Blackpool boss reflects on awards night

Blackpool Gazette

Steve Bruce shares his thoughts on Blackpool's end of season awards.

Transcript

00:00In football and in life, it's always good to see good people getting the awards.

00:04Is that the case of Ashley Fletcher last night?

00:07Yeah, I mean, great for Fletcher because he hasn't had the best of times over the last two,

00:11three years, has he? We all know he had talent and we all wanted to come out and it just shows you

00:19what a little bit of hard work does for him, a little bit of resilience, a bit of a mindset

00:24from him, a change from him and all that hard work has obviously paid off and you've seen him

00:31now flourish in the last two, three, four months because basically he's done the basics well which

00:36is to make sure that he's competing well enough and some people need a stick and an arm around

00:44the shoulder and as I've just said, he needs a bit of everything and I'm so pleased he's

00:51worked ever so hard to go and get that last night, just shows you that everything's possible.

00:59When we spoke to him after he was very humble, he was very grateful, does that kind of sum up

01:02the kind of character in you?

01:04Yeah, he's a really, really sort of introverted, he's not a big and noisy lad who runs and shouts about.

01:11Look, ever since he was a kid, he's always had the talent, we know that, but in football,

01:16talent isn't enough on its own, you have to do the basics well and I just think he had got himself

01:23into a dark place which football can, you're not playing well, you're not on the team and thankfully

01:30though, at the right time, I gave him the weekend off and said, look, let's start again and have a reset

01:36and so what he did, fair play to him, all applauded should be towards him because his

01:42attitude changed within 48 hours.

01:45You did say last night, expected Oli Casey to be stepping up for that award, but obviously

01:49you've got the players player, how much does that mean to be recognised by your colleagues?

01:53Yeah, yeah, the players player is always something that you're going to cherish and I think Fletcher

01:59was humble enough to think that he thought and I thought and I think everybody else thought

02:04that Oli would be the one, he's been really, really, since I've walked through the door,

02:08I don't think he's come out the team, he's improved enormously, really good type, really

02:14good defender, his first real breakthrough season really where he's played consistently, well done

02:20to him, he's got a lot of improvement to do still and I think there's a lot in the locker,

02:25but very quietly he's become a very, very integral part of the team.

02:28Obviously he was on the books at Leeds United and he left to get more game time, are you

02:34surprised that they couldn't maybe see what he could grow into as a defender?

02:38Yeah, yeah, look we all need breaks and there's times when you need to, you know, maybe drop

02:43down a level to go and prove yourself, but there's no doubt at all that you only become a real player

02:49when you start playing week in and week out and if you're on the fringes anywhere, it doesn't

02:53matter whether you're Leeds or Barcelona or wherever you are, you know, if you're not

02:59playing regular week in and week out in a team, then it becomes difficult.

03:03His defensive colleague Elkin Baggett got recognised as well, community champion.

03:07It doesn't surprise me that he goes to the food bank every Tuesday to help serve the people.

03:13He's a smashing lad and a smashing pro. Unfortunately, with the injuries he's had, it hasn't gone so

03:20well as what everybody would hoped with Elkin, but there's no doubt at all in my mind, he's going to

03:25go on to be a very, very, very, very decent defender. I have to say as well, as a human being and as

03:33a professional, if I show you the charts of what in the gym, he's, wins everything. And as I said,

03:41underneath it all that, he's, he's got a fantastic humans fight to him.

03:46I know you said a few weeks ago you'd be open to having him back if you could in the future.

03:51So is that human side and that work rate?

03:53Yeah, yeah, all of that, all of that. We've got now five long players and how well they've

03:58all done. Adele, the goalkeeper from where they were when they started, hasn't gone so well with

04:03Egan. We've seen flashes with Sammy. And of course, Niall had a wonderful run when he first joined us.

04:09So all of them have played their part in one way or another. We have to be respectful that obviously they're

04:15on loan with us. Clubs own them. Let's see what they're going to do with them and see what we can do.

04:22Sticking with the awards last night, obviously goal of the season, Tom blocks them.

04:26So it just had to be, didn't it, that footwork, that excitement?

04:30Well, I think Rob Abter had a little bit of a huff on. And certainly if I was Ryan Finnegan,

04:36Ryan Finnegan's goal at Harrogate was for me, for me, when we had an awful night at Harrogate that night,

04:44and that was the bright spark, a great volley. And what about Sonny Carey's at Gillingham as well

04:50in the FA Cup? That was a hell of a goal too. So I think some of the supporters have forgot that,

04:55but it wasn't surprised me. Blocko had some sort of game that day, didn't he? And he ripped exit at

05:02the bits. James Husband also collected a shirt for his 200th appearance. And when he spoke,

05:08he said he's expecting a thoroughly enjoyable season next year. You said yourself there's

05:12hopefully going to be reasons to be excited. So do you believe it's going to be an exciting

05:1612 months of a club? Look, anybody associated with Blackpool, we want to be up and around,

05:21and I'm jealous of them ones who are going to be fighting for the playoffs. That's where we've got it to

05:26go. That's what we've got to aim for. We've been much better since, I believe, since January. We've

05:31made some big calls in January. And of course, it's going to be a big summer of turnaround again.

05:37Can we get them in? Can we get them settled? Can we get a new squad together, which is going to

05:41mount a challenge where we all want to be? You say there's 200 names placed on your desk,

05:47so that's going to keep you busy over the next few weeks? I've got hundreds of names.

05:50Yeah, they've got hundreds of them. Hundreds of names are going to keep me busy. But yeah,

05:55that's what it is. That's what we're here for.

05:58You need something to keep you occupied in the summer.

06:00We'll have to have something, that's for sure. Yep.

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