Jesse looking at West Ham, who lost again last time out, is there a must win game feeling about this, given where you are respectively in the league?
I mean, yes and no. Obviously you look at the table, you say West Ham is a competitor for where we are. We're playing at home, we want to find a way to get a result. But I just feel like this every week. Obviously Man City, you play some opponents in there, they're the giants, but it's just every week, every game for where we are as a team and as a club every game feels like a final. So yeah, I think West Ham was hard done in the game against Brentford. We watched that match. They defend well, they counter well, which will be a challenge for us, but we're going to come up with a good match plan and we're going to go after the match.
Is there a sense of smelling blood a little bit, that there's a great chance?
I think it's about just staying focused in the moment. Someone said to me before after we beat Chelsea, it looked like we had a run of matches that we could call somewhat winnable, if there is such a thing for us, but then we didn't win until Liverpool. So I think we're all still learning that we have to just stay laser focused in on every moment in every match and make sure that we are prepared to be at our best. If we do that, then we'd like the team that we can become.
Any chance of anybody else being back at all?
No, I don't think Patrick will be back yet. I think more than anything, it will be about getting guys more at 100% match fit, some guys like Cree and Jack. Yeah, I think that's it because Luis won't be back yet and Patrick won’t be back.
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You must be feeling a bit relieved going into the game now, that we talked about the other day is it still there?
No, it’s always stressful. It’s like I hate my job, but I have to keep going. I try to enjoy the moments and try to be there for the team for what they need. But I hate the stress.
It can be a time of reflection with it being the New Year and all that sort of thing but if you reflect now how do you feel it’s been for you?
I think 2022 has been a big challenge for me and a difficult year but one that I've really enjoyed. I'm really thankful to be at this club. Inside the club, inside the team, we're really unified. I've said that a lot. We're committed to doing this together. You've already talked about the stress for a manager it can be lonely but when you know you have people around you that are supportive and that believe in the same things you believe in and they give everything to the project then you have solace in the fact that that you know you're going to get through this together and you're going to find a way to grow and get better. So I'm thankful again, very thankful to be here.
Would it help if you had another player to pick from?
Yeah, of course, we want to add. I'm not going to talk about the transfer window. The biggest thing that amazes me is I've been in other countries and no one like England cares about the transfer window the way you guys do. Fabrizio Romano I think has made a living on the transfer windows. I don’t know this guy but he’s everywhere.
How well will the Newcastle performance set you up for that game against West Ham?
The most important thing is that the feeling of the success after the emphasis on defending and getting the clean sheet is a really good feeling for us, even if we had to fight for it tooth and nail down the stretch. So that part yes, I agree it builds momentum.
It's refreshing to hear a manager talk about the stress that comes with management. How well does that kind of reflect with the players as well in terms of the honesty that you show on a weekly basis?
They know me pretty well. They know that I'm pretty open. One of the things with the way that I manage and the openness I have is sometimes people think they can almost use that against me or to think that my openness means weakness. I always have to be very clear in times that we're not meeting the standards of way we want to do things that I have to come down hard in those moments and now also show that we can enjoy the process as long as we understand exactly what it requires every day. My children I've had to learn that about me as a father as well, I obviously want to enjoy my family, I want to enjoy this job, but it all comes with the fact that we have to hold ourselves to the highest of standards so that we can find a way to enjoy the moments together.
Just on West Ham, we've already covered the fact it's a quite a big game towards the bottom end of the table, how up for the game will the players be given the status of it?
I understand why you frame the question as it's an important match and looking at the table but honestly, I think our motivation and our clarity is about making sure that every moment, every guy is totally committed to exactly what we need no matter what. Whether it's Man City or whether it's Cardiff, it's total commitment and understanding that’s the only way that we can be successful. So that's where we will be for West Ham.
How is Patrick, it’s been a long season of this?
I think he’s been generally positive and hopeful that this surgery is the solution. Obvioulsy he’s disappointed that it’s taken longer than we’d hoped but we still have a big hope that this will be a difference maker in terms of getting him to 100%.
Is there a profile team that you feel matches up best with the way Leeds play, has that picture emerged yet this season?
We're different than most teams, I think, and we like that. I mean, Liverpool plays a version of intensive football and so does Newcastle, but we interpret it in different ways and we have different principles. When you look at the two teams, it's the two most intensive running teams in the league and, and I think the two most aggressive teams with and without the ball. We were able to make the game more compact for them so they couldn’t moments to run and run and run, which was their strategy because they have a lot of players who in open space are very dangerous. Our compactness and our discipline to commit to that was really good. Obviously a team like Liverpool has a lot of quality and they have similar principles but they have such great players.
Are you any closer to a replacement for Mark Jackson, I noticed Michael Skubala was with you today?
I think we’re close, we’ll probably make an announcement in a couple of days.
Can you give us more specific details on Stuart Dallas and Luis Sinisterra and dates on when you’re seriously looking at them playing again?
Stuart is working really hard every day and making good progress. It’s too difficult to give a prognosis right now but Luis is making very good progress. He’s been on the pitch doing individual work which is the next big phase for him, I would think maybe in 10 days he'll be with the team. This Lisfranc injury is strange and so it's not always easy to know exactly how it's going to respond. But right now a lot of real positive signs which would be good for us.
How complicated is team selection in the moment, you talked about players the minutes and protecting them in games, how difficult balancing act is?
I think it's about the communication of what works, what the expectations are for each player and where they stand with different things and then and then encouraging them to be ready for all moments. Obviously, with playing time comes more rhythm but then managing fatigue at the same time is important which I thought that the decisions we made to make some changes were good ones and help the way that we played. Now we'll have to assess where we are with West Ham with a few guys and then make sure we're clear on exactly what we need for that match. But yes, this is always the challenge of professional football, keeping an entire squad engaged and sharp and ready.
It just seems a bit more complicated at the moment, you've got players who are building on fitness and all that sort of thing. Is it any more complicated?
Yes and no, I mean, what's been great it's like to see how great Willy’s played, he’s played fantastic. You know, now getting Adam Forshaw into the mix has been good. So yeah, I mean, there's guys like Robin has had such a great year, Pascal, Tyler, Rodri, I mean, there's a bunch of guys that are becoming cornerstones and what we're doing Coops and Luke are incredible leaders and are ready at all moments, which is big. So yeah.
Jesse, how far along is the team now for where you want it to go?
That’s so hard to say because the challenges every week or so big but we have a lot more work to do.
And where do you find enjoyment in your job?
The enjoyment is the people, the players and the relationships we have. And then the people that are in the staff and in the extended staff and the people that work for the club. The joy in the relationships. Listen there's nothing better than standing in the box before the whistle, it's right where you want to be, maybe you guys have read ‘The Man in the Arena’. It's right where we all want to be, but it's also awful, it's stressful beyond belief. And then what determines matches with such a fine margin of success and failures is always in the sport not so easy to process
Aside from the transfer window what has surprised you about English football?
I don't know that much has surprised me, just being in the middle of it and now going through how teams prepare or how teams play preparing for that every week is, I said this when I first came to the job, I would sit down and watch teams playing, when I first came it was Leicester, then Villa and then Norwich and then Wolves and it was just every match I’d be like ‘man, they're good. How are we going to manage this game and manage to move ourselves and to be the team we want to be?’
I tell you preparing for Newcastle and how aggressive they play was a big challenge. I told the team that, I told the team that. I thought the match plan we created and how we executed was good.
Are you a better manager now than when you arrived?
Yes, for sure.
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