Post match press conference - Cardiff 2 Boro' 2

Stuart how do you react to a tough match like this?

"I'm pleased. Boro' are one of the biggest teams in this division and they should be competing at the top level. They have some talented players in the team and I told my boys I wanted to battle when we didn't have the ball to make it difficult for them"

Do you think your teams average age is a disadvantage?

"I have tried to spread experience carefully through the team to support the young boys. The youngsters have the talent but maybe they struggle with the physical side so I have to believe the older players can help them with that. I have faith in my team"

Are you pleased with your feeder club agreement this season?

"Steve was given a difficult job in Nottingham and with out wanting to go into the mine field of did he deserve that job or not I think he has approached it professionally. A lot of managers have come into that league and taken teams backwards. With all the respect in the world Wolves have disintegrated since Jamie Best left them. Steve is easy to negotiate with and I think he had a plan from the first day. I hope I have helped fine tune that plan and I hope he gets the rewards for his hard work"

Does it worry you he is linked already with a move away?

"Success will do that. It is a big honour for him to be mentioned with Premier teams even in rumours I would guess so I have to say well done to him. My players will help Forest even if he leaves. He should know chances to manage in the top league don't come along every day and it is up to him to judge if an offer comes along is it his time to step up and try and make it"

How did you feel about being linked to Villarreal?

"I was flattered. I truly enjoyed my time in Spain with Sevilla but I knew it was my time to leave. We had a lot of success and I hoped a new manager could take them on. They have done well under the assistant so I am still pleased. I came to Cardiff because there was a challenge here. How far our paths go together I don't know. I would like to take on other challenges in the future so if you are asking me to say I will stay here for ever I can't say yes"

Where would you like to manage Stuart?

"The challenge is what attracts me. The rest are names and reputations that can be reproduced anywhere. I would like to join a big team again some time and try to challenge. Bringing trophies to Sevilla who were outside of the big 4 was very rewarding and I would like to have that feeling again if I can achieve it"

Thanks Stuart

Cheers Stu - Cardiff

Cup Week and Squad Analysis

Sheffield United face a tough test in this weeks round of the Domestic cup. Bristol City have been expertly managed to produce a promotion and sustained performance in recent seasons. A superb squad and manager means that the Blades, in comparison will be deciding to rest players for the league push or gamble on cup glory.

Goalkeeper Paddy Kenny is likely to see a rare start tonight as Paul Smith undergoes physio on an ankle knock picked up at the weekend. Key midfielders Quinn and Juanito are also likely to be rested. Fletchers squad is strong in midfield however and there are no shortage of players keen to make their mark on an improving Blades side. With a likely clearout at the half season mark, no playes will wish to be caught napping as Andy Fletcher looks to strengthen for the season run in.

Loan defender Matty Briggs should be given another opportunity to show his credentials after a shaky debut this weekend and Ben Sahar on loan from Chelsea will again be looking to end his strikers drought. Sahar could be partnered by the experienced Garcia or the impressive Colim Marrison who has gone from strength to strength after nearing an exit from Bramall Lane last season.

The managers faith in his squad means players face pressure in a good environment, they want to succeed for the club, the fans and the manager.

-- Edited by Fletch on Monday 22nd of June 2009 01:13:31 PM

Jonny Sinclair today spoke of his frustration with his side's performance in recent weeks and admits he was furious with the performance at Torino

'We put poor Paolo got his chance this week because he has been working hard in training but he's blow it with that stupidity you don't mouth off at the ref it won't do anything but land you into trouble so im extremely disappointed in him at the moment my defence were fine today but no disrespect to Ash's Torino they haven't got a great strike force what im disappointed is my midfield at the moment they're not putting in the performances thats Alessandro Budel, Mauro Pucello And Fabian Delph i'm not afraid of naming names they're been poor in the last 3 weeks and its not acceptable the strike force can't do anything if they get no service from the midfield i've bought Rurik Gislason into hopefully worry them a little bit no ones place is certain in my team i have lots of options to pick so im not afraid of dropping any of them if they don't perform hopefully we'll have Tomas Rosicky and another rm coming in this week to allow us to revert back to 4-4-2 because clearly my players can't cope with a 4-3-3 formation i hope we can sort it out for our cup game this week against Catania

I also hope someone will want to Robert Snodgrass he is a decent young prodigy but he isn't quite as good as the front line we have playing at the moment and he needs games to improve so i hope someone will want to take him and get him the games he craves

Rollings relishing Coakley challenge

After a uncharacteristically quiet couple of weeks at the Blucheriati, outgoing Sampdoria boss has finally broken his recent silence to lay the gauntlet down ahead of this weekends fixture against Luke Coakley's AC Milan team. Both sides are performing well in Serie A, and the match promises to be a tight affair. Speaking at a pre-arranged press conference at his sides training ground Rollings suggested he was looking forward to the challenge of facing a resurgent Milan side.

"We can't wait to get into the game and we are confident that if we play to our ability we can walk away with all three points. Luke has done a tremendous job at AC Milan and his sides will always be a danger. Last season we just weren't in a position to compete with sides like this so hopefully that will show we have advanced as a club. The two times I faced Luke last season I wasn't able to put out a side capable of causing him problems but this weekend will be a different story. I have the utmost respect for Luke and that will be reflected in my team selection!"

