Hear’s what manager Steve Bruce had to say about Wolverhampton Wanderers in his pre game press conference ahead of the derby.
Speaking to the Official Site as he met with the media earlier today to discuss the trip to the Molineux, Bruce spoke firstly about progress in the January transfer window.
‘We`re finding it very frustrating at the moment. We`re out there, we`re trying our best. We hope we can get something over the line. We hoped we`d get one or two over the line for this weekend, that`s not proved possible for one reason or another. As I`ve said repeatedly, it`s always difficult to talk about players at other clubs. Make no mistake, we`re trying and we`re hoping next week will be more successful than this one. We`ll keep trying.’
He added in general about doing deals that it was again important to get the right characters in the group.
‘The right type is vitally important to me. And that will stay with me. For too long in the past, we`ve just acquired players here. The one thing now is we`ve got to try and improve the squad and the team.’
With a couple of outgoings, obviously talk of the forward positions came up again.
‘I had a decision to make with Rudy Gestede. I knew Middlesbrough wanted him and we could put the money in the pot and put it towards people that can make us better. It`s always a difficult decision, I`m aware of that. Rudy wanted to go to a club in the Premier League that was quite understandable.’
Adding.
‘It`s not just the strikers, though. I think we have to improve in the midfield area too, create the goals too. It`s okay just blaming the strikers but it`s like defending, you defend as a team and you attack as a team. But I`ve always said you`re only as a good as what you`ve got at the top end of the pitch. Make no mistake we`re trying in that department too. We must remember Jonathan Kodjia and Jordan Ayew are coming back – hopefully it`s in a couple of weeks too.’
Looking back on his time in charge so far he knew it had been generally decent but there had been hiccups along the way.
‘What you have to do is try have a bit of influence and get a few results. Since I`ve been here we`re fourth in the form table. We`ve had a difficult couple of weeks where we were poor, at Norwich and Cardiff if I`m being honest. On the whole, the response has been really, really positive.’
He went on to joke.
‘I`ve only been here three months, it seems like three years.’
But clearly there’s room for improvement and that’s what he’s focused on.
‘We`ve still got to improve, there`s a lot of work to be done. I think everybody is aware of that. There`s been turmoil here. It`s six managers in eighteen months. After three months, I must`ve been the longest serving for a while. We`re all aware of the problems the club has had in the past. It`s not going to change overnight. I can`t just wave a wand and it disappears. Given the time, I will have a team that will mount a challenge in this division.’
And mounting a challenge is the ultimate aim and that applies on the pitch but also to the work he wants to do in the transfer market.
‘We`re Aston Villa. We`ve got to be sure that we`re trying to mount a challenge. I think everybody understands there have been so many changes, so many ins and outs, over the last few years – no club has had as many as this club has had. Throwing money isn`t just the answer. We`ve found that. So we have to find the right ones and if they`re not available, I have to be brave enough to say ‘Okay, they`re not there.’ I`m not bringing them in just to get a result or two. We`ve got to be sure that the right ones come and are able to come and mount a challenge of getting out of the division. If they`re not there, I won`t sign them.’
He went on to explain.
‘We`re 12th in the division, three months ago we were third from bottom. There`s been an improvement. We`ve got to try and keep improving. Jonathan Kodjia and Jordan Ayew going away hasn`t helped. We`ve lost our centre forward who has been in really good goalscoring form me. It`s unfortunate but you have to deal with it. We`ve got to keep plugging away.’
With Wolves being a derby encounter he switched thoughts to them.
‘If you win them they`re great! They`re a little bit different. Of course they are. There`ll be a big expectant crowd with two big clubs – in the wrong division. We`ve both got to get used to that and do our best to get out of it.’
With Keinan Davis signing his new deal recently and bagging a brace against Norwich City for the Under 23’s last night, clearly he’s knocking on the door for first team action.
‘Keinan has just signed a new contract, scored another two last night for the U23s against Norwich. He`s learnt and come to the top from non-league very quickly. We`ve got two or three knocking on the door. That can only be a good thing. This club has always had a history of producing players. It`s done well over the years. Let`s hope this new crop can make a fist of it.’
Bruce ended by saying about opposite number Paul Lambert (who this week has an excuse to talk about us).
‘From the outside he`s done a decent job. He`s a good manager and a good lad. He`s managed here and he`ll be desperate to turn us over, which is only human nature. We must guard against that. It should be a decent game.’
I’m amazed Bruce didn’t say he was excellent and that he’d be ready to go again to be honest.
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