Mike Dodds' every word ahead of Southampton vs Sunderland

Mike, firstly the news that Southampton's game was off last night probably wasn't what you wanted to hear. Small things going against you?

Yeah, and it feels like there are a lot of small things going against me and us at the moment. But as I said from the outset, you've got to control all the controllables and focus on us. So yeah a little bit of, not feeling sorry for ourselves, but someone give us a break here. Listen, we focus on us and control the controllables.

READ MORE: Mike Dodds encouraged despite Sunderland's Leicester defeat

You can't shy away from five defeats, you need a result from somewhere?

That bit isn't lost on me. The things that I feel bits of positivity around is the players are trying to execute what we've asked of them. I thought there was chunks of the game the other night which were largely positive. As I said, we're in a moment at the moment where we've got some really tough fixtures and we've got some key players not available and we've got to come through it. We've got to stick together. I think the group are in a good place in terms of as good as they can be.

It's not lost on them either that we've lost five. We have addressed that and discussed that but on the flip side, we've got to look at a lot of the positives, not just for 45 minutes but I think for 60 minutes when I watched the game back, there was a spell in the first-half where we were better than I thought we were. We've got to take the positives from the other night and know we've got another big game this weekend and have the same mindset and approach for the game at the weekend.

To put it in perspective, Southampton have Brooks, Armstrong and Adams across the front and you've got Burstow, Hemir and Rusyn. It's harsh but the cold fact?

Yeah, as I said you've got to control the controllables. I believe in the players. I believe in the group. The team that was out the other night was the team. You could have the same comparison to the Leicester team and they had one shot at goal in the second-half, none on target and we completely dominated 45 minutes worth of football. So they can do it, I've got full belief in them. I've got full belief in the group. As I said I feel we're just one result away from the whole thing flipping on it's head. It's easier said than done and what the league is proving is that it's a really tough league. We've got to dig in, stick together and I'm seeing a lot of positives from the group so there's no major worries or anxiety from my perspective. Regardless of who we play, Southampton or anyone else, we know it's going to be a tough game, it's the Championship.

Do you feel you're caught between a rock and a hard place? It's not your fault Michael Beale left, you would have never expected to be in this position with the wheels falling off left, right and centre?

I said this previously. The cards are definitely different from the last time I took the team. Just in terms of personnel. The cards are very much different but as I've eluded to a few times, it's something that I want to do in the future and I'm really conscious when I answer this. This isn't the Mike Dodds development programme. This is Sunderland Football Club and we've got to win games of football. From a personal perspective, I've got to come through this moment and I've got to show myself and the people that it's not always going to be Disney World. The reality is there's going to be other coaches and other clubs, probably earlier in the season that have had these moments in a season. They've come through them.

Whether I feel sorry for myself or not - I don't feel sorry for myself but it's happening on my watch. A tough run of fixtures and we've got some key members of the team that are out. I go back to my original point. I've got to control the controllables. I've got to trust my processes. I don't think the games, although the results are not the results we want, I don't think there's been a game, apart from maybe 30 minutes of the first-half against Swansea, I think the games have been really tight. There's been fine margins in the Norwich game and the Leicester game. We've got to turn those fine margins in our favour and if we do, we get one result, I do feel the momentum will shift quite dramatically. We've got to get the result and that's the bit that's not lost on me.

From the outside it's five L's in that column, do you feel that within football people know what you're having to deal with?

Yeah, you're always going to get different lenses in terms of people looking at it from different perspectives. You get your Sunderland supporters where all the care about is the L or the W, which would be the same at every other club. You get some supporters who will be a little bit more balanced and see it for what it is. You have press who will sit in that arena that will understand for what it is. 

I'm semi-relaxed around what it is. I'm not relaxed in terms of it's three defeats and it's my name above the door. I don't want to lose any game of football let alone three on the bounce but I'm also taking a level of comfort that the players are working, the players are listening to the messages. The players are onboard with what we're trying to do and when we do get some of the key members of our team and our squad back, there will be a better reflection of Mike Dodds as a coach. That being said, I go back to the other night I thought we were excellent.

We were up against the best team in the league so the current group can do it. There was pockets in the Norwich game which I really liked. This isn't about Mike Dodds. I understand the question. I understand that I have to have one eye on what I want to achieve but I think anyone that sits and analyses will see that I've had a hand played which is hard to manage at the moment. I'm quietly confident that things will improve.

Southampton, they do seem to concede goals which could be to your advantage?

Any team we play in this league, they'll have their own strengths and weaknesses. Southampton will be no different. I think Russell Martin has got a real clear identity in terms of how he wants to play. He's had that at all the clubs he's been at and I've got a huge amount of respect for him for that. He won't change or waiver from his beliefs. We know what we're going to come up against. I think the difficulty you have in game is that you have so much quality and individual quality, you can set your teams up to play however you feel is the best to nullify that. It was similar to Leicester, I've watched the game back twice and the first 15 minutes or so, when I watched it back, I've just got to give Leicester credit.

I looked at it from a purely tactical perspective, there wasn't a huge amount I disliked. I just thought they were really good and they started the game really well. I thought there was a couple of passes that they made that were Premier League quality passes that just sliced us open. That's the quality that you come up against and it'll be the same for Southampton. I know the players will be 100 per cent up for the game. I know they'll execute what I ask them to do. It's whether they can win their individual duels and do the bits that they need to do to get a positive result. That is on them. We speak a lot in the group around what's on me as a coach, what is on us as a collective and also what is on you [the players]. We break it down into those three areas. I think the weekend is going to be really important in terms of them individually and what is on them. They've got to execute their bit.

St Mary's is a ground where you've not done so bad. Sometimes clubs just have ground where you historically do well?

