Speak at The Star football awards Gus Hamer and Chris Wilder talk about the season and the upcoming Play Offs
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00:01Chris, Gus has just won the Sheffield Air Player of the Year award there.
00:07First of all, what's he bringing?
00:11We all see the skill and all of those other things.
00:15What about off the pitch and what it's like?
00:18We talked about it there in terms of the culture reset.
00:27Chris was part of, and we all were, unfortunately, a really disappointing season last season.
00:32But for him to be amongst it and one of the main actors going forward,
00:37the resetting culture, personality, energy that he brings to the group,
00:41are there for everybody to see.
00:44Like you just said there, Chris, you know, the football side of it really.
00:48In a way, it takes care of itself.
00:50But for me, one of the biggest things is the things that I'm talking about there,
00:56that gets us going and allows us to be the club that we want to be.
01:01I don't think I'm speaking out of town here.
01:05But I would imagine after last season, Gus was gone,
01:08he's come to the club, he's playing in the Premier League,
01:11and you've got relegated.
01:12There's a fair chance of a team sniffing around going,
01:15I wonder if we can bring him in.
01:17Did you have to convince him this day?
01:19Was there a fair chance, Gus maybe I said to you as well?
01:21How did you think to yourself, no, this is a place for me?
01:25No, I don't think, like, I knew how the club was, I knew how the fans were,
01:29and I really enjoyed the six months, the months I had with the manager
01:34in the Premier League.
01:36And we had the words just in pre-season,
01:41and we looked those in the eyes and we said we can do this this season.
01:46Of course, there were some silence,
01:50but that was, I think, more to make some chaos into the media personally.
01:55So we looked at each other, we shake each other hands,
01:58and we said let's do it this season,
02:00that there was anything I needed from my manager that's in the season.
02:05But I think that brought us there for all with the confidence
02:08that the gaffer speaks out to us.
02:11I remember speaking to Chris at Harrogate.
02:14The team was still fairly full of young lads.
02:18Callum O'Hara had only just signed,
02:22so it only just got him in the door.
02:24You were, I think you may have been injured at the time,
02:26or maybe a bit of a knock.
02:28At that point, I'm thinking,
02:32I'm not too sure here.
02:34What made you guys think,
02:36no, we're going to be okay.
02:38We're going to be alright.
02:39Well, that's the question people always ask me.
02:41My question is,
02:42why would people think it's not going to go alright?
02:44I mean, you can see with players,
02:46Ole Arblaster, Sidipek, Andrew Brooks,
02:49that the academy players who are coming through are unbelievable,
02:52and they make it so hard for people,
02:54or boarding or whatever,
02:56to play well.
02:58So my question is always,
03:00why shouldn't we?
03:02Of course, it was a tight squad, that's true.
03:04So with a couple of injuries like myself,
03:06it's always, we have to bring more people in.
03:08And I think the gaffer boarding with his staff and members,
03:12they did an unbelievable job in the short time to guys,
03:16in the first couple of games,
03:18which was an unbelievable record man for me.
03:22Gus doesn't talk very often,
03:24not Dios, anyway.
03:26I'd imagine, the way he's speaking to me here,
03:29I would imagine that's the kind of thing
03:31that he's talking to the young lads about,
03:33and that's what that kind of player has helped drag you on,
03:37whenever, when you're asking a lot of Sidipek and Andrew Brooks,
03:41and you know...
03:43When Gus speaks, everybody listens.
03:47And rightly so, they should have been interested in him in the summer,
03:52because of how outstanding he was,
03:54an incredibly disappointing campaign for us.
03:56He cleaned up from the Player of the Year awards,
03:59everything, you know,
04:00so he was always going to be interested in him.
04:03So I'm okay with stuff like that,
04:05because he's a good player,
04:07and I would not expect anything different off the back of that Chris.
04:10So, but as soon as we talk and we go,
04:15listen, we need to, from a club point of view,
04:18restore value to our big players,
04:20and I think we've done that in terms of
04:22Enel, Vinny, and most importantly, Gus.
04:25He's a big player, he's a big signing for us in the Premier League.
04:29But you've got to be all in.
04:32So, as soon as I had that conversation with Gus,
04:35there was obvious interest from clubs,
04:38a little bit of nonsense, noise and nonsense at times,
04:41but as soon as he was all in,
04:44and we talked about that,
04:46he's given everything for me,
04:48and the football club right the way through.
