The manager shares his thoughts on the disappointing 0-0 draw with Sunderland at the Boleyn....
You lacked spark tody Sam. Was it frustrating for you?Oh yes. There was a little bit to much edge in our game. Too many simple balls going astray and we didn't create the sort of pressure we did against Fulham a couple of weeks ago. Hence we endded up with a dogged affair rather than the creative football we had against Fulham. We wanted someone to find a little bit of genius for us on the day, one of our creative players to pop up with something a little bit special and put that ball in the back of the net for the “one-niller.” We couldn't find that again today and probably the draw was a fair result. Disappointing from what I expected in the end. We got what we deserved. If we'd got anymore out of that we'd have been delighted, obviously. Had somebody turned the game in our favour with a little bit of genius. All our creative players couldn't find that clever finish, that final pass or that cross.
Do you call a result and performance like that “one of those things” or...... ?
I wouldn't say it was one of those things. I would look at the nervous tension that I have to relieve about the place. The little bit of anxiety. This game was no bigger than the Fulham game two weeks ago. Both teams in a similar position, both teams needing a win. We played a fantastic game and ended up winning comfortably 3-0. Today we didn't see that. I've also picked up some more injuries and a suspension so the squad's getting thinner and thinner.
Is Andy Carroll in the right frame of mind to provide that missing genius?
Once he gets fit he'll make us better. There' s no doubt about that. Until we get him better there's no point in talking about Andy Carroll. You never talk about the other 4 or 5 injuries I've got. They have an impact as I can't select who I want or who I need. At the moment we've got to battle our way through it and get all the injured players fit and try and add to the squad in January. Between now and January we've got to get more points on the board.
Is he [Carroll] in the right frame of mind to get back and get fit? ...
He works every day to 5,6,7 at night. We're glad to have him back because we can see him improving every day. Winston Reid, Ricardo Vaz Te people like that they're all doing the same. We're in a position where we've got tough games coming up. We've got the Capital One Cup on Wednesday, Manchester United away and Arsenal at home. Three points today would have alleviated some of the pressure from those games. We've got a point. We have to do what other teams have done at Manchester United recently and take some points at Old Trafford. If we pay our best we'll have a chance.
How far away is Carlton Cole away from a run in the side?
I gave Carlton a start against Crystal Palace. I can't give anyone a run of games. It's like when the season ticket holders asked me why I don't play young players. If you play a youngster once and he doesn't play well you can't play him again, not in the Premier League. You end up losing the result. That player might not be good enough on the day. You have to go with the players with Premier League experience. They're the ones that produce the most consistent performances. We have brought one player through this year and he's done a fantastic job. That's Ravel Morrison. We have a young player that's blossoming with us – though I have to say that today was one of his lower key games today. Which is a shame because he is the one that can produce the bit of genius individually on his own.
It's a difficult time but there are teams below s having a difficult time. I say to the lads “if you're not feeling so well how must they feel because they're below us? Take it on the chin and make sure that you deliver your best performances and we'll get our way out of this problem we have at the minute”
Are you aware of David Sullivan's comments that he'd never have signed Carroll if he'd known how on he was going to be out?
Well after that he said that it would only be at the end of the season that we'd be able to judge how good a player Andy Carroll is. Understanding the size of the investment I can understand why he made this comment. We'v got to get him fit and he's got to get back to what he was doing for us last season. It's not his fault he's injured. We just have to make sure we keep him fit. He's the difference between us winning more games and not. He was last year – if you look at our win ratio with him and without him it was obvious we had to sign him. Without him it's like Manchester City without Aguero or Negredo. When you haven't had that all season one of your major players in the team means that we're not the force that we should be. We hoped we could overcome that until he got fit but we haven't managed to do that.
When do you think he'll be back?
[Sighs] It's not within my medical capabilities to say when he should be back. I do have the capability to watch him. If I don't watch him live I watch him train on video. I can keep an eye on him with the guys who are looking after him so we can have an objective opinion between us to when he should be back, whether that's a bit sooner than perhaps they think. They always err on the side of caution – rightly so. If Andy's telling us he's great and he's looking good and the guys say maybe then I'll have a decision to make. I'll take the responsibility so if he gets injured again it'll be on my back so I have to be as careful as they do.
Thanks.
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