Edmundo
Whinging pom
The First GPG Leroy Rosenior Interview
We selected a cross-section of questions from the many that were asked. Sorry if your particular question didn't get asked, but hopefully we covered all the major areas.
Q. Do you have a list of players that you wish to to bring here and what positions are you looking to strengthen? (Holysmit)
A. Yes I've got a list of players as all coaches and managers have – a massive list. Hopefully within the next week or so you'll be seeing a couple of new faces. There's people who are certainly going to train with us pre-season who we want to have a look at. So, yes, I have a massive list of players and there are players that I want to bring in.
Q. Given Brentford's well documented financial struggles and the similarly well documented reason for Martin Allen's departure - i.e a minimal salary budget for next season - what attracted you to the Brentford job other than the fact that it is a leg back up onto the managerial ladder? (DallasTone)
A. The thing that attracted me more than anything else and has been proven to me even this morning is that it's a community club. The strength of Brentford Football Club is that it isn't like Bristol City or Nottingham Forest or Swansea with their massive fan bases and massive finances. The strength is that it's a community club and everyone supports it 100%. The supporters love the club, they want to be a part of it, they want to do what they can to help the club and that doesn't always mean spending money. That's not what it's all about. It's about feelings and spirit and taking that spirit onto the football pitch with you. And that spirit is something I want to be part of and want to enhance and I think the community scheme is a massive plus and there's not a lot of places that have it – I think Brentford is unique in that regard. Off the top of my head I can't think of a club that is run like Brentford and I think it's a massive strength. I just feel that with that feeling and goodwill we can go a long way. We're going to have a small squad because of the budget and I want the players to feel close to the supporters as well and when they go out on the football pitch they have in their minds who they're playing for and what they're playing for and what it means to people. At some clubs they forget about that with big money – it's out on the pitch and then drive out in the big cars and they're just playing to get a bigger car basically, but at Brentford the players are aware of what it means to the local community. I mean they are players that have come through the community scheme - Peters and Darius Charles – they didn't come through the youth scheme they come through the community scheme. It's unheard of and it's fantastic to have those players in and around the club because they've got a real feeling and passion and I want to enhance that passion and the community scheme is a strength that we can use.
Q. Given the budget restraints, what is your realistic expectation for this season? Is it about avoiding relegation or aiming for promotion? (Bungey)
A. Aiming for promotion. You always go into a season aiming for promotion. You've always got to try and do better than the previous season and we've finished in the play-offs twice.
Q. You're quoted in the Chronicle today as saying “The supporters know the financial situation here and, as a result, they are not expecting us to be pushing for automatic promotion”. Is that right? You don't think Brentford supporters are expecting us to be pushing for automatic promotion? (Banana)
A. I think that a lot of people would be thinking “well you know, especially with the 11 games we had at the end of last season” they're feeling a bit low and a bit down about what's ahead and when expectations are low – it's good.
Q. So the goal is automatic promotion then? (Banana)
A. Absolutely. The goal is to finish top of the Football League. That is always the goal. You have to aim high and where you end up is where you end up.
Q. After success at Torquay ,why was there the sudden collapse and have you learnt from it? (Bigbee)
A. Well I wouldn't say it was a sudden collapse but we lost our best players not just once but three times. We lost David Graham, Akinfenwa, we lost Gritton and we lost Russell to Bristol City and it happened every year and when that happens you can't keep losing your players. You can lose one and replace them and you can lose maybe another one and replace them but it got to a point where I found it really difficult to replace them and it was a real struggle because the budget wasn't there for the players I wanted regardless of the level we lifted the bar on the players that we wanted and what the fans expected and what we expected and we couldn't get that – it was almost impossible because expectations were so high. Players were playing for money that we couldn't afford to pay – the budget was probably half that of Brentford's and it was an impossible job at times and it was difficult but if you talk to people at Torquay they had the best time of their lives – we managed to get to the 5th round of the FA Cup in the season we didn't do too great. Every season we achieved something which for a club like Torquay was fantastic. The other reason was a lot of people said that I should have left after 2 years after we got promoted. I'm not like that. Mike Bateson employed me and I've got a lot of time for Mike I have a good relationship and I want to keep that relationship outside of football. He was a good friend of mine – he still is a good friend of mine. And that was more important to me than going trying to get a job somewhere else for more money.