Sampdoria have been widely tipped to tail away from the top of Serie A, with many stars the wrong side of 30. Juventus manager Steve Jenkins has already called into question the validity of teams league positions in Italy's top league and has been scathing in his criticism's. Rollings played down talk that his side wouldn't make it through the season, and suggested he had plans afoot to keep his side fresh.

"When you swap youth for experience you have to have a plan of how you are going to manage your squad through a season and hopefully if that works we will be okay! Teams have shown they are not afraid of taking the game to Juventus this season as they have spotted that maybe there are weaknesses there! I spotted it last season in the cup final and we nearly upset them then when noonoe gave us a chance. Maybe Steven isn't so happy that teams aren't rolling over at his sides feet this year? In my eyes they are still heavy favourites for the title but maybe they respect the quality in the league more now, even if they won't admit it!"

Parma plan Evans swoop

Parma have confirmed they are interested in appointing Brescia manager Huw Evans to fill the long term vacancy at the Serie A club. Chairman Tommaso Ghirardi told an Italian newspaper he would be willing to nearly double Evan's wages to bring in the manager from current leading Serie B team.

"Huw has done good things in Italian and many chairmen appreciate his potential. I'd love to give him the chance to manage here and let him show what he can do on a bigger stage than Brescia can offer him."


Wolves axe Davies

Following recent public comments linking Adam Tyrone Davies with the vacant Real Zaragoza position, Wolves owner Jack Hayward has moved swiftly to cut all ties with the Welshman. In a club statement it said "Wolverhampton Football Club can confirm the dismissal of Adam Tyrone Davies with immediate effect. We are disappointed with the recent form but also the lack of commitment the manager has expressed in improving the situation. The board resent the implication that success requires vast investment and we can't have the management looking for ways out of the club."

Rumours are that Hayward has expressed his disappointment in Davies's time at the club, telling a close friend he had hoped for better things following the previous managers hard work.

Best, now at Inter Milan, is on a shortlist of 5 potential replacements at Wolves by the bookies, although Jonny Sinclair is currently odds on favourite.

It is believed a number of teams are watching Adam Tyrone Davies's situation with a view to offering him a job, with Real Murcia and Cadiz in the frame.

Nottm Forest v Preston Preview

"We must keep the momentum going" - Davies-Evans

Speaking ahead of his sides match against Preston this week, Forest manager Steve Davies-Evans has stated that he wants his sides impressive league form to continue as they plan to claim another win this week against Preston.

Media - Steve, how much of a set back was the midweek cup loss to Spurs?

SDE - I don't see it as a set back at all actually. I think we had nothing to lose in that game as Spurs were out and out favourites and they showed why. We aren't pretending to be able to compete with top Premiership teams yet but I thought the boys defended really well and it took them 71 minutes to eventually break us down. What is important is that we put that behind us and concentrate on trying to continue the winning habbit.

Media - It's clear to see that the side are defending much better now, surely that's something that you don't have to worry about against Preston?

SDE - I think you're totally wrong and are doing some dis-respect to Preston. Yes they have had a tough start to the season but they have been unlucky in alot of games and could have got something from them. We will show them the respect they deserve and will try and go about things the right way. We still need to defend well from the back so that it means we have to score the minimum amount of goals to win the game.

Media - There is speculation that Matt Green could be leaving the club this week to join Torino, can you confirm this?

SDE - Yes I can confirm that Matty will be joining them. We have come to an agreement with Ashley Davies at Torino to bring in their striker Willington Paulista. I think Paulista will be able to run the line well although we may look to loan him out for a few games until Pietros loan finishes.

Media - We have seen that Wolves have last night sacked manager Adam-Tyrone Davies after he applied for the vacant managers position at Real Zaragoza, will you be sad to see him leave the league?

SDE - Ah....It's a tough one because I'm a firmly believe in the saying "Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" and I can empithise with Adam to a certain degree with the way that I left Sheffield Wednesday but what I will say is that Adam has done this a few times and he had warnings so he was always running the risk of being sacked. Personally, it's been hard to see Wolves struggle the way they have in the past season or so. Alot has been written that they have declined massively since Jamie Best left them and maybe this is the chance for the board to bring in a strong manager that can bring in the sort of players they need.

Media - Lastly Steve, We see that Jonny Sinclair has been made bookies favourite for the job, would you like to have him in League 1.

SDE - I think that if Wolves can attract a manager like JOnny Sinclair then they should do everything they can to bring him in. Jonny is a class manager and possibley one of the nicest guys in the game and League 1 would certainly be better off for having him in there. Whether or not Jonny would want to leave Ascoli at this time is another fact but I think that if Wolves have any aspirations of doing something, managers of Jonny's caliber is where they need to look.

Blades Manager Calls for Bigger Goals Tally

Blades boss Andy Fletcher this morning commented after the narrow win over Reading and asked his team to start finding the net more often.

"Were scraping through, if you look at the likes of Leeds they are killing teams off early and we need to start doing that to stay in the play off slots. Besides, my nerves cant take much more. We have the players and wil be working on a solution that works for us but we need goals, our defensive record is very good this season but you have to take the pressure off those lads and score early, on some occasions this season we should have been clear by half time but we have, for whatever reason, failed to capitalise"

-- Edited by Fletch on Saturday 27th of June 2009 09:43:14 AM