‘I knew it was going to be a challenge but it’s probably been more difficult than I was expecting’
A MORE RELAXED STEVEN SCHUMACHER HAS TAKEN A BREAK FROM HIS PREPARATIONS TO PREVIEW STOKE CITY’S FINAL GAME OF THE SEASON...
A situation like this will stand you in good stead for the future? Schumacher:
Absolutely. I wouldn’t have had to deal with half the things I’ve dealt with if I’d stayed at Argyle for another three or four years because the situations just weren’t there. Here it’s different. That learning and that experience will only make me stronger in the long run.
When you took this role you knew it was a tough situation for the club and what you were giving up. Has it been as hard or harder than you expected? Schumacher:
I would probably say I knew it was going to be a challenge but it’s probably been more difficult than I expected. I knew the size of the club I was coming into and what was expected but the internal challenges are the ones you don’t see that obviously make it more difficult. So it’s been harder than expected but I think we’ve overcome them or the majority of them. We’ve still got a lot of work to do over the summer that we feel is going to give us a better chance to do better next year.
There will be a lap of appreciation and there will be a lot of relief but when you look forward to next season, what’s your aim and what can you promise fans will be different? Schumacher:
We hope that results are different and that we’re not in this position in the league. That’s the goal, to improve on what we’ve done this year.
When I spoke to John (Coates) in the interview he said about trying to ensure safety this year and then improve as a club next year. That’ll be the message after the game. I think it’s important that our players go around and give our fans a clap to show their appreciation for their support.
We all know and understand that it hasn’t been an easy season for anyone but I think of late especially that fans have seen the effort that the lads have put in. It has been a big effort. We’re in great form over the last 12 games and it took a whole team effort to get the points we need. I’m sure some fans will stay behind and give the players a clap too.
How important will it be to keep a settled side or will you be tempted to make changes? It’s the last match of Bae Junho’s individual marathon season, for instance Schumacher:
I think the players at the moment are in a good rhythm, they’ve played really well. We’ll have to get everyone again, like I say every week, who can win this particular game. Now I agree that Junho has played a lot of football and there are others as well but they all want to finish on a high. It’s a game we can go into with no pressure, we can go and enjoy and I want to set a blueprint for how we play. If we can end the season on a high by showing the same mentality as we did last Saturday, that would be great.
Bristol City have the best defensive record in the Championship (outside the top three) and are second in the form table. How difficult will it be? Schumacher:
It’s going to be a hard game, they’re a good team. Liam (Manning) has done a brilliant job. When he went into the club he had to change how he wanted players to work and it was a big change from Nige (Pearson). I know Liam and Chris (Hogg, assistant manager) really well and they’ve done excellently. They’re a good side, they don’t give up an awful lot of chances, they play with loads of energy and midfield players can fight and scrap. It’s going to be a hard one but hopefully we can come out on top of it.
You might not know this stat but Bristol City have won this fixture at Stoke every season since relegation in 2018 and Stoke haven’t won a final match at home with fans in the stadium since 2016. Schumacher:
OK, that’s two good things to go for, two little milestones to put to bed. Bristol City are a good team and actually in really good form themselves. I was looking at their recent results this morning and they’re in good form, we know what their strengths are. There a team that plays with real energy and they’ve got real quality at the top end of the pitch so again we have to make sure we’re at it. If we can get to the performance levels we did last Saturday or the Saturday before in our previous home game against Argyle then we give ourselves a chance to win the game.
Just because we’re safe it doesn’t mean we’ve got nothing to play for and that’s been the message all week. Our fans deserve us to finish with some momentum and that’s what we’ll try to do.
Stoke seem to be pressing better as a unit. Has something changed to make that happen or has it just evolved? Schumacher:
We work on things every week. We work on different strategies for different types of teams. It looks better if we’re playing with confidence and have a certain intensity and play with the mindset I’ve just spoken about. It looks better if you get a bit of success from it. We don’t go into one game thinking we’re going to press more aggressively than the last week, it’s just sometimes in football you get it right and players get into a good rhythm. That’s what it looks like at the moment, players in decent form who know what they’re doing and the whole squad is contributing to recent results.
You must have been really pleased with how the team has been looking? Schumacher:
I think the form has been really good. We’ve shown we can be a good team and put things together, defensively we can be really well organised, we’ve been aggressive in the last few games and I think the quality we’ve shown on the ball as well has been there for all to see. We’ve caused good teams some problems.
So I have been happy with the form and I keep stressing to the lads that we can’t come off that now. That’s how we want to play. That’s how we feel we’ve got the best chance to get results, if we’re at it with that mentality. If we can do that again on Saturday that’d be great.