Pompey new boy Sammy Slivera speaks to The News following the Australia international's loan arrival from Middlesbrough.
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00:00Here with Pompey's new boy, Sammy Cervera. Sammy, welcome to the club. Can you just
00:05bring us up to speed with how the move came about from your perspective?
00:07I was actually away on holidays. I was with my best mate from Australia and the agent
00:13called me and said, yeah, Pompey's interested. So I couldn't really be not interested in
00:21such a club that set such a high standard in League One. And then obviously they deserve
00:26what they did to get to the championship. So obviously the interest is there, built
00:31over the holidays. I obviously wanted to relax and enjoy my holidays as well. But as I came
00:36closer to pre-season and coming back in for the Middlesbrough, yeah, the interest grew
00:43and grew. And again, my interest grew and grew as well. So yeah, and now I'm here.
00:47So you say the interest is there. The interest has actually been there for a while, hasn't
00:50it? I mean, 12 months ago there was a little bit of noise about you. So I mean, obviously
00:54you're a wanted man in Portsmouth.
00:56I guess so. I guess so. I'm just blessed to have an opportunity to represent this big
01:02club. Obviously we want to be successful. We want to set the standard from day one.
01:06I think the boys have done that since I've come in. It's a standard that they've carried
01:11on from League One and we're going to keep carrying that on.
01:14What are your personal ambitions for next season?
01:16Honestly, it's just to help the team with goals and assists. I think that's something
01:22I can work on for sure. I think obviously coming from the A-League Championship is a
01:26pretty tough transition. I think even, it was like 15 games into the season last season
01:32and I think the A-League was just starting. So it's a big jump, but I feel like I've adapted
01:39really well. And again, I think I had a decent turnaround in terms of goals and assists last
01:44season, but I'm looking to add on to that.
01:47You know the Championship terrain, you've delivered that terrain. For Pompey players
01:52stepping up and the Pompey fans, give a little insight into what the level is like at the
01:56Championship because Pompey haven't been there for 12 years now.
01:58Well look, I think apart from teams, teams are massive. There's a lot of Premier League
02:05or should be Premier League clubs in a way. Pompey is a massive club and it's not to say
02:11that we're a massive club as well. We've been there, Pompey's done that, they've been there.
02:18So that is obviously a level that we have an ambition to reach. I think it's difficult,
02:23it is a difficult league, it's relentless, especially teams and I think fans as well.
02:28I think first game of the season leads, I think. It's a good start to the season.
02:32It's welcome to the Championship, isn't it?
02:33It's a good start to the season, but that's the thing, you've got to relish in those games,
02:37you've got to enjoy it because the fans there, they're massive. This one here would know
02:43about a bit of that. 45,000 or around that for the first game of the season is a pretty
02:51good entry to the Championship. So no, we're looking forward to it and just keep pushing.
02:56For Pompey fans that haven't seen you, what would you say your game is? What do you bring
02:59to the table, hope to bring to the table?
03:01Excitement, enjoyment. I think that's a massive factor for me. I like to express myself 1v1
03:10as one of my specialties. Obviously I've got to work on some things and hopefully that
03:15will come out with more game time or more consistent game time. Just being effective
03:22and again, goals and assists, that's what I want to bring to this club.
03:24You like to engage players from the clips and I've seen you, you like to attack players.
03:29Is that a fair assessment? You want to get out and attack defenders?
03:33100%. I think if you don't take chances, if you don't attack, especially as an attacker,
03:38you don't score, you don't get assists and that's what I want to do. I want to provide
03:44for my teammates and also give an option for them to provide for me.
03:48Were you on the phone to Kass ahead of your move?
03:51I was trying to get in contact with him but he was on holidays and he was on his, obviously
03:57with the national team so he got a couple of days off. It was good seeing him coming
04:01into the training ground and it will be a good connection hopefully.
04:05Your career has really flown in the last 12-18 months. You've been all in Australia coming
04:11onto the Championship. It seems like it's going really well for yourself.
04:15Again, I'm blessed. It's been an up and down journey from when I first started. First season
04:23it was a good season and then I've jumped around a fair bit, just getting used to football
04:28and obviously being away from home. Now I feel like I've matured quite a bit, had that
04:34overseas opportunity quite early. I understood a bit about how European football works and
04:39now I've brought that back into the A-League and I feel like that was a part of my success
04:43or my little success that I had with that season. Now hopefully just looking to carry
04:49that on into the Championship where I think it's still learning. I've still got so much
04:54to learn. I've had a fairly good 12 months and hopefully going to carry that on into
04:59another 12 months at Pompey.
