans have sold out the away allocation again. You go back to the last away game, full house again at Charlton in the away, and that synergy, I mean, that will be the aim tomorrow, won't it? The players to perform and the fans to perform for the players?
Yeah, 100%, and I said it after Charlton. That's why I do the talks when I see celebrations and I hear things. I want to explain to the player those things because they don't realise in that moment that each body expression, every word that you do in our world is under a microscope.
People can make their own stories about it and if you're first in the league then all the stories are positive, if you're not where you want to be in this moment in time, then people look more or to try to find negative things around every body language or every word that a player uses.
They need to realise that also, but that's growing up, that's getting used in this exposed world and the responsibility that you have as a figure in sports and to be an example for everybody.