Well I'm hoping so. We played against a really good team on Tuesday and we were fearless. We were fearless for probably around 75 per cent of the game and I think when I took the responsibility of this position, I said I felt we needed a team that was representative of the city and the fans. One of the things I've said to the group is that they've set a standard now and set a precedent in how we should look. I hope that is the mantle going forward. It's taken us a game or two to get back to that intensity but I take huge positives from what I've seen - not the result, but what I've seen in terms of their application. Whether it be Southampton away or Leicester at home, we've got to be Sunderland. That's something that we won't change.

Luke O'Nien picked up his 10th yellow card in the defeat to Leicester City and will miss the trip to Southampton. (Image: Ian Horrocks)

Luke O'Nien is suspended but will he travel with you?

Yeah. He spoke to me this morning and he wants to travel. He wants to be around the group which is obviously for me as a coach, it's something that I don't undervalue. I think it's really important that we have someone of his character round the group. He's still fully committed as we all are, they believe in what we're doing. I think if they didn't believe in what we're doing, you wouldn't get the level of commitment that they showed on Tuesday night. The group generally is in an okay spot, all things considering. We've got to go to the game on Saturday and be as fearless as we were on Tuesday. 

Do you take some comfort in the 5-0 win over Southampton earlier in the season, Chris Rigg scoring his first goal?

Yeah. I referenced Disney World earlier and that was a Disney World day. That doesn't happen very often. They'll be using that as fuel for them because they'll want revenge for that day I'm sure of it. we'll be aware of that. We've got to do what we do. We've got to concentrate on us. At the moment results aren't going the way we want them to go and the only way to correct that is us focussing on us. Regardless of what happened in the previous game, that'll have no baring from my perspective in terms of what happens on Saturday.

Are any players nearing a return?

Bradley Dack is training with the group but he's probably going to be a few more weeks. He's probably after the international group. Corry is training with the group but as I said last time, he's been out for over a year so I think we need to be patient with where we are with Corry. Aji is on the grass, he's part-training, he's running so he's not a million miles away. Pat and Jack currently aren't on the grass. We're still waiting on them.

Is Corry still set to play for the U21s?

Corry rolled his ankle this morning, it’s nothing major. There was a discussion about him playing or not playing but they just feel they are going to give him a couple of days. Corry isn’t playing on Monday but it’s more of a precaution than anything based on the fact he has been out for a period of time. Bradley Dack is playing on Monday.

Ross Stewart not someone you're going to come up against, in hindsight a good deal for the club but how do you feel for him?

I've got a lot of love and respect for Ross. Not only was he a very good footballer for this football club, he's a great lad. He turned up every day with a smile on his face. He worked really hard and I'll be honest, I'm absolutely gutted and devastated for him. If he's listening to this, I say this respectfully, I'm not gutted or desperate that he's missing this weekend. But I know how much he'll be hurting right now. He wants to play football and he's probably had a year or so of not being in a great place. I do really wish him all the best and hope he's back on the grass and playing as soon as possible. Just not this weekend. I've got nothing but good things to say about Ross.

Chris Rigg, how keen are you to get that first contract signed?

Yeah. That's out of my remit if that's the right phrase to use. One thing I'll say is I've got a good relationship with Riggy. He knows that I've worked with a lot of good young players previously. We have a relationship where we can be honest with each other and he deserves his opportunity the other night. He trains really, really well. I thought regardless of his age, forget his age, just his general performance was of a really high standard. As I said previously, I think Sunderland fans should be really excited about him but I feel there has to be a level of respect or understanding that he's still a baby. We've got to manage him properly. If we do that and he does his bits in terms of keeping his feet on the ground and realising that he's got a huge amount to work on, we've got potentially a very good footballer.

Tactically in the 5-0 win [over Southampton], it was like Sunderland leveraged how Southampton played against them a bit, is that something you can learn from?

Yeah. Whenever we prepare for a game we always watch the previous game. That's the first thing we'll always do. We'll watch their previous games in terms of how they've set up but then when other teams have done really well against them. We'll watch lots of games when we're coming up with a plan to play against a really good team. I think I've proven in the past and I'll continue to do it, we played a certain way against Norwich, we played a completely different way the other night. We'll set the team up what we feel is the best way to win the game.

Regardless of the previous game, which was a long, long time ago, they would have had a lot of time from when that game was to now, to enhance what they're trying to do. I remember speaking to their staff after the game and they were going through a little bit of a spell themselves at the time. Their staff were saying 'this result will be the best thing for us as a group and as a collective.'

I think they went on a 20 plus unbeaten run after they played us so sometimes a little bit of adversity, although people don't want to go through it, is a really positive thing for the long-term plan of the season. In a real strange way, that defeat probably helped them to propel and reassess where they are as a group. They've definitely improved. The manager has definitely imprinted his style on them and they're a much more polished and refined team than we played earlier in the season.

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Do you think one of the reasons why the whole club has found it hard is because they overachieved last season?

I'm not sure we overachieved. The one point I always go back to, on the last day of the season we finished sixth, which was amazing and it's a memory that I'll always cherish for the rest of my life. But, if we'd have lost that game, or they didn't go our way, we could've finished 12th. That's how tight those spots were. The league has shown whether it's down the bottom or the top, how tight - it's almost like league's within a league - clubs are in terms of points.

I wouldn't say we overachieved. I wouldn't use that kind of phrase or terminology but there's also a reality that if we'd lost that game on the last day of the season and results hadn't gone our way, we could have finished wherever we'd finished. I wouldn't say we overachieved. I think the table doesn't lie. At the moment, regardless of what happened previously, we're in a moment where we've got to concentrate on us and forget about last season and whatever else because we've got to win games of football.