an interview with left wing-back murray fishlock
31 August 1998: Martin Baker (aka Badger) conducted this interview with Murray Fishlock after the Bank Holiday win over Kidderminster Harriers (31/8/1998).
An edited verson appeared in the match programme for the home league game against Rushden & Diamonds, 5th September 1998. |
The new formation seems to be suiting our style a lot better than earlier games, what problems do you think it has solved?
I think we've probably been a lot more solid at the back. We've not gone gallivanting forward and leaving space at the back.
When we played Kingstonian, we had a lot of the play and got caught by two breakaways from which they scored two goals. We'd let five goals in at home in two games, and we'd said to ourselves that we needed to get more solid at the back and start from there, and that's exactly what we've done.
Do you see this as a temporary formation that we're going to keep until, say, Owen gets back, or do you think it might continue long term?
I don't know.
Colin is one of these "thinking" managers, he'll play formations against teams to suit us. If he plays against a team for which he feels a certain different formation will be better against them, then that's what he will do.
It was quite a surprise for supporters attending the Hayes game to see this new tactic, how much notice did you have of that?
Colin had a good chat individually with each player. He came and spoke with me personally as well, and he told us how he wanted us to play, and asked us if we were happy with that, which I see as a good thing. We all understood what he was asking us to do, and we didn't see it as a problem, and it's been working well.
Going back to the summer, there were a lot of rumours connecting you with Yeovil, almost as the season ended, how did the move come about?
Colin contacted me as I was free to go under the Bosman Ruling. He asked me if I was interested in coming down, and so I came down and had a chat, and I was really impressed with the set-up, the people here treated me really well, and I thought this is a really well run club, and he persuaded me to come.
Were you aware of Jamie Pitman's involvement at that stage?
No, not at the time, because Jamie wasn't free to go under the Bosman Ruling. I know he was in debate with Hereford about his contract, and so at the time I didn't know.
How different was the position you were playing at Hereford?
Last year I was playing left-back in a 4-4-2 all season. But I'm more used to playing as a wing-back, like we are here. But I can play basically anywhere along the left: left-back, left-wing-back or left-wing.
As Steve Thompson, our coach always tells us, we should be used to playing in any position really, and that's true. Nowadays, you've got to get used to playing in different positions, because managers like to change formations depending on what kind of team they are playing.
Did you find it reasonably easy to settle into the side?
Yes, it was one of the first things that I found when I arrived here. I knew Tony Pounder really well from Hereford, and the other players and the people involved in Yeovil Town are really nice people and they made it very easy for me to settle in. And the team spirit is second to none, which obviously that makes it a lot easier when you're coming into a new team.
Did you know Tony Pennock?
Yes, I knew Tony as well, from when he was at Hereford, and I knew Dean Birkby, because I was at Gloucester with him. So that made it a bit easier knowing a few people, but everybody just made me feel really welcome here.
Hereford lost something in the region of seven or eight players over the summer. Do you think they are going to be able to challenge this season, or do you think that's too many changes that they've been forced to make?
I don't really know, I know he's brought in some new players, but whether they are as good as the players who have left, only this season will tell. They had a lot of money problems last season, but the manager's now taken over as chairman as well, and he'll be slowly trying to put things right, and this season well tell whether he is on the right tracks or not.
Finally, we have a big game coming up against Rushden, do you try and approach a game like that differently, or will you just go out and try and do the same as we did today against Kidderminster?
Obviously, we've got to respect them because they are top of the league and they've won every game. But you don't want to concentrate too much on the other team, you've got to look at your own strengths, and the way we've been playing over the past few games, I've got every confidence that we can go out and beat them.
The pressure is all on them. They've won every game, they've spent a lot of money and everyone is expecting them to win, but I think if we can play like we did today, we're as good as any team in this league, if we apply ourselves properly.
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