Brian Barry-Murphy spoke to the press to preview Saturday’s Sky Bet League One opener against Peterborough United (12:30pm kick-off).
“The atmosphere this week has been incredible.” Brian began. “The game on Saturday at Notts County, to see the amount of supporters we took to that game took me back a little bit. Then the Family Fun Day was noisy, full of really positive energy, and led us into the week perfectly well. You have to go through all of those feelings of excitement and anticipation, with the understanding that at the end of the week there is actually a game where you have to play, compete and try to win.
“I’ve used the supporters as an example for the players – there’s not been one reference to last season, everything has been about this season, the games coming up and what they hope to achieve, in terms of what they want to see. That’s very much my mindset; looking forward and seeing the opportunity that’s there in front of us.”
With City fans eager to watch the Bluebirds in action for the first time this season, Brian went on to describe his style of play to the assembled media.
“There’s a lot of things that I look for, in terms of key indicators that we’re playing in the way that we want to be. That’s the most important thing, and the thing we’ve trained daily since I came into the Club. There are different levels of performance that you can achieve based on how often those things are seen, and the challenge for us is to produce as many of them as possible on Saturday, and that gives us the best chance of winning.
“I’m conveying a message to the supporters that I want them to be excited by what they see, and I guess how much excitement they see will be based on how well we play. But I think if they see a team that is intent on attacking as much as possible and trying to create as much goalmouth action as possible, I think it will be pretty straightforward.
“We can’t guarantee that we’re going to win the game, but we can guarantee what we look like, in terms of how aggressive we are and much how personality we show in the performance. From there, we have players who definitely can do that. The individual capabilities of our team are evident; bringing it together in a team concept is the most important challenge that we face, because it’s not been a long period of being together, but the players have shown a brilliant attitude and an open-mindedness to everything we’ve suggested. I’ve been really pleased.”
The Posh travel to South Wales after an 18th-place finish in League One last term, and the City boss concluded with a look towards Saturday’s lunchtime clash.
“Our expectations are to be really competitive. We expect to be at the top of the table – our supporters do, and we understand that it’s going to take a lot of hard work, and a lot of bumps. For the players, it’s step by step, and the first part of that is Saturday, when we have a really competitive game against a really good team.
“Peterborough have their own very young, very dynamic team. Darren [Ferguson] has been through different cycles there where he has built promotion-winning teams, so he knows what he’s doing at this level. This season they’ll be a lot stronger, they have a lot of individual players who are exciting to watch, with clear strengths. For us, it’s a really high-level test, but we’re focused on giving ourselves the best opportunity to win. We have a clear idea of what that looks like.
“The excitement is building. That passion for the Club has been evident from the very first day I came in, and it’s everywhere in the city. That excitement from the supporters is evident, and we want to give them something that fuels that excitement for the weeks ahead. Saturday is a big game, and a big day for us all.”