OPEN FORUM Q+A WITH GARY JOHNSON
Cobblers manager Gary Johnson and assistant manager David Lee were the special guests at the NTFC Supporters Ltd Open Forum held on Thursday 4th August. The forum was very well attended and gave Cobblers fans the chance to question the managment duo on new signings, tactics and other topics. Provided below are notes from the forum, courtesy of Gareth Willsher.
Q: How do you see Bas Savage fitting in with Bayo up front?
GJ: He may not be played with Bayo, he is mainly here as cover for Bayo. I know Bas Savage very well, I have worked with him before. He helped me get things going at Bristol City. He works hard and is good to have around. Bayo needs competition, and Bas is here to push him for his place and to add depth to the squad.
Q: I went to all the pre-season games and thought we were quite poor in 5 of the games.
GJ: You’re going to be hard to please! We did have some poor games but we felt we showed glimpses in the games against Forest and Reading where we looked good but were not potent enough. We built things up as we went along and we were a lot more potent against Wycombe. We did very well against a team that will be in League One this season. We improved as we went along. It is a young team and a new team that is learning a new shape. Before a lot of the pre-season games we did a lot of training and running the same day to build their fitness up. We eased it off against Wycombe and told the players to show us their fitness and they did that.
Q: A few weeks into last season I questioned the fitness of the players. I was pleased to see the lads look strong against Wycombe.
GJ: We take fitness very seriously. I have worked a lot with our fitness coach Glen Schmidt in the past and I know he does a good job. We have a lot of historic statistics from tests at other clubs and we know where we need to be, and we are ahead of that. I was pleased we came back from being 1-0 down last week as that was another challenge we set the lads – to show they can win games after going behind. We do a lot of work on fitness, and the fitter you are the less injured you will be. All the injuries we have suffered have been impact injuries and you can’t do much about that. We have stressed to the lads they have to stay hydrated, you lose 30% of your effectiveness if you are dehydrated and we have to stay on top of that.
Q: You and David Lee seem to share the duties, is that the case?
GJ: We work together well, if we have a disagreement we will discuss it and then agree that I am right! I will listen to what others have to say, but you don’t bring someone in to work with you as your number 2 unless you are sure they are on your wavelength. I don’t hire yes men, but we do work together well and are very close in our beliefs.
Q: Does Tadhg Purcell need to go out on loan?
GJ: I think he does. He has done very well to get fit again after a very bad injury, but he needs match sharpness to get back to the level we need him to be at. It is a chicken and egg situation, he needs to play but we need him to get his sharpness back before he can play. I think he will benefit from a loan spell at a lower level and can then come back to us sharper.
Q: How highly do you rate Ben Tozer?
GJ: I think he will be back in the Premier League at some stage. He needed some confidence, someone to believe in him and to play in midfield, as he has all the attributes to be a top midfield player. If he can understand how good he can be, he can get back to the very top. He just needed confidence.
Q: What was behind the decision to sign Ashley Westwood?
GJ: I know people talk about Ashley’s time here before when he was unfortunate with injury, but all of Ashley’s injuries here before were impact injuries, not muscle injuries. He was desperate to come back here, and he asked us to give him a month to prove himself at no cost to the club. He is good cover, he has got into some of the lads to get them going, he is a leader and he has a lot of experience and aggression. Ashley is perfect for us, he has grown up and matured and he is doing a decent job for us at the moment.
Q: Have any players surprised you?
DL: i didn’t realise how clever Jake Robinson is before I came here. He scores a lot of good goals and he is getting better and better.
GJ: I took a bit of a gamble on Paul Turnbull. He is a good player and I also like Nana a lot. I have signed him twice now and he will give you everything. He is a real competitor and he just needs confidence. Chelsea rated him highly when he was there and he played for England at most age groups. Overall though we now have a dressing room now that I can trust, which is a huge thing for a manager to say.