04:50Like I said to you, you know,
04:52not just from a cultural point of view,
04:54but when you need those big moments,
04:56and you need people, players to produce,
04:59the bit of special that divides the average to the best,
05:05he's found those moments.
05:08And hopefully everything goes well in the next three or four weeks.
05:13We're incredibly positive about the outcome,
05:17even though there will be a little bit of negativity
05:19because of the past playoff record.
05:23It's irrelevant, really, because Gus wasn't here.
05:26I wasn't here.
05:27It was only from a supporter's point of view.
05:31But I get that.
05:33But we're here to, I haven't talked about,
05:35make new memories, build new legacies,
05:40and Gus will certainly do that.
05:43I'm sure in the next three or four weeks
05:45with his performances and contributions,
05:49hopefully which is going to be still
05:50an incredibly successful season for us.
05:52For you personally, it's a whole different experience.
05:57You know, the last time we spoke to you,
06:00when you were at these awards,
06:02and you know, having been literally a few days
06:06off the back of promotion,
06:08you've gone up, and you know,
06:11you've gone up automatically,
06:13and there was an absolute huge amount of buzz
06:16around the club.
06:18This is different, and as you said there,
06:21you know, people just go,
06:23oh, God, play-offs.
06:25It's up to you now to go,
06:26never mind, oh, God, play-offs.
06:28You know, this is potentially something
06:30to be looking forward to.
06:32Like, what I've said about,
06:34you've got two huge matches,
06:36and they're potentially a third at Wembley.
06:39Let's get going.
06:40Well, absolutely, 100%.
06:42You know, we've done that.
06:43You know, I talked about 2016,
06:45six years in League One.
06:46Nobody thought we'd get out of that.
06:48We did that.
06:49We talked about getting into the championship
06:51and getting a foothold in that division.
06:54We had a foothold for two seasons.
06:56The second season resulted in promotion.
06:59Then we finished ninth.
07:00So, you know, it's only,
07:03and not being critical,
07:05it's only the supporters
07:06that sort of bring this stuff up,
07:07because all of us are uber-ultra-positive
07:10in terms of what we can achieve.
07:12You know, we finished,
07:14and we will finish,
07:1520 points clear at the team
07:16that finishes in sixth place.
07:18And then, no guarantee,
07:19I'm not a mug,
07:20and we don't take anything for granted,
07:22and we respect everybody we play,
07:24but we're in a good place.
07:25Everybody's fit,
07:26everybody's healthy,
07:27everybody's raring to go.
07:28They know that they can achieve
07:29something incredibly special.
07:31It's 100 years since we last played
07:34in a winning team at Wembley.
07:38I've said before,
07:40regarding the Newcastle situation,
07:42Eddie Howe never went into those games.
07:44The Newcastle players never went into those games
07:47thinking about the past losses.
07:50We're incredibly positive
07:53in terms of what we can achieve.
07:55And it's all to play for.
07:58We've got to do a lot of good things
08:00over the next three or four weeks,
08:02but we're positive
08:03and we're confident
08:04that we can achieve that.
08:05And as I said,
08:06you know,
08:07there's been some massive challenges
08:08from the start of the season.
08:09We talked about it when,
08:11after the Ulusfield game,
08:13you know,
08:14virtually, you know,
08:15I just was involved there,
08:16an under-21 team,
08:17and they've learned on the job,
08:18and the boys have been
08:19absolutely magnificent,
08:20and they deserve all the support
08:22that's coming their way
08:25over the next two stroke-free games.
08:27And we're in a great place.
08:29Ultimately,
08:30we've not achieved what we wanted to achieve,
08:33but we've not finished on 74 points
08:36or 75 points.
08:37We've not finished on 50 points.
08:39We've not finished on 30 points.
08:41We're going to finish on 90-odd points,
08:43which is an incredible achievement.
08:45But it's not enough for us
08:46because we want to be in that Premier League,
08:48and this guy and the other guys
08:50are going to do their absolute everything
08:52to hopefully achieve.
08:55And it will happen.
08:56And I've said before, Chris,
08:57the club's going to be here
08:59for the next 150 years.
09:00It's been here for the last 150 years,
09:02and we will win a playoff campaign.
09:04And why can't it be?
09:062025.
09:082025.
09:09I agree.
09:10That's all I need.
09:12Has it changed today as well?
09:14Your change?
09:15Yeah.