" RUSSELL SLADE SPEAKS BACK AFTER ECHO SAYS WORST EVER "
Fri May 01, 2015 11:10 am
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=157826 THE ECHO 
Cardiff City Press Conference: Read how Russell Slade reacted to WalesOnline open letter to Vincent Tan calling for change By
Gareth Rogers
After we wrote an open letter to Vincent Tan imploring the Bluebirds owner to make change, Russell Slade took his chance to answer the points raised. Read the full transcript here.
Friday 1st May 2015
Being honest, will you be glad to see the back of this season?
Not really, there’s still work to be done.
Do we need that summer break in terms of regrouping and looking for targets?
Yes that’s important, but at the same time we’ll be itching to get back and to get into a new season.
Did you expect to be higher than you are now when you took over?
Yes, I did yes.
If you look from the outside and saw the amount of players that were here but then there wasn’t the partnerships I thought might be here.
A lot of players had been brought together with perhaps not enough thought put into them.
You’ve come in for a lot of criticism, including today, but a lot of fans - maybe a majority - are still to be convinced you are the man. What do you say to that?
I just think it’s a question of understanding.
There’s a lot of things that have been sorted out at the football club and at some stage you have to do that.
We’ve been able to do that in the Championship. There was talk - you talked about it - relegation.
I never saw that but you talked about it and that’s not happened so it was very important to stabilise the club, that’s the point I’m making.
A lot of work has had to be done to get into the situation we’re at now but we’re in a good position - or a better position - to move forward.
That’s what I would say to the fans.
Do you understand the argument the status quo can’t remain and something needs to be done to galvanise the fans again? That it can’t go on like this?
My point is it can get worse and it has got worse for some clubs in the past.
What I’m saying is that we’ve got to a level where we’ve stabilised the football club and given the window will be time to move forward again.
Are you convinced you will have the resources to move forward?
We are in dialogue and we’re tracking our targets, that’s all I’ll have to say on that.
But the fans will expect a promotion campaign, will you have the backing of the owner to do that?
Yes.
But the fans will expect a promotion campaign, will you have the backing of the owner to do that?
Yes.
Do you still feel you are the right man to lead this club next season?
Yes. I believe in myself.
I think the important thing is there is a growing unity in the changing room, a strong squad who are together, a nucleus of a strong squad that needs to be strengthened.
We will try to do that despite the criticism, we’re trying to move forward and we will move forward.
That’s part of the challenge, that’s one who have to embrace and look forward to to turning things around.
It happens, this is football, it’s not always going to be rosey.
Have you taken as much flak in any other job?
You have flak from time to time in every football club.
How do you cope with it? Are you aware of it?
I just prioritise things.
I deal with things that are important and the most important in my job is the players and staff and ensuring we are moving forward with them.
One of you major criticisms is that the football is boring.
People criticise Jose Mourinho for being boring and I know they are top of the Premier League and it’s different but I don’t see it anyway.
I don’t agree with it.
Some of our performances, particularly away from home because I don’t think we’ve got it right at home, have been decent and far from boring.
What were your objectives when you came in and do you think you’ve met them?
Obviously the objective was to try and turn things around because it was a difficult situation the club were in, and to attempt to get in that top six.
But when you looked a little more deeply, which I did, there were a lot of things that needed to be addressed.
Forest changed their manager this season, you are two big clubs at this level who were among the favourites for promotion. Do you see similarities?
I know Nottingham Forest very well because that’s where I was brought up, my family have season tickets and will be there.
Action Images / Ian SmithStuart Pearce was sacked from Nottingham Forest
It’s a huge club and to compare it to Cardiff is a difficult one when they have won two European Cups and league titles.
But there’s not a lot between the two teams and I do see similarities the seasons the both clubs have had.
You want to finish with a win but is it difficult to get teams motivated when there’s nothing on it?
I think you’ve got to want it more than the opposition, it boils down to who wants to finish top-half of the table.
It’s obviously not a lot between the two teams, after 45 games we’ve both got 59 points.
Can you spell out those issues you are alluding to like fitness, the bloated squad. Is there anything else?
It depends how you see progress. The last 11 games has still shown progress, we have won 5, drawn three. The critical period was December and January where we only picked up about five points over those two months. But there has also been a three-month period where we picked up two points a game on average. So there were periods where we were on track and hitting our targets. We just had two critical months that were very disappointing for us.
Have you still got the faith of the majority of the fans, indeed if you ever had it?
That is for them to decide, but they should decide over a period of time, and I don’t think this is the right time.
Few Cardiff City fans stayed to applaud the team off
We need to have a full pre-season, a summer where we regroup and maybe then that will be the time to have a look and see if there has been significant progress made.
Could anyone have done a better job given the difficulties you have spoken of?
I cannot answer that one.
What I will tell you is I have 710 games as a manager, and you do not work 710 games in this industry if you do not know what you are doing.
The issues you speak of, were you fully aware of them before you took the job?
Or were there elements you only discovered once in position?
You have to find out in the end for yourself and make your own judgement calls on things that need addressing.
