With Gerrard once again admitting that Sanson is still not 100 per cent ahead of Palace, the boss’s man-management was at its brilliant best as he explained just why Sanson is being kept amongst the squad. On promoting Sanson to the bench last week, in a bid to boost his morale,
Steven Gerrard said: “I think the decision on Morgan last week was more for him. I think he’d had a tough time, a frustrating time, so I wanted to put him in to make him feel good, I wanted him to feel part of it and, also, it was a fresh start for him knowing he’d put in two real strong training performances. He’s backed that up this week and he’s built on that. Morgan is probably slightly disadvantaged than the rest, though, because he hasn’t played much. We haven’t had a chance to see him much. We competed against Morgan in a pre-season friendly up at Rangers vs Marseille so we’re certainly aware of his quality and his talent. I’ve sat down with Morgan face-to-face and said let’s get you upto speed from a physical and mental point of view the best way we can so you’re ready and there will be opportunities for him. We certainly know his quality. We know he can help us and it’s very much a clean slate for him and everyone else as well.”
Elsewhere, Gerrard was asked about the possibility of getting to know his squad even more with a Christmas party. Remaining hard-nosed and focused on the job at hand, the ex-Rangers man was in no mood to discuss a festive knees up with winning football matches his sole priority.
Steven Gerrard said: “There’s more important things to focus on than social. Of course, we want to have the best team spirit and we want to be as close as we can and we want to build relationships on and off the pitch. I’ll be honest with you, social events aren’t a priority at the moment, winning games and getting points on the board and moving the team up the table are the only things I’m focused on right now.”
A lot has also been made of what many have described as Gerrard’s strict methods, from earlier training times to the banning of hot chocolate amongst other things. When asked about how the players have reacted to the vast amount of changes,
Steven Gerrard said: “We haven’t come in and turned the place upside down. There’s been a lot of good work here prior, a lot of good staff. They are the things you keep bubbling along but we tweak and change certain things and put our own stamp on things, of course we do. But we listen, as a staff we don’t come in and say it’s this way or it’s that way or it’s the highway. It’s a case of talking, getting people’s ideas and opinions and really talking things through. We are very approachable. The key thing here is to always do the best thing for the club and the fans. That will lead to more consistent results. That’s all that we do in terms of decision making. It’s all about does it suit the team? Does it suit the club and will it help us get better results? They’re the decisions I make on a daily basis.”
