 brought to you by DIS keeping companies connected with cloud-based solutions come on Connor good to chat with you again and let's start with the obvious points and your latest signing your latest edition why have you decided to bring in Danny Rowe? I think you know everybody can see the qualities that Danny Rowe's got you know we've seen him again over the years playing for Fylde you know played against our first team this season and he's continually impressed and if you've never seen him before you're probably you're probably seeing what he's about from his highlight reel. Yes I think that's got a lot of people excited. From your perspective alone though how valuable has it been knowing about his time prior to Oldham about his time in the National League and indeed with Fylde? Yeah you know he's scored a lot of goals over the years but again it's not like he's just come through non-league he's been in academies and he's you know he's been at Man United as a kid and he's obviously had a very good pedigree so and there's no doubt that you know he's had a very good career so far and he's had this opportunity in the AFL and he's doing well and we're happy to give him that opportunity again at Bradford City. From a footballing perspective what qualities does he bring to your attacking line now? I think like you've seen he strikes the ball so well off both feet his hold up plays link up his ability and his connection on the ball is terrific and he gives us another option going forward. We've spoken previously as well about character referencing and it's very rare from having just spoken to him that he really did want to come to Bradford City. Yeah yeah we you know we could see that straight away and we spoke to a lot of people about about Danny and it was all positive we've met him we spoke to him on the phone and last few days and he seems a real genuine top person so more of them the better. What do you want to see from him then now and how will he fit into your side because of setup and system perspective you've used one forward? Yeah I think he gives us variety in what formations we can play you know and I think with his ability he has played off the left at times in his career he's played in the 10 he's played in the nine and he gives us a different option and you know he definitely strengthens the top line. How has he settled in with the group thus far? I know he's had one quick training session with you this morning. Yeah he's trained this morning look sharp you know his qualities were there to be seen from the training session so he's settled in well we've had him in the office today and had a really positive chat with him about what we want from him etc so you know he's been a good start. It's another addition to what's been a very very busy window for you thus far since we last spoke we've seen Ramon Burrell arrive at the club Matthew Folsom from getting the pronunciation right on that front as well what have they brought to the squad thus far? How have they settled into the environment? Yeah they've both settled in well obviously Ramon has come in from Middlesbrough again he'd come from Grimsby in the past and he was bought by Middlesbrough last year I think it was and we were aware of him from the youth team days when he was at Grimsby and he caused us loads of problems and you might have said I've said that already but he's somebody that we've monitored and we're going to give him an opportunity to make an impact and Matty's somebody that's been through an Academy Everton and he's highly rated and found himself in Italy and he wanted to come back and he's a Bradford lad and you know we're happy that how he's settled in both of them and let's see how they do. From Matty's perspective a left-sided defender a successful trial with you guys you saw enough from him to bring him in until the end of the season of course that complements Jackson's departure from the football club it offers you back up to Conor Wood. How do you view that position in the future? I know you'll have you'll have discussions about that of course Conor's out of contract in a summary are you lining Matty up potentially to be a future replacement or have you had discussions at all about extending Conor's contract? We're bringing Matty and we obviously got Reese injured so his left back cover but Matty's quite versatile where he can play in a centre half position as well and so he could offer a little bit more balance of being a left centre half in possession and also his cover as a left back when Reese is obviously injured and Jackson's no longer with us. And on Conor's situation I mean is that going to be clear at all anytime soon? I think it's just the same as how I responded last time about you know the busy window and let's get this out of the way and what people will see is that contract talks will begin to happen after after January. Do you expect any more business to happen in terms of incomeings or outgoings before the window closes? I think so yeah I think ideally we're just trying to strengthen so if you know people are available in positions and we feel that they're going to benefit the team and there's there's a slot for them to be in whether that be that somebody comes in and we have you know maybe have to make decisions to get somebody out if it's right for us we'll we'll try and make the best decisions for the club. Yeah so just just for the sake of clarity alone is the preference incomeings as opposed to to outgoings? Ideally we want a certain amount of players in the squad around it and we don't really want you know go too far above or too far below so we're trying to balance all everything out and make sure that we've not got you know 40 players in the building but we've also not got 15 so we're trying to be as clever as we can. I cannot wait to see what the team looks like on Saturday given that it'll be 25 days incredibly since you last played a game of football. How do you view that Connor? Has it been an opportunity for you? Obviously it comes with negatives but but when you reflect on that period of time what will you take away from it? I think it's kind of it's not by choice and so you know everybody here wants to be playing games and it's just unfortunate but you know me and Mark are the type of people where we just get on with it and it's allowed us to potentially work with the players a little bit more a little bit more intense you know it's probably given us more time to be organised in in the weeks to come and the recruitment side so whilst we've you know not had the games and we don't want to do those games and potentially you know we're going into the next game not knowing how that could have affected us physically however we've tried to prepare the players in the best way possible to expose them to to lots of game intensity sessions where we're trying to replicate a game as much as possible in short in short moments if you know what I mean so we're trying to make sure the intensity is high as