 Afternoon Gary. Hi Mark, how are you? Yeah good thank you. Six games unbeaten if someone had said to you before the Wolves game that that would be what would happen what would you have said to them? No chance. Yeah it doesn't happen often in the Premier League so yeah it's been a good run for us of course. The sort of perfectionist in me wishes we'd won a few more of them but yeah we've been on a good run. I mean it doesn't mean anything going into the next one but we have been on a good run. The only unbeaten side since that Liverpool 9-0 defeat in the Premier League quite remarkable when you look at the teams that you're competing against? Yeah I guess so I mean it's hard to draw too many comparisons obviously other teams have played different opposition and things that will lead into that stat but if I focus purely on us and what I've said to you from the start is the boys need to give a certain level of performance in every moment of every game and all six games in every minute of it I believe they've given that they've been fully focused they've been fully committed they've given everything at every moment and then results can be defined by real small margins, decisions, things that can go against you but if you perform in a certain way and apply yourself in a certain way for all of it you give yourself a real good chance of being competitive and that's what pleases me most about the six games really just that we've been really competitive in every moment of them I'm not going to ask you whether you want to become the new Bournemouth manager but would it be fair to say over the course of the last five or six weeks that you have been approached by a number of other clubs looking for a manager about their vacancy? No that wouldn't be fair I've been fully focused on the Bournemouth job I've had no contact, nothing from anywhere else I've spent every moment focused on the team making sure we're ready for the next game so yeah, there's been no interest or I've not been interested to look anywhere else So your agent's not had any calls from championship clubs or anyone at all that wants to take you because of the work you're currently doing it? No, I think my, the way I work is when I'm at somewhere, I'm at somewhere and I've been at Bournemouth for 18 months and I've been fully focused on Bournemouth since the moment I walked in the door and that hasn't changed for a single second in the last six weeks Ralph Harzenhoetl was speaking this morning to the media, he said you've done an absolutely incredible job since becoming the Bournemouth manager and he knows the rigors of the Premier League, he was the manager of Southampton when they would be 9-0 on two occasions When you're getting praise from someone who understands just how difficult this job is what does that say about the work that you and your team are doing and the players? I'm really proud of what the players have produced, really proud because they were in a, it was obviously a tough moment as you say Ralph has been through that with his players as well So yeah, to come back from the 9-0 and respond how they have, I'm really, really proud of them That doesn't change the fact that we need to keep going and we've achieved nothing yet so Wednesday night is massive again for us So yeah, we've done a good job so far as a group players but the next one is always massive, it can change so quickly Is it fair to say as a next Pompey man that this game back then always meant something for the Portsmouth fans for you to go in against Southampton in a different role in a different club but does that kind of history still stick with you? I've fond memories of the fixture playing in it but that doesn't change my approach to this one I think my link to Portsmouth as a player doesn't affect how I feel about playing Southampton for Portsmouth My thoughts around playing Southampton with Portsmouth is we need to put more points on the board It's a home game, under the lights, we're going to have big support again that we need to go and put in a performance and give ourselves a real chance of adding to our tally When you've done your analysis of Southampton are you surprised that perhaps their lack of points on the board recently particularly with the players that they've got there what have you made of their strengths and weaknesses? Yes, so fine margins again they've been in a lot of games that haven't gone their way obviously they probably haven't got as many points as they would have liked so far but they carry a real threat aggressive team, play forward a lot Che Adams is a big threat for them powerful runner, physical well coached, organised expecting a difficult game as all 38 of the Premier League runs will be And just finally for me we've been talking to managers over the course of this week about their behaviour on the sideline we saw Jürgen Klopp get sent off at the weekend and we've seen other managers Roberto deserving, Thomas Frank had a scuffle on Friday night how hard is it to keep your emotions in check when you're in the heat of the battle and when you're managing matches and every point, every kick, every moment in a match can be so crucial to defining the outcome of the game and perhaps even your job? Yes, I think there's a lot of pressure there's not a lot of time to control yourself after certain moments on the field so I think it's everyone I mean I'm always trying to stay aware of how you behave and as in everyday life really you always want to behave in the right way and you want to set a good example and I'm sure that's always at the front of all managers' minds but as you see sometimes things happen that you maybe regret a few moments later but everyone's human I'm sure everyone's always doing their best to make sure that we behave in an appropriate way but as you say there is big pressure out there and occasionally it does get heated