Nigel, are the entire squad reporting back today (Monday) or will they come back in stages?
We've got one or two who will be joining us at the weekend but, for the most part, it's a chance for all the players to come back in and we get the training programme up and running. It's always a day in which you get to see how the players are, physically and as importantly how refreshed they are mentally too, so it's always an interesting day from a manager's perspective.
It's quite a quiet week, the first week, because it's more about observing and catching up with players, as much as anything. But it's important we set the scene this week because this first week will be very much about seeing exactly where they are, with quite a bit of testing, and of course we have our pre-season trip which is again, a training camp with no games.
And then we get into our games programme when we're back. So, by the time we get back, really it should be in a situation where the players are driving the competition and that's what we want. For us to make a significant progression from last season and have a real good push at the promotion place, what's important is we acknowledge there are areas in which we need to improve.
Getting a few additions is beneficial to us; it's good to get a few fresh faces in. But, of course, the players who are already here, a lot of them have made some good progressions themselves. I'm looking forward to seeing how they are but also, not so much the mood that they're in, but the type of mind space they have.
Just talk to me about the three signings you've made so far, what will they add to your squad?
Some quality. Absolutely. There was speculation about Joe (Bryan) coming in, and I spoke with him a number of times. My view on that one is actually, he was brave enough to talk about having some reservations about him. If I and we, here, are trying to create a side which is driven by a real thirst and hunger, it’s important we don’t make mistakes in terms of bringing players in.
Joe would have been a fabulous signing for us in many ways but only if it felt right. For him to verbalise that to me, I was very pleased. I said to him the door is never closed. It would have been an expensive signing for us, and we can’t afford to have players in the building who question whether it’s exactly the right move for them.
That was a disappointing one but I think Haydon’s signing is a really exciting one. He’s had a very good season at Derby and is a promising player. It shows the fluidity of what the windows look like in many ways. Very pleased to get him in and of course, Dickie comes in with lots of experience, and that was one that came really not out of the blue, but it was a deal that was able to be concluded pretty quickly, which is sometimes a surprise in these windows.
I’m just pleased with all three of them, they bring us some quality, they bring us some balance as well, and options. We’ll see what the rest of the window has in store for us. It’s really just about trying to add to what we have. We need to try and make ourselves better when we add to the squad. That's the whole idea of trying to shape squads. I’m pleased we’ve been able to get some early business done because that gives everybody a bit of a shot in the arm too.
Has a final decision been made regarding Tomas Kalas?
I’ve not spoken to Tomas recently. It’s more between the club and his representatives. There’s been an offer made but outside of that, he’s probably looking elsewhere at the moment. Deals are never dead. We saw this a couple of seasons ago. It’s one of those things where it illustrates the market, and the shape that football is in.
Tomas has had a difficult couple of seasons in terms of availability and that is something which has been reflected in how we as a club have approached the contract situation. It’s a big shame in many ways, because I’m a big fan of Tomas as a player, as a person, but we’ll see. We’ll see if there’s any legs in it yet, but we’ll just have to keep waiting I’m afraid for that one.
Regarding Alex Scott, other than waking up each day to more speculation, how do you see his summer panning out?
I expect him to be here, and he’ll be here. That’s how I approach the situation. When you’ve got players who are potentially on clubs' wishlists, I think that’s a very positive thing for us because we’ve got good players and he won’t be the only one. We’ve got a number of players who I think would be attractive to many clubs.
Them being available, we’re not in a hurry to sell anybody, that’s the bottom line. I think there is always going to be speculation about somebody with his amount of talent, and we know a number of Premier League clubs have been monitoring him, so what?
No one has yet put a bid in, and in all honesty, if they do, I’m a football manager, that’s up to the powers that be here to make that decision as to whether it’s an acceptable deal or not. Even then I think our owners are very keen for us to try and keep our best players because if we have a successful season and get promoted we’ve got a much better chance of keeping our best players.
You can’t ever rule anything in or out, and I don’t wake up every day thinking about things like that. For me, all I need to know is when something happens, apart from that, he’s our player, he’s here, and I’m looking forward to him playing for us again this season, simple as that.
The same probably applies to Kane Wilson, we've read reports linking him to Bolton. Is there a chance he could be moving on?
There’s been speculation about Kane. The deal wasn’t concluded, it’s as simple as that. When we make changes to the squad when players come in, clearly that might affect one or two players that are already here. Kane had the opportunity to speak with Bolton, and the deal wasn’t concluded, and he’ll be here today.
Other than Rob - who we're hoping will be back sooner rather than later - Ayman Benarous, how's his progress after injury?
They're doing pretty well. Ayman's further ahead than Rob. I've seen Rob a couple of times over the summer, here at the training ground when he's been in. He's coping with the situation pretty well.