possible so that when it comes to the game the lads aren't you know in in a in a poor place. Is it testing you as coaches more than ever so so new into your role that you are as well? I guess it's it's something that we've potentially had as as youth team coaches where we've not played for for amount of time due to the facilities not being as good etc and then how you manage the training program to make sure that when you do appear in the next game that you you're not in a worse way than you were before. I think I'm right in saying although I could be wrong that you've only dropped one place incredibly as well given all the movements in the table but because there's been so many games happening elsewhere and and the games difference between one another now in the lead to table does it give you a better picture of of where your position and what could be now that it's been laid out in terms of games in hand? Yeah I think he you know he's gone in our favour at times and you know as staff we've been looking at it really closely especially when we've not had games and and trying to see you know where we can where we can get to and what it looks like in the form of other teams and how other teams are operating in a busy schedule. Now for us again you know I've said it before just around preparing playing the games trying to do as well as we can and then just trying to get up the table and we're not setting our sights on anything too far and we literally just prepare for the team we go all out as if it's our last game as coaches and then we we go for the win and then we do the same the week after the week after the week after that's how we prepare. As a result of this break it means there's going to be a hectic schedule on the horizon and now we've discussed this previously that you're a fan of the games coming thick and fast quite like that the Christmas schedule that we had recently. So is that something that you'll be looking forward to in a way? Yeah it's it's going to be a challenge physically and we've got to make sure that we've got enough squad and depth to to you know deal with it but for us the preparations are hectic and it's going to be it's going to be really tough we know that but I think everybody's in the same boat so in terms of having an advantage it's it's not necessarily about that it's just making sure that in the games everybody's able and the morale is high and the condition of the players is high and it's also a rotation of the the team the team and the squad is going to be absolutely huge for us and everybody in the building's got a job to do and we'll we'll just reiterate that and when people come in it's an opportunity and also the pressure to perform but we believe the best players thrive under that pressure anyway so and we're looking to keep the momentum going. That's a point in itself as in its squad rotation and strength in depth and I wonder at all if that's changed your tactics in this January window as the break continued the the potential need of more bodies? Yes definitely conversations in place and again it's some players can can play maybe one game per week some two you know you've got a a difference in in the abilities of players in their condition and and what their bodies are capable to do and again we want that depth but we want that depth to have as much quality as we can and so we'll be relying on everybody within this squad to play their part that's for sure. Team Newswise ahead of Saturday on the injuries front other than the notable absentees how are you faring? Yeah we're okay and you know we've got some slight issues with a couple of players and I've mentioned this probably in the last few weeks and you know and it's the same this week where you know we're hopefully getting them in back in for Saturday and but again we're just monitoring assessing and and trying to and trying to be as strong as we can be. Again other than the notable absentees do you anticipate a fully fit squad are you suggesting there that there could be a couple of emissions? Yeah I think there's there's a few that you know maybe touch and go so it's too early to say yes or no the physical department are working hard and the players are the ones that you know potentially touch and go are doing everything that they can to be available. How are the long-term absentees getting on as well Rhys, Zellie, Richard and who's the fourth? Pritchard. Pritchard yeah Pritchard oh is it I didn't know Pritchard was one of them. Yeah he's an injury Pritchard yeah he's been injured for the last two weeks I think two or three weeks now so we've got Ishmael, yeah Hezaninova, Pritchard, Staunton and or Donald that are currently injured but positive signs because five out of the six were on the training field today before we came out all doing their own bits little bits of ball work sprint work so for us to see them out on the field today is is really positive and I think everybody gets a lift from it. How close are they then in terms of returning and featuring and I'm thinking more about the the long-term ones like Rhys, like Bryce and Zellie. Yeah I think Rhys and Bryce are closer than Zellie at this moment in time just because of the the timings probably looking at two three weeks around that time scale and again it's it's not just that they're going to be fit it's how we then introduce them back into the group with with the loading and making sure that their injury doesn't happen again. On your opponents Cambridge what have you made of their recent form they've taken themselves to the top of the lead two table? Yeah obviously since since we've played them last they've been playing well obviously from what we saw against them they were they were very organised and they've obviously got Mullen who's the top goal scorer they've got a lot of attacking threat they've got a lot of size and especially down the spine of the the pitch with the centre half and the centre midfielders and they're good at what they do and you know so there's no surprise that and they're you know the top end of the table but for us we we must gain confidence from the last performance that we had against them and but also remember that you know they are at the top end and we have to respect that and we have to be the underdogs and we have to put the game plan together better than we did last time. Does having that title as underdogs though does that does that suit you as a as a city side going into that game? Yeah I think it's literally any game any game we want to be underdogs we want to have to yes we're a massive club but you need that mentality and that drive and that you know we don't go anywhere and expect to win that's the the most important thing we have to work for our goals we have to work hard on the opponent we have to outwork and we have to outwit them and we have to be better on the day there's no points that are given to you in this league. Well go well Saturday Connor good to chat with you again. Thank you very much. And as