Gary, I was very close to you in the Fulham game you're quite a fidget on the touch line I remember your comments after the first game I wondered if it's getting easier, more natural to you to be in that position in the front of the technical area? I like standing there, I like it I like being at the front, I like feeling like I can try and help the boys in moments I don't know, wherever I fidget I guess I walk up and down and I get through a lot of water but yeah, I enjoy standing there but yeah, I don't know what I haven't really watched myself so I don't really know but yeah, I am enjoying it And one of your predecessors who sat in that chair chucked away some expensive trainers after he wore them at three straight games and lost all three games Given your luck with penalty decisions since you've been sat in that chair are you superstitious going to change anything? No, I'm not superstitious hopefully a few more decisions start to go our way I think we've been unfortunate on some of them so hopefully they start to balance out a little bit but I have no real focus around that we discuss it after the game and I speak to the officials about it if I feel I need to and then I'm asked about it by you guys of course but then apart from that I mean I never speak to our players around it or it's always like what can we control what did we do, what do we need to do next time so yeah, no real superstition and I haven't thrown any trainers away How is the squad after full of many significant bumps and bruises and things? No, we're good, same as we were You had Junior Stanislaus back on the bench after he's had a rough time how good is that to have him as an option coming back in? Yes, it's brilliant, him, Joe Ruffwell, Ben Pearson's back around it they all give us, they all bring certain strengths that we're definitely going to need so Junior all brings us some real quality that I'm sure we'll need in moments and delighted to have a player of his quality back We haven't seen Joe in the Premier League yet, what can we expect to see from him when he does make his debut? He's a good footballer, a powerful boy, has real good acceleration and drive can burst away from people, he's a good footballer, really nice on the ball so I'm sure he'll have some really important moments for us this season And just one more on Southampton, the way you've analysed their last few games they've completely transformed their squad over the summer so lots of new young players coming in I wondered as well as the threats you've spotted and things have you noticed any great sign of progress in the last few weeks with them as the manager gets his ideas into these young players are you seeing them develop and get more dangerous as the weeks go on? Yeah, I think he has a quite defined style as a coach and they're generally very front foot and aggressive they're always how I've seen his teams they look to press, they look to put good pressure on you when you change a lot of players in the summer especially when you sign some young ones sometimes you need a little while for things to come into place and I'm sure Ralph will turn it around he's had a real good track record so it'll be a very tough game for us Thanks, Gary Good afternoon, Gary Gary, you spoke about in Pearson, Joe Rothwell Jr, Stanislaus it's a tough team to get into at the moment Yeah, hopefully it means the boys that are out there are doing really well but yeah, I spoke to you guys around it a lot and I don't really see it as starters and non-starters I just look at all of them as they're going to be really important and I need them all to be ready at all times because you just never know what the situation's going to call for so yeah, it's just really good that we've got a few of them back and I have a few decisions to make now when I'm naming the bench and things like that whereas when I'm picking the start in 11 whereas a few weeks ago the bench was basically everyone that was fit so it's nice to get a few back Ask Jack Stevens for a scouting report on Southampton or would that be unfair on him? No, that would be unfair on him I do my own research on Southampton so I wouldn't put Jack in that situation Just on that same subject Bournemouth Southampton's not the only game taking place tomorrow night the development squad are playing Luton away would that fixture be an opportunity for Jack to play and maybe some other players? Yeah, I'm not sure who's going to be going to that and who's going to be with us at this moment so once we've decided what our squad looks like then we can make decisions around the, as you say, the other game that's going on up at Luton Now we all know that Southampton and Portsmouth are the main rivals there Bournemouth, because of where we are, see Southampton as a rival we certainly see this as a derby Gary, you played in three Southampton-Pompey derbies you played in Norwich-Ipswich derby, a Borre-Sunderland derby you said it doesn't change your approach as a manager what about as a player? Does it change a player's approach? Yeah, I used to try and use every little bit I could for extra motivation to make sure I was ready for games try and find an edge over the opposition if I could so yeah, that was how I used to get ready as a player I would always try and find extra motivation whether it be playing against the side that you've played for whether it be playing against your local rivals I was always trying to find an edge I'm sure the lads have their own way of making sure they're ready but yeah, slightly different as a coach I mean you understand that this one, as you rightly say, is important to the fans but yeah, every game this season is important to me and the club so yeah, we'll be preparing for this which is exactly the same as we prepare for the others but I am excited about it and the lads, local rivals coming down so it'll be a good game