Q. Who are the coaching staff going to be? (londondude)
A. I can't tell you that until they come. I've got a good idea who they are going to be. They'll be my assistant, a part-time goalkeeping coach and a part-time fitness coach. I will be doing the coaching and my assistant will be doing the coaching – we're all going to be doing it. On the training ground I'm not really stood watching - I coach as that's one of my strengths, so I'm going to use it.
Q. Do you like to update the fans regularly on the official website about what is going on? (jmcp)
A. I update the fans every day about what's going on and let them know. Obviously within reason. I will never tell people something that might happen. I'm not going to tell people we're going to try and sign this player or that player until they've signed on the dotted line because too many times you think this guy's coming in and he ends up somewhere else and I'm not going to raise people's hopes and then have them dashed. I'll tell them what's going on with the players and how the players are training and maybe little injuries and niggles that the players have got. On Saturday players go out and if they've got a niggle during the week, especially with a small squad, people pick up niggles and a lot of people don't realise that and it's a good thing that they know what's been going on during the week. You know “this guy's had a late fitness test but he's available” but what I don't want to do is alert the opposition to anybody with any problems but I'll give as much information as I can.
Q. Are you keen on supporter messageboards and do you read them yourself. (beeware)
A. I don't read them. I'm not keen on them but I don't use them. The people that use them love them but as long as they're used in an adult way as the problem with them is when they start abusing people and not just that but they abuse people's families and things like that – that's not right. But if they use them in a positive way and with positive discussion then it's always a good thing.
Q. What do you consider to be your three main attributes/strengths that you bring to the club as manager? (Beepositive)
A. Enthusiasm, optimism and experience.
Q. The previous manager didn't use the loan system very regularly. Do you intend to and if so, how would you persuade the many clubs local to us to lend us good quality youngsters? (Les Beeavinu)
A. I hope not to use the loan system at all if I'm honest. I hope to have a small squad and that throughout the season they don't get any injuries. But if need be then yes I'll be using the loan system
Q. I think the thinking behind the previous question is, say, can we use fringe players from Chelsea on season-long loans much like we had Pratley here from Fulham. (Edmundo)
A. I think the style of play is so important to bring in reserve Premier League players. A lot of Premier League clubs won't release players to clubs because they don't think the style of play will be of benefit to them. I think our style of play will be positive in that respect to get players down here on loan. A lot of people know what I'm about I obviously know a lot of people – Mick McGiven at Chelsea whom I've worked with before, I know Alan Pardew very well and obviously I know everyone at Fulham very well – so it's who you know as well and they know me and they know that they'll be playing the right style of football to benefit them and they'll be looked after as well.
Q. Brentford won £50,000 from Coca-Cola to go towards the playing squad. Any ideas on how you would spend it? (Les Beeavinu)
A. The Board haven't told me anything about it!
Q. What were the circumstances behind your decision to take time off during your reign at Torquay to "Get your head straight"? (Brentford Bob)
A. It wasn't to get my head straight. It was personal. It was an illness in the family – someone very close to me, so I took some days off. It's not something that I need to share with anybody else. So people can surmise what they want – whether it was to get my head straight or whether I was jumping off a cliff or whatever. But it was a serious illness in the family and I came to London for a few days to deal with it.
Q. Will we have a reserve team next season? (SQUELCH)
A. No
Q. Are you going to try and bring in younger hungrier players, rather than experienced pros on nearly £2k a week? (Ace Face)
A. I will be bringing in young players but there needs to be a balance with experienced players to help them as well. It's good to have players that have something to prove in the squad. It gives them an edge and the more experienced players can help the younger ones when they come across a sticky patch in a game. It's going to be a blend and that's what's so important. You won't be successful with just young, hungry players and you won't be successful with just experienced pros on 2 grand a week – you need a blend and that's what we aim for – to get the blend right.
Q. Who do you see as title challengers for the coming season and why? (SQUELCH)
A. The obvious ones and because they have money. Nottingham Forest – they certainly won't do what they did last year. Bristol City are spending a lot of money. Swansea are spending a lot of money. So they are the obvious three but I don't see why we can't be up there.