you said when you were youth team coaches you had plenty of experience of of games being off for lengthy periods of time has that given you an insight into how long it is that what becomes a useful break turns into something that is too long and and potentially damaging to the to the squad? Yeah we've tried to not you know call it or for it to be a break and the players have had to work harder in training to make sure that you know this is not going to affect them longer term and try to replicate a game as much as we can on on those days that we had games which obviously is very difficult but there's ways and means that you can start to do it but it definitely it's not been a break it's been a part that we've tried to emulate and replicate the games program still even though it's we've not had a game in the in the league too. As you mentioned their training how difficult has that been to do with the snow and then the heavy rain and the winds and everything? Yeah it's a challenge I think everywhere else in the country is finding it especially in this kind of the Yorkshire area recently it seems like we're the only ones that have they've had this snow so it's difficult you know you go to any grass pitch at this moment in time and it's waterlogged so we're having to train on the 4G which is useful because he obviously doesn't it doesn't flood us easily so the training's been good it's been intense the players have worked really hard. Does that mean though that you have to maybe not train as long with the the impact of training on 4G, other joints and so forth? I think it has to go into our minds we've got to be mindful of of the impact and it being a harder surface and going from grass to astroturf isn't ideal but again we've we've managed that and we've had opportunities to be on grass if we've not been able to get on grass we've we've been able to do some work on the 4G we just have to up the intensity and make sure there's there's less breaks so we're getting the same intensity out of one session if it was on the grass compared to the astroturf even the astroturf has to be a little bit less. Have you had any communication with Cambridge as to what state their pitch is in after the weather the last few days? No no we haven't we just we just keep cracking on and wait for that call which obviously people they were they were working in the club and dealing with things like that and we we get to know if there's anything any problems. Okay thanks very much, good luck on Saturday. Thank you very much. Connor. Hello. Yeah you're obviously as you say it's been a very busy window you're bringing players in I mean is it a case now you've got a scenario potentially of having to sort of keep people happy because you know there's only as you say it's only 11 places in that starting lineup and and you've got a lot of competition coming in now. Yeah I think you know that's key for managers for myself and Mark you know we have to have an environment where players feel that they are they are worthy and they are you know around it if you like and I think they'll see the games program they'll see the fixtures and they'll be thinking you know there's going to be an opportunity for myself here I've got to make sure that I'm preparing for the opportunity that I get so I'm not relaxing on being on the bench I'm doing as much as the lads that are playing if that's that I'm doing extras or being in the gym more and but 100% we need if it's if it's you know a certain amount of games off every player but make sure that they are 100% ready and fit for that game I think that's crucial so the team is is exactly what we're about we need to to have the players ready knowing that everyone's together and when people are needed that they're trusted and they're going to do the job. Presumably you know you sign for a club and you'll look at the club and say yeah they're unbeaten five they're doing well so you're not going to want to change that team much but equally you're not going to sign for someone if you're not going to play are you so you know that all those new signings will be thinking right you know let me out there. Yeah 100% as well as we've had outgoings as well so the number it's not like the numbers have really increased too much and in terms of the overall squad it's it's kind of laid itself out quite evenly and so there's not too many problems but again yeah if you come to a club it's like any football you meet and you speak to them they all want to play they all want to play and they're not happy when they're not playing but you've got to be able to manage these people and make sure that you treat them fairly and and that you know they're here and and you're working hard to meet them better and and give them opportunities when when they arise and they've got to take them. As you say I mean the key word there is is treating them fairly isn't it because I think you know if players sort of think everyone's on the same level you know we're all going to get the same opportunities then they'll probably accept that I'm not going to play in this game but I know I'm probably going to get the chance next week. Yeah exactly and I think you know the players that who are not involved unfortunately a minute have seen how well the current 11 and maybe the teams that have played have been playing and for managers that warrants the opportunity to do it again and again and again and they've got to be patient but the biggest thing that if the players could listen to my words would be right now would be saying prepare for your chance you know don't don't get lazy don't think that's you don't make sure that you're doing more than what you're doing already to make sure that when you come in you're there to take people's places and if you do well you'll keep you sharp. Obviously as you say you know the window's still got a few few days left and you know there might be some more additions I mean presumably also this the absence of any of these games doesn't doesn't help you in sort of thinking which areas are we you might have an area where you might have a slight question mark over and you sort of think well let's see how it goes but obviously when there's not a game happening at the moment it can make that that thinking a little bit frustrating can it because you you know sort of perhaps leave you a little bit undecided in certain areas. Possibly I think how we've done it is is maybe different because we've tried to plan ahead of the window anyway but like you say you start to see witnesses in games and areas that you need to improve within games and however we've tried to formulate like a plan of of what where what areas we need to strengthen for what reasons and which players are available so and that's that's what kind of we've tried to do and the games yeah I get what you mean potentially from not having them but again we've been clear and with what we wanted and so far we've got the plays in that we've targeted and so we'll see what happens.