I think we have to be realistic with expectations as to when he's back, so September/October is a fair way of looking at it. Let's not put too much pressure on him to be back in a timescale that's not achievable.
He's doing well. Fortunately for us we've been able to strengthen in that department so it means we've got further options. When Rob's back, because he is physically such a big player, it's really important that the rehab goes well and he's ready to get really stuck into the season, in a way which benefits the team.
It's a difficult thing to experience when you get a long-term injury but I think, what it does do in a positive way, is it tests not just their hunger but they sometimes realise how much they miss playing.
Rob's quite a laid-back sort of character but even for somebody like him there will be an excitement when he gets closer to being available and that will give him an added edge to how he plays. That's something you have to go through injury to realise that's the case.
You look at people like Joe Williams, who has had a really difficult time here with hamstring injuries, and the season before was a good season in some ways but he also ruptured his hamstring. Last year was an even better one and he has a hunger to play. You see it in players in different ways but when you're unable to take part in the squad, for players, it's quite a difficult thing to deal with so we try and help them manage their way through that.
Ayman, with him, he's done his cruciate twice. The closer he gets to playing, he'll probably start to get a bit nervous too, and that has to be expected. But he's in really good hands here and we'll do everything we can to make sure his return this time is a successful one.
From when the season kicks off against Preston, to the final game against Stoke, what are your hopes and expectations for Bristol City?
Well, I want us to be in the promotion shake-up. Clearly it's a very strong league this year. I never take any notice of other people's predictions or odds and all that type of stuff, because I don't know what the criteria is.
I'll base our expectations on what we as a group of staff see with our squad. We know that last season we had two very positive spells. The very early part of the season, we had a very positive look to us and we suffered some casualties injury-wise and had a bit of a difficult spell.
But from the new year onwards we were pretty positive and we have to look at those types of performances and make sure that our appetite to reproduce that type of form is there all season. That's where we can improve.
Let's aim high, let's aim for the play-off places and above but we'll have to see how that shapes up.
With Ross and Haydon, unlike Rob, there's an element of intrigue because we're maybe not quite sure where they're going to play positionally. I appreciate you have the pre-season ahead of you, but when you signed them did you have an idea of where you saw them specialising? Haydon, for example, has played left-back, left wing-back or as a left-sided centre-back...
Left-back or left-sided centre-back, yes... but more both of them as full-backs.
I know he (McCrorie) can play in midfield and at centre-back. His profile, if you like, in terms of what he gives us will be energy, he’s a good runner, he’s aggressive. I think he’s a decent signing for us, he really he is. He’ll have to dislodge George (Tanner) who finished the season very, very well. I think this is what I was alluding to about players driving the competition.
It’s really important that people don’t come in with fixed ideas of what the team is going to look like. The team will look like who performs best in pre-season, and that’s what it will look like. Not based on last year. Last season has gone.
All the players have a responsibility to themselves and their teammates to be as good as they can be. The team that finished the season has no bearing on what is selected for the first game of the season. That's gone now.
How much do you drive the players, in terms of what your concept of the team is, and how much do the players drive it?
I don't know whether I can quantify that, to be honest with you. I verbalise everything I'm saying to you to the players in a different way. But they are of my philosophy on who plays.
If you speak to Haydon I'm sure one of the things he’ll mention, I don’t care whether Pringy’s had a great season. Pringy had a great season but if Haydon is better than him in pre-season, I don’t have any qualms of picking a player whose limited experience over a player whose got a good experience if they are in better nick or we feel they’re better.
Age is something we get bogged down a bit at times. The only time I really step in with the age, inexperience and younger players in particular is to protect them, not to overexpose them, it’s my job, and a judgement call we have as staff in terms of how we select teams or our team and get the balance right for us.
I like to have different options. I always talk about fluidity, you’ve got to have a flexible mindset in terms of what happens. Because I’ve read loads of things about targets and most of them are just miles off about people we’re interested in, which is really why I’ve invited you in so you can ask questions about players.
I don't speculate on people who are at other clubs because I don't think it's particularly helpful to anybody.
There are always lots of stories at this kind of year because there’s not a great deal of other news going on. There’s got to be some news out there even if it’s erroneous.
Players who we might have been interested in January, we might not be interested in anymore. Players who we thought we probably thought we’ve got a good go of getting that, actually have been replaced by other players who have come out of nowhere.
You have to have a flexible approach to who you bring in but you have to be clear about what you bring in.
Rob Dickie comes in because he’s a very accomplished, well-experienced, good age, good-availability centre-back. He is a centre-back, that's it. I’ve been saying for ages, we need a centre-back.
