moore_94

Steve Cooper Pre-Match Press Conference vs Fulham Injuries? “The same. No changes. It was the first game of the season and there are still a lot of lads getting up to speed fitness-wise. There’s fatigue, but nothing else.” Skipp ready to start? “He’s definitely available. We’re looking to add more players too. When you bring players in, you want them to be pushing for places. The challenge will be embraced by the guys for starting positions. Everybody who’s fit will be under consideration.” What Skipp brings? “He’s got quite a lot of games under his belt. Now we have a nice variety of midfield options. The Premier League demands a lot of you, sometimes more than one thing in one game. Skippy brings a calming influence and that can support our game. The balance in midfield allows us to pick the right players for the right gameplan.” Keeping Vardy fit? “It’s important to keep every player fit. Jamie doesn’t need any special words from me about his capability. In terms of keeping him available and keeping him fresh, it’s going to be important. He’s an older player and he understands his body well. We have to work with him to do what’s right by him. In my experience of him, he really enjoys games and what it takes to get ready for a game. He understands I work and what’s required. We’re getting to know all the players to know what they require to be ready. It will be different because of the pre-season he’s had. He’s a game player. We need to keep him ready.” Transfers? “There’s no names to mention. We’re trying to strengthen the squad. The guys did an amazing job last year and we want to continue that, but we also have to strengthen.” Attacking signings? “It’s definitely an area. The same with the midfield, I want to have that in every area of the pitch. Every area we’d like to strengthen might not be done in this window. At the top end, with injuries, it’s something we’re looking at.” Fulham? “Marco has been there a few years now and has built a good team. They’ve added players recently. We need to be ready. They’re a well-coached team. But we learned that if we don’t do what we can do, the opponent is irrelevant. The other day was a great reminder that if we don’t look after ourselves, we can’t look after anything else.” Lesson from first game? “With it being the first game back, there were players making Premier League debuts and club debuts and maybe that showed in the first half. We allowed them too much of the ball and too much respect. We needed to be braver in the second half. That’s on all of us. We played with more intent. The lesson is believing ourselves and doing what we can do. A lot of confidence will be taken from the second half. We’re really excited about playing again. There’s been a really good vibe. It’s a fairly positive result, we want to be winning at home really. There’s been more talk about the first half in the game review. But there’s lots to be encouraged by. It’s a process of how we improve.” Have you built rapport with fans? “You’re probably asking the wrong guy. Once you commit to being part of something, you have to give everything to it. That’s what I intend to do. I want to do my very best for the club to succeed.” Close to signings? “I think we’re close, but we’ve been closer than we feel today. We’re really keen to get deals over the line. If it doesn’t happen, we’ve got maximum belief in these guys. I think we will, but if we don’t we’ll get on with it and commit to reaching our objectives. We’ve got a week left. Anybody that comes in will be adding to a fantastic spirit and a group of players who really enjoy being at the football club.” What profiles do you want? “I’d rather talk about that when deals are done. If it’s not done, I don’t want that to be seen as a negative." No choice but to start Vardy? “It’s just about working together. There’s so much work that goes in now to the daily operation of a player, from the tactical side and the physical side, from the data that’s recorded every day. But you have to listen to Jamie’s opinions as well. With an older player, you can talk about age and capabilities, but we’re really positive about his capabilities and I don’t mean the obvious around his goal-scoring, but about how fit he looks, how sharp he looks.” Need to keep showing fight? “We also need to show that we’re able to change things and not accept it if things are not going right. You can be second best and you can have some bad luck, but you have to show you can bounce back. You saw the atmosphere and the motivation in the team. On and off the pitch, we became a really good unit. We need to recreate that as often as we can.” Attacking players most difficult to sign? “I would say so in terms of how it’s played out so far. We’ve been very clear in terms of what would be good, but there’s not an order to it. I was close to being convinced we were adding two attacking players, but it didn’t play out as we hoped.” Sven? “On behalf of the current squad and staff, we send our best wishes and love to him. We hope he’s fighting as hard as he can. I’ve never met him but I spent time at the FA and I heard some really nice stories about how he was with people. You don’t get to the level he did without being a top coach.”

Transfers? “There’s no names to mention. We’re trying to strengthen the squad. The guys did an amazing job last year and we want to continue that, but we also have to strengthen.” Attacking signings? “It’s definitely an area. The same with the midfield, I want to have that in every area of the pitch. Every area we’d like to strengthen might not be done in this window. At the top end, with injuries, it’s something we’re looking at.” Close to signings? “I think we’re close, but we’ve been closer than we feel today. We’re really keen to get deals over the line. If it doesn’t happen, we’ve got maximum belief in these guys. I think we will, but if we don’t we’ll get on with it and commit to reaching our objectives. We’ve got a week left. Anybody that comes in will be adding to a fantastic spirit and a group of players who really enjoy being at the football club.” What profiles do you want? “I’d rather talk about that when deals are done. If it’s not done, I don’t want that to be seen as a negative."

Now we are missing out on players to bloody Watford?! FFS

I expect someone like Nanasi would still end up on lower wages than Ayew, even if we had to offer him more than Strasbourg

I really wouldn't say Strasbourg are a better club who can make a better offer than us If we actually went in for him we could easily blow them out of the water wages wise which is all it would take to get him (and still not actually overpay for him)

Rather annoying if Cooper is pushing for this to fulfill his "requirement" for Prem experience There is already a load of it throughout the squad and plenty more just added with Skipp coming in, we don't need anymore Should be spending £10-15m on a younger player (like Nanasi who is going for less than £10m) rather than £6m on Ayew - so it would be the same yearly for PSR

Yep!

@Ric Flair @kingfox @Muzzy_no7

Started 8 of the 13 games he was in charge last season

As long as this is actually the case I wouldn't put it past them for this to be it...

I am looking forward to the game where we start with DeCordova Reid, Vardy and Ayew New record for oldest attack on the pitch? 100 years old

Should've gone for him instead of Okoli - around the same price Would actually be a starter for us

Went proper mental when we scored as well

Depends why he rejected them tbf If it is gametime I understand why he would reject them (just signed ESR and already have Pereira), but I think he would play quite a lot for us in comparison

Percy has already confirmed we have bid for him, if anything it shows Nixon seems to know what is going on with this deal.

As long as they contribute heavily towards us staying up and we haven't just pissed more money up the wall

If we achieve the add ons we would end up spending over £30m on Oliver Skipp and Jordan Ayew

How much game time is he likely to get to be able to develop behind BDCR, Ayew, Fatawu, and Mav though? A season doing well in the Championship is likely to develop him more and increase his value imo

I can see McAteer heading out on loan