Normally, I’m not one for press conferences. Mark Kennedy’s never really gave much away, but Michael Skubala is different. He’s open and honest, and you always get an answer to a question.
His press conference ahead of tomorrow’s clash with Northampton was a great listen, and for those who prefer to read or can’t have their phone playing a noise whilst something is on the television, I’ve gone through and pulled out some of the juicy stuff.
Freddie Draper
We start with the obvious – Freddie Draper. He’s so popular with Walsall fans that their podcast, the Yellow Ribbon, did a special show on him. He’s the name on everybodies lips – if we were looking at signing a 19-year-old from League Two with ten goals in 18 games, we’d be salivating.
Is he coming back? Skubala has given the broadest hint yet that he might just be.
“We’ve been speaking to Walsall,” he said in his pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow’s game. “He’s scored 10 goals in League Two and could be one of the options. I like Freddie. I’ve spoken to Freddie myself. I like what he’s about. I think he can add to us. I think you’re probably going to see Freddie, maybe, come back into the building if we think it’s completely right.”
“But again, there are jigsaw puzzles going on behind the scenes that I don’t want to speak about. It might be that we’re able to get somebody else in, or it might be (that we’re) not, and then Freddie needs to come back to us. It’s a jigsaw puzzle with Freddy, but we’re in full communication with Walsall about that.”
Transfer Ins
Of course, we’re not just going to be bringing Freddie back. There are sure to be others coming in, and with his first transfer window about to swing open, Michael admitted the need for balance in terms of our immediate needs and long-term ambitions.
“There’s a difficult balance between the short-term needs and the medium and long-term needs: I think that’s what we’ve got to get right. There are lots of players out there in the market that you can get in January, but they’re not necessarily the good footballers you want, and there’ll be reasons why they’re there.
“But then there are other options we could do; we’re speaking to players at the moment who we think are right for now but also don’t compromise our long-term plan. I think it’s really important to have one eye on the long-term plan and one eye on what we need now. I think that getting that balance is really key.
“But whoever we’re speaking to, there’s five or six clubs in this league with more resources than we have who are speaking to him as well. So it’s not going to be an easy task.”
‘Other options’ was certainly interesting; it might just be me, but I take that as loans – the obvious answer to a short-term question with little long-term impact.
Outgoings
What goes up must come down, and when one comes in, it’s almost certain one goes out. Nobody is talking about players leaving the club, and one imagines if they do, they will be those we do not require rather than those we do not want to lose. Michael hints at some players needing to get minutes elsewhere.
“We’re not a Chelsea that can just go and throw money into a transfer window. We have to make sure that we move people in the right way. Again, not compromising our long-term plan, but if we need to bring somebody into the building, it might mean that we need to help somebody get some minutes somewhere else.”
Who might that be? Mide Shodipo is on a short-term deal and has barely featured, so he’s likely to go, but will Haks also find a new club, given his lack of minutes? Jaden Brown is another who hasn’t played much recently. Will we look for minutes for him, also? With Jack Moylan coming in, possibly Freddie coming back and other options, will we exit January with Jack Vale and Jovon Makama in the squad?
Early Signings
Whatever is going to happen, it’s clear Michael would like some of it to happen early. Don’t expect three or four incomings in the first week of January, but also don’t be surprised at a little bit of movement, given Kichael’s next comments.
“I’ve been in for 24 sessions, and two of them have been my tactical way of playing; the rest have been match prep or recovery. When we hit January without a game, it’ll be good because I’ll have a week with the players. It’ll feel like Christmas coming a bit late! I can have a week with the players where I can do some real work with them. Having any new signings in the building at that point will be important.”
Is that new signings, or is it a chance for us to get Freddie up to speed with our tactical approach? Despite earlier suggesting he would stay put, I firmly believe we’re going to see him back at the start of the month now.
Patience
Finally, one of the criticisms I’ve seen on social media of late is that nothing has changed since Mark Kennedy’s departure. We’re not two months into Michael’s reign as yet, and he admits that what we’re seeing right now is not the way he intends for us to play going forward.
“I think the hardest thing for me, is as the head coach of the team, I definitely have an idea of how I want us to play, and it’s probably not coming across it at the minute in the games. In moments, you might see it, but I have to be pragmatic in the sense of being able to change that.
“I think that’s why I said when I came in, it’s an evolution, not a revolution, because we still need to pick up points. We still need to be hard to beat. How do you do that at the minute with injuries in the squad and relying on young players when we need more depth to what we’re doing?
“It’s not the identity I want, if I’m honest, but I know that that’s going to take time. The club know that’s going to take time, and whilst we’re building towards something in the future, we need to look after the here and now with the games, so being a bit more pragmatic and sitting in and being a little bit lower isn’t a bad thing. It just means that we can’t move the group on as fast as we want because it’s thick and fast with games and not much training behind the scenes.”
Conclusion
I think this was a really interesting pre-match interview, and you can listen to it in full below. I’d recommend doing so because I always find Michael quite down-to-earth and honest. I also find his comments and analysis something of an antidote to the pain of a Boxing Day defeat.
You must be logged in to post a comment.