Q. What's more important, pretty football or results? (Luton Bee)
A. results
Q. What would you say to the 38% of GPG'ers that don't think you will make a good manager? (Ruislip Red)
A. I've got to convince them. Was it only 38%? I'm delighted!
Q. Do you regret stating that 'Brentford didn't deserve to be in the division' after you helped relegate us in '93? (Greenholme Bee)
A. No. It's true. If you get relegated then you don't deserve to be in that division. It's the same for every club that gets relegated, over the season the table doesn't lie. No matter what decisions have gone against you 99 times out of 100 the table doesn't lie.
Q. Will the training ground still be open to everyone to come and watch? (peza)
A. Yes
Q. What do you say to the suggestions that the players at Torquay weren't training properly? (oldgreenfordian)
A. That's rubbish.
Q. Do you think racism is still a big problem in English football? (Hamburger Hill)
A. No. It was a massive problem. It's still a problem but when I used to play I used to get bananas thrown at me and abuse thrown at me. It's still a problem, it's not gone 100% but it's a lot better than it was. Still got a way to go but the anti-racism scheme is just fantastic plus people in the crowds are not happy about hearing it and if someone does it you'll find that people in the crowd will say “that's out of order” - which is great. So it's going the right way but it doesn't affect me, even if someone does say something to me it's water off a duck's back because I am where I am and they're there.
Q. What are your views on defending corners, we have persistently worked on the basis of all 10 men defending which results, if and when we clear the ball, it comes straight back again. (christom - and several others)
A. There's not a straight answer to questions like this because it depends on what the situation is. I you're under the cosh and you're 2-1 up and there's 30 seconds to go you're going to bring everybody back. It depends on who you're playing against, the time during the game etc. Most times defending is the key to you're attacking so I would like to keep someone out so that we can play off them for a counter-attack so that's my view but if the situation calls for 10 men back then I will do it.
Q. Even though its unlikely that he will want to stay as he wants to move to a championship club, what do you know about Jay Tabb, and will you attempt to make him stay? (Holysmit)
A. He's quick, he's aggressive and when he gets on the ball he makes thing happen because he's sharp and when he comes inside and joins with the front players he's exciting and he's just one of those players that can make things happen. He can play left. He can play right. He can play in behind the front two at times. But people have spoken to Jay before I came to the club. I know the situation – he's said he wants to go to a Championship club and we've made him the best offer we can make him and I think that's not good enough for him. So if I'm honest I think Jay's gone. I think there's no doubt he's gone it's just a matter of which club he goes to. To be honest it's been totally out of my hands.
Q. Those players that were transfer-listed. Are they still transfer-listed? (Banana and others)
A. Yes – at this moment time they are. I've spoken to all the players on the phone and ones that are away I've left messages with because I want to get them in and see them face-to-face. You can't really talk to players over the phone about being on the transfer list. I want them to come in and be enthusiastic and I'll have a chat with them about their future when I see them.
Q. Are you going to talk to Martin Allen about what his views of the players are? (markbfc)
A. I'll talk to Martin Allen but I won't talk to him about Brentford Football Club
Q. Scott Fitzgerald – he's been a brilliant manager for the Youth Team last year. Any chance of him taking on a coaching role. (Adam)
A. Scott is part of the coaching team. We're going to have a flexible system there's no “first team coach” or “youth team coach” it's going to be flexible. I've read Scott's piece in the Hounslow Gazette a few days ago saying that he's ambitious and wants to become a first team coach and a manager and that's music to my ears because I want ambitious people around me and I'll give him every opportunity to start working with the first team and individuals and groups. Hopefully he'll feel he's being stretched and being developed. You need to have that in a club – you need the coaches to feel that they are developing and we're going to work together and I look forward to working with Scott. Everything I've heard about him, and I've spoke to quite a few people, says that he's a decent bloke, an honest bloke and he's got a lot of potential and I want him to achieve that at Brentford Football Club.
