Pompey head coach speaks to The News following the opening of the summer transfer window.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00So John we're in the new conference room, meeting room is this at the training ground?
00:07Yeah this will be our new analysis room so everything's coming along really nicely. I
00:10know you guys have had half a tour, we'll finish that off in a bit but yeah things have
00:15come across, things have progressed really nicely over the summer and it's going to be
00:18great to move into this new building. We've been talking about it for a while now and
00:21it's all come together. There's a few bits that we still need to do but only minor bits
00:26before the start of the season. We're looking forward to all getting into this building
00:29and moving over.
00:30Yeah it's worth pointing out this is not finished, there's still plenty of work to do in the
00:34building so yeah before people jump off the building.
00:36Yeah we want to get everything right and sometimes getting everything right means you just take
00:40a couple of extra days in it, a couple of extra weeks. One of the things we do want
00:43to wait for as well is players to come back in the building. There's a couple of players
00:47coming in areas that we want to get their feedback on and not just put everything in
00:51and then have a few complaints for the back of it. So just making sure all those small
00:54bits are right but we've got a bit of time still, we've got a bit of time till the start
00:58of the season and the most important thing for us really is going to be the fact that
01:02we have a couple of areas boxed off when the players come back. The gym is probably the
01:06most important bit with the physio room which is all done and the players' changing rooms
01:10have been done for a while and the pitches have both been dug up and reseeded and re-laid
01:15in areas so they should be brilliant for the start of pre-season, those are the most important
01:19bits.
01:20In terms of the transfer window which opens on Friday, how do you make progress on that?
01:25Obviously there's a huge amount that we know behind the scenes and we feel we're in a really
01:31strong position. I know it's contrasting to last year in terms of the amount of business
01:35that's been done but there's been no surprise to us. First of all it's been a really slow
01:39transfer window for everybody and second of all the circumstances around where we are
01:43this year are different to last year so we're really pleased with the fact that we got Jordan
01:48Dunne, we got Jordan over the line and that was a real top end free agent as far as we
01:53were concerned and a player that we've been really excited about and we've followed for
01:56a while. And then to get Conor Ogilvie's contract renewal done as well, we're really happy with
02:01that and so it's just about building and making sure that we don't rush into anything but
02:05we know that the season or pre-season is around the corner and we do want to get some bodies
02:09through the door but we feel we're in good positions and we feel really, really confident
02:12that we're going to be in a strong position by the time that we report back.
02:16In what respects is the market different this time around?
02:18I think it's just different in terms of the fact that we've gone up a league and the competition
02:22that we have for signing players has changed. I think that it's probably no surprise that
02:28at the top end of League One that Portsmouth, just as a pull and just as a club with the
02:32club size, that was a massive attraction to players and I still think that is, I still
02:36think that the size of the club, the history of the club, everything that goes with coming
02:42down to Portsmouth and Fratton Park is a massive pull for players. I think we're just competing
02:46with a few different clubs at the minute and almost every club in the Championship is massive
02:51in terms of club size, stadium history, a lot of them are established in the Championship
02:56for a while so that's definitely something that we're working hard on to make sure that
02:59we do make sure that players know what they're getting into when they come down here and
03:03that is just different from last year where we were competing with a completely different
03:06set of clubs to sign players.
03:08Is Jordan Williams a good example of that because there were other Championship clubs
03:13in for him?
03:14Yeah and that was no surprise to us because Jordan's had a fantastic career so far. At
03:19He's played a huge amount of games, he's played for three seasons I think in the Championship,
03:23three full seasons, he's had a lot of success. He capped in Barnsley last year, a decent
03:28Barnsley side and we probably saw, I know this wouldn't be the focus of all Portsmouth
03:33fans but that night at Fratton Park, that Tuesday night, I thought Barnsley outplayed
03:36us, they were much better than us. I thought Jordan played really well on the night and
03:40he's been part of that side that's had a lot of success over the past couple of seasons,
03:43narrowly losing out in the play-off finals and the play-off semi-finals and obviously
03:48off the back of that as well, having that Championship experience. So Jordan was a player
03:52that had a lot of interest and we had to work hard to get his signature, particularly because
03:56he spent the majority of his time or all of his career up in Yorkshire and to get him
04:01down and to get him to commit to come down with his young family I think is a sign of
04:06where we're going as a football club and also a sign of Jordan's commitment as well.
04:10Are you close to anything else at the moment?
