"If Neville wasn't in agreement, I wouldn't be here today"

Meeting with Peter Lim: "I had a very agreeable meeting with Peter Lim. I encountered a club owner who is utterly clear that this is not a short-term project, someone who has the determination to be here for a long duration of time,; maybe the club doesn't have the adequate culture or infraestructure to be where it deserves to be but that will change. With everyone's help, we will try to start changing things. He is very upbeat and although he is a long distance away, now we have García Pitarch, who will be the club's reference together with Layhoon and Kim. The sentiment at the club right now is not what it should be and changing that depends on people. We all have to increase demands, the excitement to push this forward has to come from us". 

Conversation with Gary Neville: “When the possibility of taking on the job was first mentioned to me, one of the conditions was that Gary was in agreement. I spoke to him and he told me that it was a clear choice and he gave my signing his approval. When I was told that I had to go to Singapore, I told them not to book my flight until I had spoken with Gary first".

Chances of continuing in the job next season: “I'm not looking any further than tomorrow. In football, the future doesn't exist. If I am here today, it's because I did somethging in the past but I have to focus on the present. I've told the players not to think about Saturday's game - only on what we can do today. There are a few days in the fixtures list which you can do nothing about, one of them is yesterday, and the other is tomorrow”.

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"When I was offered the job, Gary had to give the go-ahead, if Gary hadn't been in agreement, I wouldn't be sat here right now. My values on football come first and I have to see that reflected in my technical staff. I need to be able to share my philosophy on the game and life values. I'm very fortunate in that I am able to do just that with two people who will be working with me in the coaching team - [David] Caneda and [José] Viela. It makes no sense to completely alter positions. Angulo was the second coach and [Jordi] Sorlí, the fitness trainer. I didn't want a big technical team, and nor did the club. Having too many opinions for the seven weeks which remain would be dangerous. Phil's case is different. He's the assistant and he has a long-term contract with the club".