Q. Have you been down to the training ground yet? (Banana)
A. Yes
Q. Have you taken the bike off the wall? (Banana)
A. No!
(c) 2006 The Griffin Park Grapevine
Q. Do you have a list of players that you wish to to bring here and what positions are you looking to strengthen? (Holysmit)
A. Yes I've got a list of players as all coaches and managers have – a massive list. Hopefully within the next week or so you'll be seeing a couple of new faces. There's people who are certainly going to train with us pre-season who we want to have a look at. So, yes, I have a massive list of players and there are players that I want to bring in.
Q. Given Brentford's well documented financial struggles and the similarly well documented reason for Martin Allen's departure - i.e a minimal salary budget for next season - what attracted you to the Brentford job other than the fact that it is a leg back up onto the managerial ladder? (DallasTone)
A. The thing that attracted me more than anything else and has been proven to me even this morning is that it's a community club. The strength of Brentford Football Club is that it isn't like Bristol City or Nottingham Forest or Swansea with their massive fan bases and massive finances. The strength is that it's a community club and everyone supports it 100%. The supporters love the club, they want to be a part of it, they want to do what they can to help the club and that doesn't always mean spending money. That's not what it's all about. It's about feelings and spirit and taking that spirit onto the football pitch with you. And that spirit is something I want to be part of and want to enhance and I think the community scheme is a massive plus and there's not a lot of places that have it – I think Brentford is unique in that regard. Off the top of my head I can't think of a club that is run like Brentford and I think it's a massive strength. I just feel that with that feeling and goodwill we can go a long way. We're going to have a small squad because of the budget and I want the players to feel close to the supporters as well and when they go out on the football pitch they have in their minds who they're playing for and what they're playing for and what it means to people. At some clubs they forget about that with big money – it's out on the pitch and then drive out in the big cars and they're just playing to get a bigger car basically, but at Brentford the players are aware of what it means to the local community. I mean they are players that have come through the community scheme - Peters and Darius Charles – they didn't come through the youth scheme they come through the community scheme. It's unheard of and it's fantastic to have those players in and around the club because they've got a real feeling and passion and I want to enhance that passion and the community scheme is a strength that we can use.
Q. Given the budget restraints, what is your realistic expectation for this season? Is it about avoiding relegation or aiming for promotion? (Bungey)
A. Aiming for promotion. You always go into a season aiming for promotion. You've always got to try and do better than the previous season and we've finished in the play-offs twice.
Q. You're quoted in the Chronicle today as saying “The supporters know the financial situation here and, as a result, they are not expecting us to be pushing for automatic promotion”. Is that right? You don't think Brentford supporters are expecting us to be pushing for automatic promotion? (Banana)
A. I think that a lot of people would be thinking “well you know, especially with the 11 games we had at the end of last season” they're feeling a bit low and a bit down about what's ahead and when expectations are low – it's good.
Q. So the goal is automatic promotion then? (Banana)
A. Absolutely. The goal is to finish top of the Football League. That is always the goal. You have to aim high and where you end up is where you end up.
Q. After success at Torquay ,why was there the sudden collapse and have you learnt from it? (Bigbee)
A. Well I wouldn't say it was a sudden collapse but we lost our best players not just once but three times. We lost David Graham, Akinfenwa, we lost Gritton and we lost Russell to Bristol City and it happened every year and when that happens you can't keep losing your players. You can lose one and replace them and you can lose maybe another one and replace them but it got to a point where I found it really difficult to replace them and it was a real struggle because the budget wasn't there for the players I wanted regardless of the level we lifted the bar on the players that we wanted and what the fans expected and what we expected and we couldn't get that – it was almost impossible because expectations were so high. Players were playing for money that we couldn't afford to pay – the budget was probably half that of Brentford's and it was an impossible job at times and it was difficult but if you talk to people at Torquay they had the best time of their lives – we managed to get to the 5th round of the FA Cup in the season we didn't do too great. Every season we achieved something which for a club like Torquay was fantastic. The other reason was a lot of people said that I should have left after 2 years after we got promoted. I'm not like that. Mike Bateson employed me and I've got a lot of time for Mike I have a good relationship and I want to keep that relationship outside of football. He was a good friend of mine – he still is a good friend of mine. And that was more important to me than going trying to get a job somewhere else for more money.