04:12Yeah, there's a few bits. We're relatively close on them. I'm obviously speaking to Rich,
04:19the recruitment team, every day in terms of making sure that we keep every iron in the
04:24fire that we need to. Again, I think probably the window's been relatively slow so far as
04:30a whole, there hasn't been a huge amount going on, particularly in the Championship and I
04:33think that probably now, with a couple of weeks to go until players start reporting
04:38back for pre-season, I think there's probably going to be more of an urgency on players'
04:41sides to make decisions and to decide where their future lies and I expect things to start
04:47moving if not this week then next week but we are relatively relaxed about the situation.
04:52We're obviously working hard behind the scenes and making sure that we tick every box that
04:55we need to tick on our end and then just making sure that we, first of all, hope for the right
05:01outcome in terms of the top targets and we have plenty underneath that as well just in
05:04case they don't come off.
05:05Are you expecting any more in this week alone?
05:08Possibly, possibly but I don't know, I'm not sure. Again, it depends on a number of
05:12factors but from our point of view we're doing everything we possibly can to get these players
05:17in there. The most important thing is to make sure that we get the right players at the
05:20right time and we don't panic on anything and we give players enough time to make the
05:25correct decisions so, again, it's different to how it was last year. I think we were able
05:31to announce a raft of signings in the first week or so of the transfer window opening
05:36and I think year on year everything's different. Of course, we spoke a lot about getting business
05:41done early last year, that was just something that we were able to do. We want to get our
05:46business done as early as possible, it's just not always the case and there is that fine
05:51balance between making sure that we get our business done as quickly as we can but also
05:55take the players that we want to take.
05:57You mentioned off your calliography signings contract, what's the latest from Marlon Pack?
06:01I'm going to catch up with Rich today but I think there's been positive talks for the
06:06last couple of weeks and that's something that I think we're confident we've been able
06:09to get done so hopefully we'll have that done and dusted and boxed off relatively soon but
06:15I'll catch up with Rich today and find out what the latest on that is. Again, I know
06:20we speak about this a lot but one of the real advantages of this structure at the football
06:25club is that my interactions with Marlon are purely on the football side and I don't have
06:28to get involved in the contractual or the money side of it so Rich is taking care of
06:31everything there with Marlon's agent and, yeah, it does really allow me to separate
06:35the two and to make sure that when hopefully Marlon comes back for the first day of pre-season
06:40all our focus is on everything that goes on in the grass and we don't have to worry about
06:43anything contractually.
06:44But obviously the message is it's encouraging anyway?
06:47Yeah, it's encouraging and I think everybody at the football club will be really pleased
06:51to see Marlon back for next season and he had such a fantastic year last year and it
06:57was obviously by his own admission I think a dream come true to be able to do what he
07:01did and he was fully deserving of everything that came to him in terms of the awards, in
07:06terms of the accolades that he got and the recognition he got as the club captain and
07:12we absolutely love working with him. It was a pleasure to have as club captain, I'm sure
07:15as everybody in the media and all the fans and everybody else connected with the football
07:18club knows so to get Marlon back in the building will be a real positive for us.
07:23And finally, Joe Morell and Zach Swanson were situated there?
07:26Again, I'll catch up with Rich today on those two but that's something that I think
07:31is still ongoing between the agents and the football club so yeah, we'll probably have
07:36an update a bit later on close to pre-season.
07:38First with Joe Morell, would you like him to stay?
07:41You know, Joe's a fantastic player, I think there's some areas that we have to make sure
07:48that we get right, actually with both of them and we had reasons for not taking up the options
07:54on both of those two so it's just about getting that balance right and obviously with Joe
08:00we've got the injury to contend with as well but Joe's an international player, I thought
08:05he was excellent last season for large periods, obviously captain the side in the absence
08:10of Marlon as well so regard Joe really highly and we'll get the update in terms of where
08:15that's going later on.
08:17And Zach?
08:18Yeah, similar with Zach, again just trying to get that update. Zach, sad, I thought when
08:22he played I thought he had a really good season, I thought he was excellent when he came in
08:28and deputised, I thought he'd probably start the season deputising for Joe Rafferty and
08:31towards the back end we used him interchangeably with Joe because I thought we had that luxury
08:35towards the back end of the year, we always spoke about team selection, I thought after
08:38certain games where we'd change full-backs and Zach was the one that came in against
08:42Barnsley, unfortunately he got injured against Barnsley but I think everything's resolved
08:46on that side so yeah, we'll get the update later on today and see where we are.
08:50Is Zach now fit and okay?
08:52Yeah, Zach's fine now, it's that ongoing problem that he's got with the groins but
08:57he's been working hard over the summer to make sure he's back.
09:00So hopefully that's fine now?
09:01Yeah, that should be fine.
09:02Thank you.
09:03Perfect.