 afternoon Gary hi how are you yeah good thank you there's only one place to start really the big Premier League news this week the departure of Thomas Tupi from Chelsea did that catch you by surprise what did you think yeah no it did catch me by surprise I think I mean obviously we we know that in the industry managers lose their jobs and sometimes you see them come in some sometimes you don't nature of it I think obviously he's a fantastic coach he's done a fantastic job at Chelsea one big big trophies so yeah yeah it was surprising but on the other hand in football probably not that surprising. Graham Potter on the verge of being appointed as the new Chelsea boss is someone that's worked within the game for a long time can you appreciate and understand why he would be the top of their list to replace Thomas because of the qualities he has the way he sets his teams up that the tactics he's adopted during matches is he someone that you feel could could go to that next level. I haven't watched Brighton all week since Sunday I can fully understand why Chelsea would be interested in him there he's done a fantastic job they're well coached team good in possession good out of possession real real good principles so yeah it's obviously obviously a top coach I don't know I don't know much about him personally just the work he's done obviously as a young coach myself you look around at what's going on in the game and he was always always his teams were ones you looked at and studied and yeah they play a nice brand of football and they're very very functional as well so yeah not surprised that big clubs would be would be interested in his services. How do you think the departure of Graham from Brighton will affect your game with them at the weekend the dynamic of that dressing room the way they set up the team and of course someone going in as a caretaker manager for a big Premier League yeah I think he's he's got a fantastic coaching team with him Graham and he's been with that group of players for probably three years maybe it's maybe his fourth season with them and they'll they're so they're so well coached and will be well prepared for the game I have no doubt so hasn't made any difference to my preparation towards it or the preparation that our boys have done we're we're fully focused I expect it to be just as tough with Graham's on the on the touch line or isn't I expect that their coaches will be well prepared as as will their team and you can appreciate what it's like to to jump in when a manager leaves because you've done exactly that here at Bournemouth yeah yeah I think yeah when you're asked I'm I'm sure the boys their boys will be ready to do it whoever ends up doing it I think they'll as I say coming off the back of Graham and and the work that he's done there in three years I would I would expect their their game plan to be very similar I don't I don't I don't think I can't see it changing much is they've had a really good start to the season um so yeah I expect the challenge to be to be just as difficult um and we'll yeah we'll see how we go Saturday you had an incredible playing career you clearly went into coaching and management you were at Liverpool for for some time you come to Bournemouth in February 2021 I guess all this was building with a view to becoming one day a manager having picked up four points from your first two games as a caretaker boss now you've sort of let the dust settle from what happened last week with Scott does this feel like an opportunity you'd like to take does this job as the Bournemouth manager feel like the the right chance for you now at the right time I think you mentioned the journey and that that's I still feel like I'm well it like I'm still on that journey I feel nine probably nine years now since I started my coaching badges um I started done with a view to being a manager I've always wanted to be a manager from from quite a young age in my playing career um whether whether that needs to be now or the timeframe around that I'm not not too specific on I think that the four points from two games that the margins are so fine I think that that just is what it is we've prepared the team the best the best we can and things have gone our way in the first two I'll look to do the same again on Saturday hopefully it goes our way hopefully the boys put in a performance that that we can all be proud of again um and then we look we look forward again after after Saturday and see where we are if Maxim and the Bournemouth board came to you and said we'd like you to become the new Bournemouth manager would it be an easy decision to make should they pose that question I think it's a it's an unbelievable club um run by good people so of course if if somebody asked me around that there would be always be a consideration if it is Bruno that takes over on an interim basis from Graeme Potter ultimately that is going to probably affect your um preparation somehow have you done much work on obviously there's not much time for him to make an impact but have you done much work on him uh no I think we focus purely on the the team um Brighton as I've already said fantastic team great start to the season play good football have some real clear a real clear identity I don't see that changing for Saturday I think they'll they'll look very similar to how I've seen them look in every other game that I've watched them in um so we'll we'll be well prepared for for what they bring um we've done some good work this week I feel like the boys are in a good place and um yeah looking looking forward to see where we can get the the group to again from three o'clock till quarter five on Saturday seeing what what level we can get them to he leaves him as a after a five to win um I imagine you've watched that game a lot or lots of aspects from it what did you take from it that you can apply to the game on Saturday uh they're a good side they they want to control the game with a ball they they're threats all over the pitch um so yeah they're a good side they've scored a lot of goals of course already this season so yeah I've watched all their games and we'll be ready I'm sure and um were there any particular aspects you were focusing on from there because obviously when the manager does leave um it's going to change the mentality of a lot of players no I don't think I went up when I personally when I look at watch games and think about how I'm going to prepare our team for it I look at every aspect um try and spot everything you can in possession out of possession where they're where they're strong where they're not so strong um yeah I don't know what affects grandpa or having will what leaving will have on the the group I would expect them to be extremely professional around it and arrive here um as they always would and and try and put on a good display I don't I don't think I don't think him leaving gives us any any advantage I think is the same game that it would have been 24 hours at 48 hours from now Bruno will be on the touch line for Brighton any advice for him no he definitely doesn't need advice from me I'm sure he's got it all all covered so um I've got enough to worry about getting my own team ready without trying to offer Bruno any advice talking about your own team Gary can you give us an injury roll call ahead of the game yeah so no Ben Pearson no Joe Rothwell tomorrow uh Saturday sorry and junior Stanislaus uh yeah back on the grass with the boys um trained this morning trained well so good to see him back in and around it um obviously we need we need to do some work with him but yeah it's good to have him back out there how are Ben and Joe Rothwell uh so Ben Pearson I don't think he's going to be out for too long um it's still not 100 clear exactly how long but I don't think it's going to be too significant which is good um Joe Rothwell has a as a few more weeks I think of some work still to do um keen to obviously get them both back but need as always need to make sure that the the right um the right strategy is taken and we get them back safely and as soon as possible you said you didn't enjoy the 90 minutes against Wolves did you enjoy the second 45 minutes against Nottingham Forest it's funny actually I quite enjoyed all of it I mean the first half was what it was I thought looking back at it we we played a real good part in in it um and let ourselves down with some decisions and some um some sort of technical aspects in the final third where we didn't make the most of situations um but I thought 2-0 was probably harsh at halftime um and felt we had enough in us to to come back into the game um yeah at 1-0 my halftime team talk was going to be really positive um the penalty obviously makes it feel like it's going to be a big task from there but um yeah we we managed to stay with it and and as you know got got a good response I know you don't get much spare time as a Premier League manager but I know you're a keen goal for us in a little bit of background on you do you try to qualify for the open one year is that true yeah I've done British Open qualifying a couple of times back in a long time ago now that I don't play much anymore um as you rightly pointed out you don't get much time so definitely no goal planned any any time soon just finally uh there's a big Premier League Cup game coming up here at Vitality Stadium on Friday the 23rd of September 7 p.m kickoff against Derby now we've seen the importance of those young players this season in the Carrival Cup and in the Premier League so it's a fixture you must be looking forward to to watching yeah of course I think the the the impact that Mark Travers, Jordan Zamora, Jayden Antony and um I've had on the on the first team squad has been massive for the for the club you know to to bring free through um so yeah you you always pay a real interest to how the young boys are doing you see them in and around training sometimes and always keen to see how they're getting on so that the Cup game will will be a good opportunity to do that