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28
Thu, Mar

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Anil: How does it makes you feel to know that your fellow professionals team mates vote you player of the year?
Clayton: It feel very good to know because it was a very tough season for the team. And all of us pulled together but to say one person outstanding which was me was very achievable. And it wasn’t all to my hard work but the team members who voted. It was very nice.


Anil: And you have been given that same last year, this year also?
Carlos: Nah but unfortunately.

Anil: Last year? But how it feel? And what do you have to do, because all the young ones to know that football is not just about playing and money!
Carlos: Nah it’s not just about money. It’s also you want to play for your country but at the same time you want to go out and show the national colours abroad. And it was something special to get voted by your team mates, by other clubs also to be voted into the team of the year. So you know it is something nice. And what I can tell the kids coming up for the future to keep their heads on their shoulders and follow their dream.

Anil: Now we have two different situations you managed to keep you team up unfortunately Carlos team went down. Talk to me about that pressure in the last three games to stay up.
Clayton: It wasn’t any pressure really, because that’s the job we are being paid to do. So, it was not pressure on me. Everybody felt it, but once you do your job that you have to do I think things would work out.

Anil: And Carlos you. I mean you got the wrong end. How, what was the feeling around the club?
Carlos: Well it all started. I was mostly out of most of the season because of my injury. And then the Chairman at the moment he’s a kind of a dodgy one. He ain’t interested in football. He just want to bulldozer down the club and we went into administration lose ten points which we worked hard for and we have been on the back foot ever since.

Anil: Well the ten points, how important is it to have a Manager, look we have Manchester United, we have an American buying it over how important is it, look Chelsea on the other hand they get a Russian holder football and want to spend money and reaping the benefits. How important is that?
Carlos: It is important because I mean the club is to make money to bring the fans to watch the football which he is not interested in that. He interested at the end of the day everybody wants some bit of money. But he want all the money.

Anil: Let we talk a little national football now. I mean you have been knocking on the door and you been around fighting with this team for a long time. Now the job is yours, you are the number one man. I mean I don’t know if Beenhakker has decided that yet. But how does it feel, how are the preparations going for this World Cup Campaign?
Clayton: The preparations have been going good so far, all the guys are really focused on the job they have to do. And it’s really the coach has really brought it down to professionals. I think the odds coming down and showing the guys back here what it has been like up there and with the coach down here he would show you it more I think it’s really build everybody’s confidence.

Anil: Carlos what about you? I mean they say our midfield, we lacking so on, you are our main man in that midfield. How has it been going? You could go back to the last eighteen months when we weren’t doing so well and what changes are you seeing you, because that forty five minutes on Wednesday was great football.
Carlos: I think is because you know the manager, the coach here, the coach he bring in a bit of style into the play. You know keep the ball instead of you know that means Stern must keep the ball and pass it and then go forward. But then also the overseas players who coming in to join the local players, now we have a much more understanding because we here two weeks now training together as a team so we have a more understanding with each other so I think if that continue you know, things looking nice.

Anil: Talk to me, because when you see in Guatemala game I mean I thought Shaka would have pulled his thigh muscle. Because everything was about dump out the ball, goal kick, talk about forty goal kick . On Wednesday Clayton, I think it was you who dumped out the ball once. All the other times you were distributing to your wing backs and so on is that the philosophy? How has he been, how has Beenhakker been able to get that message across in such a short space of time, I didn’t expect to see such a drastic improvement.
Carlos: One things he has instilled in us, is doh give way the ball. And like all Managers he doh like our players to give away the ball. In the defensive third, middle third No. It is a no no! In the last third you go accept it a bit but be creative. The whole thing he instill in us is to keep the ball.

Anil: And Clayton you were watching from the back. And you could get a sense of how the team was developed. What would you say was the reason for that? I mean it was really encouraging to see us, I think on my rough estimation, we had about 65 to 70% of possession in that first half.
Clayton: Yes we really had possession and I think it was the confidence that they manager put into the players. He didn’t hold you back from playing the game that you could play but he just gave you a bit more encouragement in doing what he would like you to do. And that was a good thing about it. From at the back I watched the players, we had a bit of confidence, sometimes a bit too confident and that is why sometimes you have mistakes but generally the team a more confident and they know that they could do it.

Anil: Because before I mean in that Guatemala game, even though we lost 5 we played well and in spurts, but every time a ball was played over the back you were there I mean Shaka was in the goal at that time and you were watching but it was one on one, two on two we weren’t seeing that on Wednesday, we were seeing a better shape and structure defensively. Did you feel more confident from the back seeing that? Meaning that maybe you had to talk less and mean were understanding their role?
Clayton: I think mean more understand their role and the job that they have to do. With me in the back I don’t talk less and I talk all time. And my talk is to help the guys in keep focused on the job they have to do and I think that is what is happening. I think that they are concentrating more and they type of training we have now is more intense and is twice a day even self so I think he is trying to build their confidence he knows they are fit, he knows that everybody is physically and mentally fit now so that is the confidence that everybody is having.

Anil: Carlos in that talk to me about that. You have been there, even during the injury you were watching it and you were probably asking what is going on, but on Wednesday we saw a defensive team structure we were shutting down in groups together and also talk to me about what Clayton said about the intensity in the training session, what is different and what have you noticed?
Carlos: The coach also he looked, he knows peoples weaknesses he knows their strengths, people now would make sure and tell them to work on their strengths because they know what you can do with your strengths and work on your weaknesses. And fellas now believe in themselves and doing the thing that he wants and that they can tell themselves that they can do it.