On the squad now having to keep the standards the pair have set…
Absolutely, yeah. From when I came in, the standards were obviously already set and you had to obey by the rules. You had to buy into what the lads stood by. That was working hard every single day… and you see it more as a family thing. That’s a big thing that I’ve always said about this club. It started with the likes of them lads now that are going to leave. It’s not just a football team – it’s more like a family. You obviously go through your ups and your downs and when you look left and right, it is always those boys around in the hardest times, the lads are always there. In the good times, they’re there as well. It’s important that we carry it on now.
On a ‘tough’ season and the hope that next season can be better…
Absolutely, yeah. That’s what this team is all about. I’ve said it already that even when times are hard that we look around and we see each other in there and it’s a family. You should never, ever quit. As you just said there, it’s been the hardest time. We lost one of our brothers [Diogo Jota] – a big part of us. He was a huge help every single day. He was unbelievable as a human being and was unbelievable as a player.
He was a huge help and in games like that he was always a lad that I thought if I give him the ball, he’s going to go and score at the end and bail us out when we’re in a little bit of trouble and stuff. To lose him, I’m standing here now and I can feel it in me, I feel emotional when I speak about it and stuff. As he was around the place, he was a huge, huge help… then we lose him… it was obviously hard and then we come in and we start well. Then we go on a bad run and then we come back and then it’s a bad run again.
It was up and down for the whole of the year. But the important thing, as I’ve said, that this club is huge by sticking as one. Our family and the fans are always there. As I said, it’s important that we got in the Champions League. Next year will be exciting again, the lads that we’ve obviously bought have now played enough games that they feel that they’re a part of this as well. We’ll see the best of them. I’m excited, and next season it should be great. We can put everything behind us and just go and enjoy it and go and play free.