If you look at Ross, alright people might say he can play centre-back, yeah he can do but I’d like to see him rampaging down the pitch from a full-back position because he can do that, but he likes defending too.
On that then, having added three defenders, I appreciate you're not going to say any names but what else would you like to bring into your squad?
Hopefully Andy King gets sorted out soon. I’ve not had a chance really to catch up with him too much. He appeared 33 times for us last year and did very well. Hopefully the club and him can come to some sort of agreement soon so we can get that put to bed.
In that area we’ve got quite an ageing midfield and everybody seems keen to write Alex Scott off as being gone. If we sign somebody in that area, we’re not replacing Alex Scott. Let me absolutely crystal clear on that from my own perspective, anybody that we are either interested in or trying to sign or looking at in midfield is not to make room for then Alex Scott going, that’s not what we’re doing.
We’ve got Matty James in his 30s, Andy King and Kal Naismith, they’re all players who are very important for us. Matty James proved his worth last year and our fan base recognised why he’s held in such high regards by the players and staff. That's something that is important.
When you’ve got players who are also aware of some of the availability issues in midfield, it’s an area we are looking to strengthen, not replace and that is the key to it. I think that is a point I really want to stress very strongly. When you play 4-3-3 as we do, we need a real balance and options in midfield, and legs, that’s the big thing.
You've spoken previously about maybe getting a goalkeeper in...
I know I like the goalkeepers, and I like Max. Max proved last season to be a really good number one, and he’s what we need. He’s brave decision-wise, he makes positive decisions, and the defence looked a lot more assured with him behind. I’m really happy with what he brings.
I think pre-season will dictate whether we strengthen there. I’ll have to look at both Harv (Harvey Wiles-Richards) and Stef (Stefan Bajic) to see where they are at. We’ll give them a bit of exposure in the games and we’ll make a decision based on what is doable as well.
You mention Harvey there as one of the young players, I imagine the first portion of pre-season is you're going to take a look at a lot of the U21s. Is there anyone you have designs on moving up, or is that another fluid situation?
We’ve got about 10 of them training with us this week then we’ll make a decision on who then comes to Austria with us. Last year, Seb Palmer-Houlden came with us and did really well. Alright it didn’t then kick in to the season with the first-team, but he had a great year with the Under-21s.
It’s an opportunity for us to look at now, not just physically, but whether those players are able to cope with the competition, and demands of pre-season. Even in a break of six or seven weeks, it is always quite revealing when you see the players back, some of them make quite visible transitions.
You don’t get many opportunities in a Championship or Football League season for physical adaptations because once pre-season is over it’s basically managing the games programme for the whole year. Last year was a bit different because we had the World Cup, so we had that break I think was very positive for us as a club, we got a number of injuries (back).
The close season if you like is an opportunity for players to work at themselves, and work at their own physicality, whether that be strengthening or to put muscle bulk on, it depends on the individual. It’s always an interesting time, and this week will be an interesting look for us as staff at the players, and we’ll see where they’re at.
The other side of that argument is regarding loan departures. I guess that'll be made much later in the summer?
Everybody wants to talk about the loan market with me for some reason. When you discuss with clubs the potential of loaning players, I always listen with interest when people ask me, 'why aren’t you playing Premier League teams?' Have you tried getting a Premier League side here? They’ll go abroad and their squads are populated by internationals.
You’ve got no chance of anybody getting an early loan. Premier League clubs use their youngsters for the games in pre-season because all of their big hitters are having a break and a well-needed break too.
For international players now there’s no such thing as a summer break, really. The games programme that we put together in pre-season is based on what is going to be a tough test for us, I don’t want tippy-tappy possession-based keep-ball sessions, we can do that ourselves. We want games where there’s going to be physicality and where we can manage the minutes for the players.
In terms of loaning players out or getting players in on loan, I want to see our own players, I don’t want to see them play for someone else, I want to see what they’re like in here, and because of how we have structured and streamlined in terms of what it looks like, our best players get fast-tracked within our own system.
Our Under-18s will get fast-tracked to the Under-21s, and the Under-21s into the first team and if they’re not good enough we’ll move them on. I don’t mean that in a derogatory way, it’s about trying to find the right place for your players.
The days are gone now for us of having too many players and we just loan them out because we’ve got too many players. We want to keep our best players, and we want to develop them for the first team, and if they’re not good enough we'll try and find a place for them in football.
Likewise, getting players in from getting players in from other places on loan. I’ve spoken on many occasions that they can be an expensive thing to do.
So there’s a centre-back we were linked with from Crystal Palace, who was over in Belgium. From what he was earning from what Crystal Palace wanted, they wanted four times what he was earning to come here on loan. That's not really player development, is it?