Q. Who are the coaching staff going to be? (londondude)
A. I can't tell you that until they come. I've got a good idea who they are going to be. They'll be my assistant, a part-time goalkeeping coach and a part-time fitness coach. I will be doing the coaching and my assistant will be doing the coaching – we're all going to be doing it. On the training ground I'm not really stood watching - I coach as that's one of my strengths, so I'm going to use it.
Q. Do you like to update the fans regularly on the official website about what is going on? (jmcp)
A. I update the fans every day about what's going on and let them know. Obviously within reason. I will never tell people something that might happen. I'm not going to tell people we're going to try and sign this player or that player until they've signed on the dotted line because too many times you think this guy's coming in and he ends up somewhere else and I'm not going to raise people's hopes and then have them dashed. I'll tell them what's going on with the players and how the players are training and maybe little injuries and niggles that the players have got. On Saturday players go out and if they've got a niggle during the week, especially with a small squad, people pick up niggles and a lot of people don't realise that and it's a good thing that they know what's been going on during the week. You know “this guy's had a late fitness test but he's available” but what I don't want to do is alert the opposition to anybody with any problems but I'll give as much information as I can.
Q. Are you keen on supporter messageboards and do you read them yourself. (beeware)
A. I don't read them. I'm not keen on them but I don't use them. The people that use them love them but as long as they're used in an adult way as the problem with them is when they start abusing people and not just that but they abuse people's families and things like that – that's not right. But if they use them in a positive way and with positive discussion then it's always a good thing.
Q. What do you consider to be your three main attributes/strengths that you bring to the club as manager? (Beepositive)
A. Enthusiasm, optimism and experience.
Q. The previous manager didn't use the loan system very regularly. Do you intend to and if so, how would you persuade the many clubs local to us to lend us good quality youngsters? (Les Beeavinu)
A. I hope not to use the loan system at all if I'm honest. I hope to have a small squad and that throughout the season they don't get any injuries. But if need be then yes I'll be using the loan system
Q. I think the thinking behind the previous question is, say, can we use fringe players from Chelsea on season-long loans much like we had Pratley here from Fulham. (Edmundo)
A. I think the style of play is so important to bring in reserve Premier League players. A lot of Premier League clubs won't release players to clubs because they don't think the style of play will be of benefit to them. I think our style of play will be positive in that respect to get players down here on loan. A lot of people know what I'm about I obviously know a lot of people – Mick McGiven at Chelsea whom I've worked with before, I know Alan Pardew very well and obviously I know everyone at Fulham very well – so it's who you know as well and they know me and they know that they'll be playing the right style of football to benefit them and they'll be looked after as well.
Q. Brentford won £50,000 from Coca-Cola to go towards the playing squad. Any ideas on how you would spend it? (Les Beeavinu)
A. The Board haven't told me anything about it!
Q. What were the circumstances behind your decision to take time off during your reign at Torquay to "Get your head straight"? (Brentford Bob)
A. It wasn't to get my head straight. It was personal. It was an illness in the family – someone very close to me, so I took some days off. It's not something that I need to share with anybody else. So people can surmise what they want – whether it was to get my head straight or whether I was jumping off a cliff or whatever. But it was a serious illness in the family and I came to London for a few days to deal with it.
Q. Will we have a reserve team next season? (SQUELCH)
A. No
Q. Are you going to try and bring in younger hungrier players, rather than experienced pros on nearly £2k a week? (Ace Face)
A. I will be bringing in young players but there needs to be a balance with experienced players to help them as well. It's good to have players that have something to prove in the squad. It gives them an edge and the more experienced players can help the younger ones when they come across a sticky patch in a game. It's going to be a blend and that's what's so important. You won't be successful with just young, hungry players and you won't be successful with just experienced pros on 2 grand a week – you need a blend and that's what we aim for – to get the blend right.
Q. Who do you see as title challengers for the coming season and why? (SQUELCH)
A. The obvious ones and because they have money. Nottingham Forest – they certainly won't do what they did last year. Bristol City are spending a lot of money. Swansea are spending a lot of money. So they are the obvious three but I don't see why we can't be up there.
