Press news in...

🏠 Big Phil in the house at Colney. Updates coming🟡🟢
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On Ali Ahmed: 'Paperwork is done. Clearance is there. But Ali played his last game in the first week of December. He has a four week break. It's like the end of the season and you have a break. Players lose something in that period and you need to start again. You don't put them in the the team that early. He won't be in selection tomorrow but could be in the weeks ahead.'

Diallo: 'After three training sessions, you don't put him in a game. I've liked what I've seen already. They are two very similar types that can add something different to the team.'

PC: 'Gabe (Forsyth) is not yet where Papa is. It's still a programme where in moments he trains with the group and other times he is in the gym. He needs more time to come back.'

On Forsyth: 'We need to build his load. He gets this through training - high intensity sprints, accelerations and decelerations. We've seen a big step in the team with this but it has to be step by step. If you go too fast then you can get re-injuries. We have to be patient.'

PC: 'I like to work with young players. We have a really young squad. We have a review after every 10 days with the data, also with the data team of the owners. We have the youngest squad in the Championship by some distance.'

On Sargent and Kenny: 'They not in the training session (that was filmed), there is nothing to worry about. With Kenny, we have to watch out. No decision made yet if he will be in the selection. He will be available next week if not. Sarge is okay.'

Forson: 'He is with the physios. Progressing as we expected but not ready yet.'

Balancing the squad tomorrow: 'People don't need a breather. We had a week where some could recover and train. It's more that I'm just in the building and some players I haven't seen yet or enough in a game. It's also different than in a training session. I need to think about what is the best moment to let them play. I have more difficult decisions to make than I did in the last game. We had 23 players available for the whole week of training. There are more choices to make for the short-term but also the longer-term. I want to see more players that I haven't seen yet.'

Ahmed signing: 'We liked a lot of things. Speed. Technical ability. Really good running stats. He is someone who can make the difference in the final third. He makes a lot of assists but needs to score more goals. We have more targets for him. The most important thing was his desire. We felt a lot of ambition to come here. He picked this project over clubs who offered more money or were higher in the league. That is the sort of player that I like. He's going to have a really good future here.'

PC on Ahmed: 'He can play on both sides. He does his defensive work which is something I like. This is a different league and I think he will help us play the football we want.'

Done with wingers: 'That is a good question. I will not talk about positions but we need more and everyone is working really hard.' (Happy to wait for players?): 'This is the game of the casino. It's a really complicated window always. Especially getting players in who are fit enough to play. Sometimes you have to make decisions for the long-term - there could be a player who is available because they haven't been playing for their team but aren't fit enough now. I hope we have some choices. The recruitment team are working hard. We will see what happens in the next few weeks.'

League table an issue?: 'Every detail makes a difference. If you are lower in the league, then some players will decide to go higher in the league rather than a team in a relegation zone. So we have to sell it to them better. It's easier to get players in if you are top of the league.'

Loan market an option?: 'I'm not a favourite of several loans. Then you need to restart the story every six months. We don't have a squad like that at the moment. I prefer permanent signings, because then you're not working for someone else or developing a player for another team. It could be in this window that a player is stronger that can be here for six months to help the club compared to another who can be permanent but has less quality. Those are choices we need to make together.'

Clement on the FA Cup: 'I've watched Match of the Day since I was a small boy. The FA Cup is something really special. You don't have any league in the world that has this amount of importance on a cup. It is a very important game and a lot of teams made special memories in the FA Cup. Yesterday, the people in Wrexham made a special memory. Over lunch, I was watching a team lead Crystal Palace. That's what we want to do. I hate if players or staff members think one game is less than another - then you don't have a winning culture. I want players who want to win everything.'

On Walsall: 'We have good analysts and watch a lot of games. The staff give a lot of info and we do a lot of work as well. It's the same when you are in Europe, you learn the opponents by watching them. The thing is whether they are going to play their normal style of football. But it's about us. We want to play our normal football.'

Ready for intensity: 'It's a massive game. My players need to understand that. The staff need to understand that. The fans need to understand that to push the players as they do in the normal games. I had the luck in Belgium to win a few a few cups and along the way we had some tough games against lower league teams, you need the fans. I know how difficult these games can be, but if you come through them then you can create special games in the future.'

Extra time and pens: 'I have penalty takers in my mind. I discussed it with staff. I don't believe the day before the game to give players penalties because I give the impression that we can't do it in the normal time. Penalties will be in our usual practice when we get more time. We made a list already.'

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🤝 That's it from Philippe. The FA Cup campaign begins tomorrow!

Posted By: DrDublin on January 10th 2026 at 14:41:54

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