05:01What's your views of Portsmouth? What's your perspective? What do you think of Portsmouth
05:05coming in? The fan base is well known and you've seen the success of last season. Are
05:11you an onlooker for all that?
05:13100 per cent. I was watching obviously Cassini Yangi and Alex Robbo, obviously the national
05:19team. I watched it quite a bit but whoever I spoke to about the club, it's the fans.
05:26I think naturally where you're going, good, they're going to be here but the way that
05:31obviously Pompey went, I think the fans were that 12th man that every game, no matter what,
05:36if they were losing or winning. I think one of the highlights I was speaking to one of
05:41the players was they were down 2-0. I can't remember who it was against but they got behind
05:47them still and they ended up, I'm pretty sure it was winning, 3-2.
05:50Is that what it was at the end of the season possibly?
05:53I'm pretty sure it was something like that, yeah. It just shows the fans that when you're
05:57going well, obviously they get behind you, they keep pushing you and that's important.
06:01When the loan came about, we were all hopeful it might be a view to a permanent move but
06:04it seems like Middlesbrough, you're still valued there so you're here for the season
06:07and to improve yourself. Is that fair?
06:10Yeah, I think coming in, I want to improve. I want to just carry on. My focus is for each
06:18day, every day, to improve, improve and you never know what's going to happen in the future
06:22but again, my focus is right here. Obviously, yes, I am still a Middlesbrough player at
06:27the end of the day but right now my focus is Pompey and obviously with the coach stuff
06:30here and the lads, I want to keep improving and obviously be successful with this team.
06:35And obviously on a platform in the Championship, that would probably help your international
06:38aspirations as well with the Socceroos?
06:40Oh, for sure, for sure. I think again, mixed with the Championship and the national team,
06:45it's tough with Australia obviously with the travel and that but again, I think I can speak
06:50for me and Cass as well, I think we got used to that a bit. Obviously, League One is pretty
06:54similar to the Championship where it's relentless so you get used to that. So obviously, getting
07:00those games under the belt in the Championship will help you reach those national team aspirations
07:03and hopefully we'll just continue and build on that and then, yeah, that's the goal.
07:08Just an insight into this pre-season, we just watched a pretty intense game down there.
07:12The boys are going for it, aren't they?
07:13Yeah, yeah, like I said, I think from the first day, I think I came in and I had to
07:18sign but I watched the lads do running and on the standard that they set from day one
07:23was some big numbers and it was a good standard and I was kind of blown away with the running
07:32stats that was the first couple of days that I've seen. So obviously, it's a standard that
07:37pushes everyone, that comes from the gaffer and then all the way down but that's just
07:42one standard but we, as a playing group, we want to push that standard even higher and
07:46higher and I think that from the captain, Skip, he pushes that, he drives that, he understands
07:52he's got that experience so we're just, as a playing group, we're going to keep pushing
07:56and pushing and obviously, this is where the hard work's done here. The lads are tired
08:00to be honest and it's hot.
08:02I'm tired watching.
08:04Yeah, it's hot but I think that's what builds character. You're able to push in the sun
08:09and the heat so that's what we're here to do.
08:13Just finally, you know the championship levels, you've come in and seen the level here, do
08:16you think Pompey can, in your opinion, be competitive from what you've seen here so
08:20far?
08:21100 per cent, 100 per cent. I think championships are, it's an up and down league. I think from
08:26my 12 months, we were up there, we were down, we were up, down. We'll just talk of relegation
08:32at one point and then we'll get close to promotion. I think, no matter what, on your
08:37day, if you're at it, if you're consistent mentally and you're up for it, I think you
08:44can beat anyone. I think the quality that we've shown here in training is close to some
08:50of those things. If not, we can do better if we keep working hard but it's going to
08:55come down to where you're going to be clinical in either box, where you're defending as a
08:59team and you're scoring as a team as well. That's the important thing. I think obviously
09:04if we take that mentality of we're going to go into games, we're going to win and we're
09:08going to outwork teams, we can come away with a win.
09:12Top man.