UWE LOOKING TO ‘MOVE ON’
Boss looking forward not back
Brentford Manager Uwe Rösler said his side must be focussed on their upcoming games rather than looking back at recent wins.
Uwe was understandably pleased with seven points from three games against fellow promotion contenders Preston North End, Swindon Town and Sheffield United but said the upcoming FA Cup with Budweiser Second Round tie against Bradford City is another important game in Brentford’s season.
“I think we have to move on from the past,” said Uwe, speaking to Bees Player yesterday.
“Last week is done and we got a lot of praise for it and I am now just preparing for Bradford and that is all I am thinking about.
“It is a very important game.
“We cannot keep looking back we have to look forward as we have a lot of big stones to get out of our way and one of them is Bradford.”
Uwe said he was under no illusions about the task that faced his Brentford side at Bradford.
The Bantams are sixth in League Two and have yet to lose a game in any cup competition this season, but Uwe says that he has a few plans to ensure that it is The Bees who enter the Third Round Draw on Sunday.
Uwe also underlined the financial importance of a good cup run as a way of generating extra revenue for player signings.
He said: “Bradford will be very difficult to play against.
“They have had a very good cup run in the Capital One Cup and it is no co-incidence that they have reached the Quarter-Finals.
“They are good in penalty shoot-outs but we have two good keepers who do well in penalty situations so I think it will be a tough, tough game.
“We may want to surprise Bradford with one or two things.
“We have options in certain areas and I am looking forward to it.
“I really want to get into the Third Round of the FA Cup because I know financially that gives us the opportunity to bring in one or two players later on in the season.
“Last season Stevenage were able to get two Premier League strikers in on loan for the last six weeks of the season thanks to their cup run and that ensured they ended up in the Play-Offs.
“I am working intensely now to make sure that we go out with the same attitude, intensity and desire against Bradford in order to win it.
“There is not much difference between League One and League Two and in the game against Boreham Wood we could have been 2-0 down within 15 minutes and I wouldn’t like to think what would have happened if Richard Lee hadn’t made those two great saves.
“The margins are very thin and at the moment the margins are on our side because I believe we have worked hard and have been very focussed for a long time.
“We have to work to maintain this momentum.”
Uwe praised the performance of Simon Moore after the goalkeeper kept a clean sheet against Sheffield United on Saturday.
The 22-year-old made several crucial saves on his way to a sixth clean sheet of the season and Uwe said Simon is beginning to mature into a fine young keeper.
“Simon is becoming a very good educated goalkeeper and I think the first save on Saturday was very important for him,” said Uwe.
“It gave him a lot of confidence.
“We didn’t play out from the back as much as we normally do because we wanted to address the game slightly differently and I think that suited him because he didn’t have to make too many decisions on the ball.
“He could concentrate actually on his goalkeeping and he was very good.
“He made some amazing saves in the second half.”
Uwe also praised the Brentford fans for their support on Saturday, and added he hoped the fans would continue to support The Bees in such numbers.
“Saturday was the best atmosphere I had experienced at Griffin Park,” said Uwe.
“The team deserved that support from the crowd and it was fantastic how the crowd stayed out after the final whistle to clap off the players and I hope we have more days like this.”
Bees Player subscribers can see a full video interview with Uwe here.