On their part that’s, 'we want to make some money on our player going out on loan'. For me, that underlines why I don’t want to do that kind of business. I don’t want to do that type of business, that’s nonsense.
When we explore whether we loan out players out, the only thing in my mind is football. The finances, that end of the building can sort that rubbish out, it’s nothing to do with me. It’s about whether it’s the right thing for us to do for the development of our player, full stop.
And that decision on the 21s, that will come later on? There's nobody you've said - 'we will be loaning you out'?
No, at the moment we’re looking firstly to see whether we’re going to use them. And whether there’s a very visible change. For me, that’s the first thing. Hopefully what is evolving here an internal feeling of opportunity, but again it comes back to the players being responsible.
For instance these youngsters, they’re not all of a sudden involved in the first-team and become big time Charlies, no chance. They will recognise there is an opportunity and if they lose it that is their responsibility too. This is a part of football education that is really important for how we develop the culture.
We’re talking about looking forward to the season here, but hopefully for the future of the club this is something that will last for a long time, where we find a way of working which actually gives us a chance of developing our own players and being a success developing our own players by achieving on the pitch too. That's something that will stand in good stead for a long time to come.
You mention Ross and Haydon's versatility. Because the club operates with a smaller squad, does that put any emphasis on versatility when you're looking at potential players?
It's a good question because players can suffer sometimes by being versatile. I think if you look at Kal Naismith last year and Zak the year before and the year before that, sometimes players form can suffer because of the manager and the coaching staff ask them to do too many different kinds of jobs.
Cam Pring is another good example of benefitting from playing mainly in one position, although we did at times have to use him again as a centre-back, and he did that willingly and admirably too. It is important to have some versatility within the squad but you’ve got to be careful with how you can’t abuse it, and that’s the key thing.
When players are possibly suffering from a bit of self-doubt, you’ve got to give them a role within the side which, is not easier for them, but clearer for them on what they need to do.
That’s where I’m always happy to have players who can fill different roles. I like specialists too which is why I’ve been insistent on getting the centre-back position which is dealt with in a way which is clear to people. So, Ross can play there, of course he can, but is it his best position? It might be, it might not be, I don’t think so.
One player undergoing his first pre-season is Anis Mehmeti, we saw some real glimpses of quality from him last season, you must be hopeful a good pre-season will allow him to kick on?
He will benefit greatly from being with his teammates throughout the whole of the pre-season and he will benefit from having the summer to take a little bit of the pressure off himself.
He's a really talented lad and he's got an awful lot to give us as a team, and he is a match-winner. He's more harsh on himself than we are, as staff.
I always look at players like him and it's how we get the best out of him, really. He's been on international duty again, which is good for him, and I think the end of the season came at a good time so he could relax and prepare now for his first full season with us.
It'll be interesting to see how he fares. He's a really fit lad. He's a good profile for us. He can run all day and he's got the ability to change games for us with his footballing ability.
You said about him being harsh on himself, is that something you've spoken to him about?
Yes, but you can't have everybody putting an arm around the shoulder. Too much of that can be a bit smothering as well, it's about choosing the time to have the right sorts of conversations.
For him, it's important not to overload players with too much information. So many people were trying to help him towards the end of last season, maybe all of the background noise was a bit too much. Because everybody will want him to do well.
But the person who is going to allow him to be successful is himself. He's a young man, his story is a good one, he's had to deal with a bit of rejection, got back in at Wycombe and played very well for them. Got his move here and he will be judged now like everybody else.
He's a player who's got lots of ability and we've just got to try and get the best out of him, and we'll do that by him understanding his role within the team. All attacking players who have played in the sides I've managed, one of the big things is they need to understand what the team needs when we don't have the ball.
Outside of that, they're picked to do what they can do. I don't over-coach them in terms of what they do with the ball. But when they don't have the ball, it's what their role is. As soon as I get that, it's fine.
One player coming back is Joe Low, he obviously get a call up for Wales, he had a bit of difficult time on his full debut but you must be really looking forward to seeing him?
Yeah, but that wasn't his fault. He could have been helped by his teammates on that night, but there you go. Again, those types of experiences can be damaging but if you come through the other side of them with a positive experience, actually they're probably the most valuable experiences you'll ever have.
He won't make the mistakes he made on that night again, I can tell you that. It's like all of us, you think back to moments in your life and there are certain instances that will be forever memorable for you because of a negative event.
I said it earlier about Rob with injuries, it's only when you've experienced a down that you can evaluate what everything else feels like. Players who are able to come through difficult experiences actually use that difficulty to give them a barometer throughout their career. Our job as coaches is to help them manage that sort of situation.
He'll be fine and we'll have a good look at him as well.
SIGN UP: For our daily Robins newsletter, bringing you the latest from Ashton Gate
