Q: How much do you think we have learned as a squad from the last three games, the defeat to Stoke and then playing away at Exeter, the character needed there and then Plymouth, the back and forth in that game?
MC: Yeah hopefully a lot. Sometimes it takes a little set-back to move forward, you know. You sometimes have to take one step back to take two or three forward. That's proven over time a little bit. I think as a week goes and a period of time goes I think we have had some good results. Three very different games that we have had over the last week for sure. Getting the boys all as a group playing and playing some part was really important.
Different types of games, you know. Different competitions. So, yes there is a lot of experience to be gained from it and we have got to keep making the most of all these experiences. There is another one on Saturday and coming back after the break and always being better than we were in the last game. Whether it went to plan or whether it didn't go to plan, there is always something you can get better at and the boys are showing a really good willingness to do that to be honest, which is again really encouraging,
Q: I was going to say that within games we seem to adapt and kick on in the second half etc that must take a lot from you but also for the players to be able to follow a different plan.
MC: To be honest it is largely the same plan. I think for spells in games they are showing the level as players that they are capable of doing and we are capable of doing as a group. Which is for me the key message is consistency, consistency over a season, put in performances over a period of time and a long period of time but also consistency in a game. Not having that little 5 minutes or that 10 minutes where there is a little bit of a drop off. When we are near our best or at our best we can make the game look really good and a lot simpler at times than it is.
So, consistency is the challenge but it is great to know that we are striving for consistency off knowing that we are capable of hitting some heights, some really good heights in performance levels.
Q: Obviously we have got a lot of injuries at the moment but it must please you that Sammy Silvera and Morgan Rogers and others are pressing their claim for a starting place.
MC: Yes, some of the boys couldn't really do much more than they are doing to try and get in the team and that is absolutely brilliant and it is on my toes to manage that and pick the best team and get the balance. Certainly in training and coming off and making an impact it is all I can ask for from then. And then it is a case of we have got Saturday, Saturday. Yes, it is a big game, of course it is, it is the next one. But we have an incredibly busy period in terms of the amount of games we have got coming up so everyone is going to be playing their part and they all ready to do that. Which is brilliant if we want to be playing games and we want to be in cup competitions still, and we want to be playing 2 or 3 games a week and I am not complaining about that. I just think now is a great time to be a footballer because you have got a lot of games to play and you are all playing a part.
Q: Finally, on Saturday it will be the 35th birthday of the fanzine I am editor of. How important do you think the fans are still in the game of football?
MC: Fans are the game, you know. We wouldn't be the football club that we are or be in the game that have if we didn't have the supporters following us to Norwich, to Exeter, to Plymouth over the last whatever it is now, two and a half weeks. That's it, you know. That is what it is all based on. That is what gives us the joy, the emotion, the passion game all comes from seeing how supporters and the fans support you and what it means to them when you do well.
Fantastic, 35 years. Happy Birthday.
MC: Yeah hopefully a lot. Sometimes it takes a little set-back to move forward, you know. You sometimes have to take one step back to take two or three forward. That's proven over time a little bit. I think as a week goes and a period of time goes I think we have had some good results. Three very different games that we have had over the last week for sure. Getting the boys all as a group playing and playing some part was really important.
Different types of games, you know. Different competitions. So, yes there is a lot of experience to be gained from it and we have got to keep making the most of all these experiences. There is another one on Saturday and coming back after the break and always being better than we were in the last game. Whether it went to plan or whether it didn't go to plan, there is always something you can get better at and the boys are showing a really good willingness to do that to be honest, which is again really encouraging,
Q: I was going to say that within games we seem to adapt and kick on in the second half etc that must take a lot from you but also for the players to be able to follow a different plan.
MC: To be honest it is largely the same plan. I think for spells in games they are showing the level as players that they are capable of doing and we are capable of doing as a group. Which is for me the key message is consistency, consistency over a season, put in performances over a period of time and a long period of time but also consistency in a game. Not having that little 5 minutes or that 10 minutes where there is a little bit of a drop off. When we are near our best or at our best we can make the game look really good and a lot simpler at times than it is.
So, consistency is the challenge but it is great to know that we are striving for consistency off knowing that we are capable of hitting some heights, some really good heights in performance levels.
Q: Obviously we have got a lot of injuries at the moment but it must please you that Sammy Silvera and Morgan Rogers and others are pressing their claim for a starting place.
MC: Yes, some of the boys couldn't really do much more than they are doing to try and get in the team and that is absolutely brilliant and it is on my toes to manage that and pick the best team and get the balance. Certainly in training and coming off and making an impact it is all I can ask for from then. And then it is a case of we have got Saturday, Saturday. Yes, it is a big game, of course it is, it is the next one. But we have an incredibly busy period in terms of the amount of games we have got coming up so everyone is going to be playing their part and they all ready to do that. Which is brilliant if we want to be playing games and we want to be in cup competitions still, and we want to be playing 2 or 3 games a week and I am not complaining about that. I just think now is a great time to be a footballer because you have got a lot of games to play and you are all playing a part.
Q: Finally, on Saturday it will be the 35th birthday of the fanzine I am editor of. How important do you think the fans are still in the game of football?
MC: Fans are the game, you know. We wouldn't be the football club that we are or be in the game that have if we didn't have the supporters following us to Norwich, to Exeter, to Plymouth over the last whatever it is now, two and a half weeks. That's it, you know. That is what it is all based on. That is what gives us the joy, the emotion, the passion game all comes from seeing how supporters and the fans support you and what it means to them when you do well.
Fantastic, 35 years. Happy Birthday.