Transcript of Bould's Press Conference Ahead Of Stoke Clash

Steve Bould faced the media ahead of Arsenal's game against Stoke City because Wenger wasn't feeling well. Below is his transcript with the text of the interviewers in bold while Bould's response is in plain text. Enjoy

For us or them? Well, I think Jack has trained. Jack trained yesterday, so he’s okay, everybody else has come back as far as we’re aware. We will find out a little bit more actually this morning, but Jack was okay yesterday.

So, Alex Lacazette likely to be involved this week?
That I'm not—I don’t know that. He trained yesterday. Whether he will be involved in the weekend you know, I'm not entirely sure.

 

Just looking at it generally, you’ve got Europa League next week, it will be good to get him some match training inside of that
Of course, yeah. You know, as much training, as match time as we can get him, but I'm not entirely sure so I cant give you an answer, sorry.

Yeah, and just with him, with Pierre Aubumeyang as well, Danny Welbeck in some form in AC Milan as well, looks like some competition up front for the Arsenal team.
Yeah, it’s pretty tough, good players all training wanting to play. So, it’s great tough competition.

I see. There were reports about issues with England with regards to the treatment of Jack Wilshere. Was there any issue?
Not that I'm aware of. I don’t know where the issues or reports are coming from to be absolutely honest with you, but you know Jack, he had a bit of a knee problem I think but he has come back and he’s fine so as far as I'm aware, there's no issue.

The best chance of qualifying for the next seasons Champions League appears to be via the Europa League given the gap you’ve got to fourth. Do you think that will affect in the team selection Arsene has for the remaining premier league games?
I don’t think so. I think we’ll be playing our best team the best times to suite and you know, we need to win games. We want to win games so, we’ll be as strong as we can and I think at most times.

You sit next to the boss every game. Can you just give us an insight into his mentality at the moment? Given the amount of criticism he has been under over the last season and a half or so.
I admire him immensely you know. It’s unbelievable to shake off an awful lot of people, and he’s just one of the great managers you know? It’s a pleasure for me to sit next to him.

See this and correct me if I'm mistaken, he’s done an interview in the past couple of weeks talking about some of the criticism could border on age discrimination, but he also says that he will accept criticism if it was about results. Do you think he’s being treated fairly?
Yes, I'm not here to answer them kind of questions you know. I think I'm sitting in for Arsene for the Stoke game. I would much prefer you concentrate on the football if possible.

 

But you understand that it’s all connected isn’t it?
Well, I understand that you know, he’s doing a great job as far as I'm concerned. He’s done a great job for an awful long time.

Is this the bit when you can give us that exclusive that you’ll be here next season?
Yes of course, yeah, yeah. I’d love to.

You can if you wanted.
I’d love to, yes.

Just on Stoke, how tough a match are you expecting from them?
They're all tough games. I mean, it’s an old cliché, but we’re playing every team in this division now is very, very strong, they need points you know, we need points. It’s a tough game.

It’s a different stoke city from the one you played at the Britannia Stadium under Mark Hughes and now under Paul Lambert. What differences are you expecting?
Well, I'm not sure how different it is and we’re not sure if you know he will play Crouch, whether Peter Crouch would come in and give us a problem. So, you know, they’ve got good players all through the squad and see every squad in every team now is strong, so it’s a tough game.

This final one from me. How much of an eye have you guys got on the Europa League game?
At this present moment honestly, not an awful great deal. We’re concentrating on Sunday. It’s a big game for us, we need a result.     

Thank you. Is there a genuine belief you can still get in the top four or is it all about the Europa League?
It’s top 4. I think the manager has said it’s top 4. Of course it’s top 4. We’re not stupid, but you know, you never know, winning games is much better than you know if we’re going to win the Europa League final, to win games now is better for us. So, the more games we can win, the better the season becomes and what happens in the end is what happens. So, it’s…

Yeah, I mean he used to talk before about how United were last season when it got to around this stage and started prioritizing it over the league. Do you feel you’ve got to that point yet or not?
I'm not sure we have, no. As far as I'm concerned, it’s a big game for us on Sunday you know, we could do with a win. We need to pick up, we need to play well, we need to you know, get players fit again, get a full squad and see where we go from there.

 

I know you said you don’t want to talk about Arsene too much, but just one. Do you sense his hunger is still…?
Absolutely. He’s remarkable. You know behind closed doors, I've never met anybody who’s as hungry and determined to win football games.

Do you still think it’s as big as it ever was?
It’s as big as I've ever seen, yes for sure.