Q. What's more important, pretty football or results? (Luton Bee)
A. results
Q. What would you say to the 38% of GPG'ers that don't think you will make a good manager? (Ruislip Red)
A. I've got to convince them. Was it only 38%? I'm delighted!
Q. Do you regret stating that 'Brentford didn't deserve to be in the division' after you helped relegate us in '93? (Greenholme Bee)
A. No. It's true. If you get relegated then you don't deserve to be in that division. It's the same for every club that gets relegated, over the season the table doesn't lie. No matter what decisions have gone against you 99 times out of 100 the table doesn't lie.
Q. Will the training ground still be open to everyone to come and watch? (peza)
A. Yes
Q. What do you say to the suggestions that the players at Torquay weren't training properly? (oldgreenfordian)
A. That's rubbish.
Q. Do you think racism is still a big problem in English football? (Hamburger Hill)
A. No. It was a massive problem. It's still a problem but when I used to play I used to get bananas thrown at me and abuse thrown at me. It's still a problem, it's not gone 100% but it's a lot better than it was. Still got a way to go but the anti-racism scheme is just fantastic plus people in the crowds are not happy about hearing it and if someone does it you'll find that people in the crowd will say “that's out of order” - which is great. So it's going the right way but it doesn't affect me, even if someone does say something to me it's water off a duck's back because I am where I am and they're there.
Q. What are your views on defending corners, we have persistently worked on the basis of all 10 men defending which results, if and when we clear the ball, it comes straight back again. (christom - and several others)
A. There's not a straight answer to questions like this because it depends on what the situation is. I you're under the cosh and you're 2-1 up and there's 30 seconds to go you're going to bring everybody back. It depends on who you're playing against, the time during the game etc. Most times defending is the key to you're attacking so I would like to keep someone out so that we can play off them for a counter-attack so that's my view but if the situation calls for 10 men back then I will do it.
Q. Even though its unlikely that he will want to stay as he wants to move to a championship club, what do you know about Jay Tabb, and will you attempt to make him stay? (Holysmit)
A. He's quick, he's aggressive and when he gets on the ball he makes thing happen because he's sharp and when he comes inside and joins with the front players he's exciting and he's just one of those players that can make things happen. He can play left. He can play right. He can play in behind the front two at times. But people have spoken to Jay before I came to the club. I know the situation – he's said he wants to go to a Championship club and we've made him the best offer we can make him and I think that's not good enough for him. So if I'm honest I think Jay's gone. I think there's no doubt he's gone it's just a matter of which club he goes to. To be honest it's been totally out of my hands.
Q. Those players that were transfer-listed. Are they still transfer-listed? (Banana and others)
A. Yes – at this moment time they are. I've spoken to all the players on the phone and ones that are away I've left messages with because I want to get them in and see them face-to-face. You can't really talk to players over the phone about being on the transfer list. I want them to come in and be enthusiastic and I'll have a chat with them about their future when I see them.
Q. Are you going to talk to Martin Allen about what his views of the players are? (markbfc)
A. I'll talk to Martin Allen but I won't talk to him about Brentford Football Club
Q. Scott Fitzgerald – he's been a brilliant manager for the Youth Team last year. Any chance of him taking on a coaching role. (Adam)
A. Scott is part of the coaching team. We're going to have a flexible system there's no “first team coach” or “youth team coach” it's going to be flexible. I've read Scott's piece in the Hounslow Gazette a few days ago saying that he's ambitious and wants to become a first team coach and a manager and that's music to my ears because I want ambitious people around me and I'll give him every opportunity to start working with the first team and individuals and groups. Hopefully he'll feel he's being stretched and being developed. You need to have that in a club – you need the coaches to feel that they are developing and we're going to work together and I look forward to working with Scott. Everything I've heard about him, and I've spoke to quite a few people, says that he's a decent bloke, an honest bloke and he's got a lot of potential and I want him to achieve that at Brentford Football Club.
Q. Have you been down to the training ground yet? (Banana)
A. Yes
Q. Have you taken the bike off the wall? (Banana)
A. No!
(c) 2006 The Griffin Park Grapevine
