00:07Yeah, that's a good question, to be honest with you, I think the way we started the game,
00:1525 minutes into the game, we were in such a good position, playing well, doing all the
00:20things that we wanted to do, and it feels like it's a long time ago, the feeling at
00:24the start of the game to the end of the game couldn't have been further apart.
00:26So, yeah, we've got to accept, you know, the game can't go in that direction from where we were.
00:46Yeah, I mean, a couple of smallish things ends up accumulating into, let's be honest, you
00:55know, the goals are bigger, I don't understand why you're asking the question, you know, I
00:58think if you go to the Everton last-minute goal to the City goal, it creates a bit of a
01:05feeling.
01:08And then, you know, the game today, for what it is, you know, if we fully accept it, I totally
01:12take responsibility, you know, we can't put ourselves in that position after being ahead
01:16in the game and the game finishing like it did. So, it's kind of a couple of things have gone
01:23and then all of a sudden it becomes a greater thing from nowhere, really. So, we've got to
01:30react to it, you know, we've got no game on Sunday, we've got to react to it. I think that's
01:33the crucial thing now is it's happened so quickly, you know, to have the feeling it's
01:40happened quickly tonight in the game, it's happened over a period of a couple of weeks
01:43maybe, two, three weeks where there's a lot of frustrating and disappointment around and
01:48we need to flip that and start winning games again.
01:54Hi Michael, I know you obviously take responsibility but do you feel a bit sold short with the squad?
02:00No, no, listen, the team's on me so when we win people say I'm doing a good job and if
02:07we don't win or we don't get results then a lot of it's on me so I accept that, I'm
02:11not
02:12hiding away from any of that, you know, that is what it is.
02:22Yeah, of course we can turn it around, you know, we've got some really good players and
02:29it feels bad at the moment because we haven't had a great week, you know, or two or three
02:36weeks but it doesn't mean you can't win another game of football quickly. So there's that side
02:43of it, yeah, the players we've shown before, what they're capable of doing and we have
02:47as a group, it doesn't count for much, you know, it's always about what happens next,
02:52what you're doing in the moment, what you're doing next, so that's the ultimate challenge,
02:56always has been here, always will be here, you know, it's all about what you do next and
03:00dealing with the moments and the ups and the downs and we've certainly got to deal with
03:04this moment in a good way.
03:05Hi Michael, have you been a regular here in recent years where it kind of felt like this
03:09club gets on a negative five and it's really hard to manage to stop it and put it out of
03:15it? How have you got about doing that now and do you kind of feel under pressure already
03:19because of that?
03:20No, I don't feel under pressure, I mean, out of a way that doesn't bother me one bit,
03:25it genuinely doesn't bother me one bit, it's about, I understand what goes on outside
03:31and how the world works but generally it doesn't bother me, what bothers me is winning games
03:38and having a good feeling around the place and a good feeling around the group to know
03:45we're moving in a good direction, that's ultimately what bothers me.
03:50Whether we're on a good run, the biggest thing I'm worried about or thinking about is keeping the good run
03:55going
03:55and keeping everything on an even level really to keep pushing that it's not enough
04:03and if we're not on a good run then we've got to get back to being on a good run,
04:06so that's as simple as it gets, we've got to win football matches and we can do
04:12and I fully believe we will do, but obviously we've got to do it pretty quick and Sunday's a starting
04:18point.
04:19Do you have to try and protect the group from that feeling of negativity?
04:23Do you have to protect the group from that seeking into...?
04:28Listen, we know it's there, we know it's there whether it's good or whether it's not good,
04:33I think it's pretty obvious, you know, you've all got feelings, we've all got emotions to a point
04:37but it's how you deal with that is the important thing and being here toughens you up over a period
04:45of time
04:46and it depends how you deal with it and you've got to deal with it in a way where you
04:52can cope with it
04:53and you can bring out the best in yourself and however you do that with your motivation
04:57and the confidence deep within yourself as a whole group I'm talking about here
05:04that we know we can win football matches and that's what we are here for is to win.
05:09It feels pretty quick, you know, as I just said about the couple of little things that go one way
05:18and we've gone out of the cup tonight and the feeling around the place feels bigger than that,
05:25I'm happy enough to be honest about that, that's how it feels but it doesn't have to be like that,
05:30if we win football matches again it can go in a different direction.
05:44I thought we were doing a lot of the good things that we wanted to do early in the game,
05:47put ourselves in a great position, you know, we just let it slip.
05:51But I'm not doing certain things, I don't think now is the time to dissect that.
05:57I just think it's a shame that Cher's moment is such a great moment for him, for his family, his
06:03friends
06:03and the whole academy, you know, to have an academy player come and have a moment like that,
06:07it gets, and that's everyone through the academy who has helped him, you know,
06:12takes pride in that type of moment and it gets a bit lost unfortunately,
06:15which it won't for him when things settle down but as we sit here now it feels like it was
06:24a long time ago.
06:27It's probably the first time since you were appointed for a run of results that have lasted more than one
06:33game,
06:33but you talked about lasting eight players at Everton, a goal that shouldn't go against City,
06:37do you feel that it's just fine margins rather than something bigger than that?
06:43It always is, fine margins, you know, even when we're winning.
06:48We won last year by sometimes not playing particularly well, we found a way to win,
06:53I think probably some of the games we've played, we've played better and haven't had the results this year,
06:57I've said that before but the results are judged, so I understand people judge that on that,
07:04not particularly on all the details of the performance that probably are looked at.
07:10So, yeah, I get that.
07:14Michael, I've just got to ask about JJ Gary, just the way coming out of the build-up,
07:18can you just give your thoughts on the situation, obviously you're an extremely talented kid that you've done?
07:24Yeah, I just think we've got to be really careful of the whole situation, you know,
07:28he's a young boy, he's 15, and biggest for me definitely,
07:32and as a club point of view, he's looking after our younger players for the welfare,
07:36the wellbeing, the exposure, and I think we've got to be really, all of us,
07:42I think we've got to be really conscious of that really in this situation.
07:44Do you get involved in conversations with the academy director or the director of football concerns?
07:49No, as a club for sure, we're all involved in those conversations, I just think we've got to be very
07:57careful, you know.
08:00Thank you very much.
08:01Cheers.