Unless you are working day in and day out there are things you will not be able to identify, even from a distance.
You only find out once you are on the coalface.
Cardiff City Press Conference: Read how Russell Slade reacted to WalesOnline open letter to Vincent Tan calling for change By
Gareth Rogers
After we wrote an open letter to Vincent Tan imploring the Bluebirds owner to make change, Russell Slade took his chance to answer the points raised. Read the full transcript here.
Friday 1st May 2015
Being honest, will you be glad to see the back of this season?
Not really, there’s still work to be done.
Do we need that summer break in terms of regrouping and looking for targets?
Yes that’s important, but at the same time we’ll be itching to get back and to get into a new season.
Did you expect to be higher than you are now when you took over?
Yes, I did yes.
If you look from the outside and saw the amount of players that were here but then there wasn’t the partnerships I thought might be here.
A lot of players had been brought together with perhaps not enough thought put into them.
You’ve come in for a lot of criticism, including today, but a lot of fans - maybe a majority - are still to be convinced you are the man. What do you say to that?
I just think it’s a question of understanding.
There’s a lot of things that have been sorted out at the football club and at some stage you have to do that.
We’ve been able to do that in the Championship. There was talk - you talked about it - relegation.
I never saw that but you talked about it and that’s not happened so it was very important to stabilise the club, that’s the point I’m making.
A lot of work has had to be done to get into the situation we’re at now but we’re in a good position - or a better position - to move forward.
That’s what I would say to the fans.
Do you understand the argument the status quo can’t remain and something needs to be done to galvanise the fans again? That it can’t go on like this?
My point is it can get worse and it has got worse for some clubs in the past.
What I’m saying is that we’ve got to a level where we’ve stabilised the football club and given the window will be time to move forward again.
Are you convinced you will have the resources to move forward?
We are in dialogue and we’re tracking our targets, that’s all I’ll have to say on that.
But the fans will expect a promotion campaign, will you have the backing of the owner to do that?
Yes.
But the fans will expect a promotion campaign, will you have the backing of the owner to do that?
Yes.
Do you still feel you are the right man to lead this club next season?
Yes. I believe in myself.
I think the important thing is there is a growing unity in the changing room, a strong squad who are together, a nucleus of a strong squad that needs to be strengthened.
We will try to do that despite the criticism, we’re trying to move forward and we will move forward.
That’s part of the challenge, that’s one who have to embrace and look forward to to turning things around.
It happens, this is football, it’s not always going to be rosey.
Have you taken as much flak in any other job?
You have flak from time to time in every football club.
How do you cope with it? Are you aware of it?
I just prioritise things.
I deal with things that are important and the most important in my job is the players and staff and ensuring we are moving forward with them.
One of you major criticisms is that the football is boring.
People criticise Jose Mourinho for being boring and I know they are top of the Premier League and it’s different but I don’t see it anyway.
I don’t agree with it.
Some of our performances, particularly away from home because I don’t think we’ve got it right at home, have been decent and far from boring.
What were your objectives when you came in and do you think you’ve met them?
Obviously the objective was to try and turn things around because it was a difficult situation the club were in, and to attempt to get in that top six.
But when you looked a little more deeply, which I did, there were a lot of things that needed to be addressed.
Forest changed their manager this season, you are two big clubs at this level who were among the favourites for promotion. Do you see similarities?
I know Nottingham Forest very well because that’s where I was brought up, my family have season tickets and will be there.
Action Images / Ian SmithStuart Pearce was sacked from Nottingham Forest
It’s a huge club and to compare it to Cardiff is a difficult one when they have won two European Cups and league titles.
But there’s not a lot between the two teams and I do see similarities the seasons the both clubs have had.
You want to finish with a win but is it difficult to get teams motivated when there’s nothing on it?
I think you’ve got to want it more than the opposition, it boils down to who wants to finish top-half of the table.
It’s obviously not a lot between the two teams, after 45 games we’ve both got 59 points.
Can you spell out those issues you are alluding to like fitness, the bloated squad. Is there anything else?
It depends how you see progress. The last 11 games has still shown progress, we have won 5, drawn three. The critical period was December and January where we only picked up about five points over those two months. But there has also been a three-month period where we picked up two points a game on average. So there were periods where we were on track and hitting our targets. We just had two critical months that were very disappointing for us.
Have you still got the faith of the majority of the fans, indeed if you ever had it?
That is for them to decide, but they should decide over a period of time, and I don’t think this is the right time.
Few Cardiff City fans stayed to applaud the team off
We need to have a full pre-season, a summer where we regroup and maybe then that will be the time to have a look and see if there has been significant progress made.
Could anyone have done a better job given the difficulties you have spoken of?
I cannot answer that one.
What I will tell you is I have 710 games as a manager, and you do not work 710 games in this industry if you do not know what you are doing.
The issues you speak of, were you fully aware of them before you took the job?
Or were there elements you only discovered once in position?
You have to find out in the end for yourself and make your own judgement calls on things that need addressing.
Unless you are working day in and day out there are things you will not be able to identify, even from a distance.
You only find out once you are on the coalface.