Coach John Carver answered journalists’ questions ahead of the upcoming match against Śląsk Wrocław.

On why he decided to become the coach of Lechia:

– I’ve decided to come here because I see it as a big challenge. Over the past year or so, I used to have a Polish agent who I had cooperation with. He’d been looking for clubs in Poland for me. I think he spoke to two or three clubs. This opportunity came around, which excited me.

Obviously, the position of the team in the division doesn’t look good at the moment. And we need to change that.
But I’ve seen lots of potential in the team. I’ve certainly seen how fanatical the fans are. I’ve certainly seen a magnificent stadium that the team play in. And I’ve seen the challenge. It’s a challenge. And one that I can’t wait to attack. I’m looking forward to it.

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen anything of the city yet. It’s all been about coming from the hotel to the stadium, to the training ground, back to the stadium, back to the hotel. So I’m looking forward to having a look around the area, getting to know the area. But more importantly, making sure that the team develops.

On his acquaintance with Kevin:

– My connection with Kevin is that we go back a long way. I have spoken to Kevin once in 15 years. But I haven’t seen him in 15 years. We exchanged one or two text messages when the team won promotion last year. I sent him a message saying „congratulations!”.

On when the offer to join the team was made:

– The connection with Paolo was just recently. I’ve actually lost track of days, to be honest. As you can imagine, I’ve been here from 8 o’clock in the morning until 10 o’clock at night working on the team. So, I don’t even know what day it is. However, there was contact with Paolo recently.

On what can be improved in the short period of work before the match against Śląsk:

– It’s an important game for both teams but in particular, for my team. I would like to say that the team have been great this week. Our preparation has been excellent. Bear in mind that they didn’t know me and I didn’t know them.
But it’s been important the work we’ve done on the training ground. And I’ve seen the benefits over the last two days in particular. So, I’m happy with what I’m seeing. But we need to continue to make progress. And I suppose, in a way, the good thing is the window comes up quite quickly now. So, we have this winter break, which will allow the guys to reset, recharge their batteries. And then when we come back for our camp, a week in Poland and then two weeks in Turkey and back to Poland. That four weeks is going to be so crucial because it gives me time on the grass.

On the positives in Lechia’s game:

– Obviously, I can’t do anything about the performance in the previous game. All I can do is affect what we do on the training ground. And I’ve seen lots of enthusiasm, lots of encouragement. But also, guys who want to listen and get better. And that’s the role of a coach. You have to improve players. But how they’ve taken to the way I coach on the grass, the response has been a two-way thing. And it’s been very, very good. I’m sure the guys are enjoying what they’re doing but they’re working extremely hard. And what I like to do during the week is try and mix it up so everybody feels part of it. And we’ve done that. And they’ve also responded really well to the information I give them because obviously my philosophy might be a little bit different. But I’ve been really clear, really simple about how I want the team to play. And they’ve taken it all on board.

On whether he was surprised by Conrado’s absence from the squad:

– Yes, I was surprised. But obviously the way they played is slightly different to the way I want to play. So I’m one of these guys that I’m not too interested in what happened in the past. It’s about what we can do going forward and stay positive. I think what was really interesting from the game in Katowice was that I got to see it live . I watched the previous 5-6 matches of Lechia on video so the match in Katowice gave me the opportunity to see the players in a bigger area.

On his vision for Lechia’s style of play:

– I’m not gonna give too much away before the game, because the opponent’s coach might be listening. But I think you will see that pretty quickly on Saturday. I’m quite a positive guy, I wanna be high-press, full of energy, I wanna be well organized, good structured. We have to be aware how the opposition is going to play but we have to be concentrated on us.

On the coach’s goal:

– Well, first of all, the first goal is to win on Saturday. That’s the short term. And then go on to pick up points and get out of the situation that we’re in. Because let’s not forget, these guys worked so hard to get us in the top division. And for me, it’s the only place to play. So you want to be in the best division, playing against the best players. So we’re going to try everything we can. And my target is to get out of the situation we’re in. And as quick as we can.

On winter transfers:

– I think the most important thing is I deal with the players who are here now. Because they are the guys who can affect our current situation. So I will put all my energy into making sure that I look at these players, I assess these players as quickly as I can. And that’s all I’m going to think about at the moment.

On how the coach will balance working for Lechia with his role in Scotland:

The cooperation between Scotland and the club has been very good. What I will guarantee is this – whilst I’m here, 24-7, all my energy will go into this team.

And we also back in Scotland have so many good people working behind the scenes to make sure the preparation is right for that March camp. When I do go to Scotland for those 10 days, I know I’m in good hands with the guys who are left behind. Because I’ve just met the staff 3-4 days and they’ve been very impressive. I’ve really enjoyed the information they’ve given me. They’ve helped me for sure. And I can trust them. And I have to trust them to make sure that the ship is running properly when I’m not here.

And I can guarantee I will be on the earliest flight possible to get back here and continue my work.

On whether the coach plans to learn Polish:

– Why not? If I want to stay here, for sure. But the most important thing is trying to get to know people, trying to understand them. The good thing is, in the locker room, most people speak English, which is quite nice. And if I have one or two issues at the moment, I’ll just use one of the other members of staff to translate for me. But in general, I’ve found that everybody understands and gets my Geordie accent. When I was in Cyprus, I got exactly the same questions. By the time I left Cyprus I had 1 or 2 words up my sleeve.

On whether the coach was given a deadline regarding results:

– No deadlines. I think what they and I want to see is progression. That’s the important thing.

On whether the coach sees differences or challenges as a head coach, having spent most of his career as an assistant coach:

– I don’t think it’s any different because you’re a coach. And I’ve always been quite a strong character coach. I coached in America in MLS as a head coach. In Cyprus, in Newcastle, and various roles, and as caretaker. But I think when you’re a coach, and most of the clubs I have been an assistant coach, I’ve actually been the dominant coach in the group. I also think the modern day coach now is not the old way manager. It used to be the manager, but we have people to deal with that now so I can fully concentrate on the football side of coaching.

On what went wrong in the match against GKS Katowice:

– I think that’s unfair for me to talk about what was wrong in that game. I’ve seen what wasn’t right.

There were some good things still in the game, but I will keep those things to myself, because it certainly helped me, and I can develop the players, and the system, and the team, and how we want to play. But I think it’s a little bit unfair to talk about what’s happened in the past.