Full text in spoiler tags:
Rafa Benitez match programme interview:
He began talking about alterations at Darsley Park in pre-season:
"We changed the colours. In general, there’s more light, with more colours, and more space if we can for people who normally work here.
"We had to give another impression when the players came back from relegation, for them to see something different, more relaxed, with more space, and they would appreciate that it is new and fresher. It was to change the mood, starting with the colours and little things like that.
"We changed the synthetic pitch in the indoor tent, the showers, the dressing room for the staff, some offices. We had to give them, the players, space if they wanted to stay and play ping pong or with the PlayStation. It’s something they will appreciate is different and a little bit better.
"We had a lot of things to do. We’d just arrived earlier that year, and we had to try to do our best to stay up. We couldn’t do it but little by little, we were analysing things.
"This season was more about fixing things and doing things the way we wanted to do it. We had so many things – academy, scouting department, players coming, players leaving, the facilities we were trying to improve – and I think we did well. Thanks to all the people in charge in each department, we were progressing and improving, and I’m quite happy with what we did."
"It’s not difficult when you have good players and good professionals. The relationship between them was quite good, and because the team was working well and hard, the relationship with the staff was also quite good. Little by little, the bond was improving.
"When the team is winning and you have nice people – people who are hungry and want to improve – then it’s easier. You try to choose the right players, and after, try to talk with them and tell them what you are expecting from each one and from the group.
"I will give credit to the players in this case, because you can try the same with different players, and maybe it doesn’t work.
"We have a way to do things. Our methodology is working with the ball all the time, so they enjoy that, and changing the exercises but keeping the same objective – things that we have done for so many years. For some players, they are new things.
"We have the analysis department, and then we have clips for every single player, for the team. We try to give them some feedback in terms of what they do. They appreciate that, and are keen to learn and improve, so that, in the end, is what creates a very good atmosphere.
"As a manager, you have ideas, but you need people helping you because if not, you don’t have time to do everything. If you have an expert in a specific part of the job then you have to use them. Everyone has their job and everyone is helping me to save some time by doing something specific.
"Everybody has their role in the team, and here they can feel that they are part of the success. I think it’s important to realise that a lot of things you have achieved is because of them. People say ‘well this is just the manager’, but you have a lot of people working very hard every day, and thanks to them, things are going well. Everyone has to do their job, and they have to feel that their job is appreciated.
“Normally, you realise in pre-season, when you start training with players you can see how they react and how keen they are to spend more time practising, or learning and listening to you. We could see from the beginning that this group was a good group.
"I had confidence in the team, and I was always talking about April as a crucial month. I thought that we could start April even worse (than we did) and after we could react, but we started really well and after we made a couple of mistakes, so it was the opposite.
"Still, I had confidence – it would be hard, it would be difficult, but we would do it (win promotion).
“We changed half of the squad, sold players, and then we had to rebuild everything.
"To go up, I think it is a real achievement. But I always say, we have to give credit to these players. It’s important to be proud of what we have done in the end. Players, staff and all the people here have been together with the fans behind us. We have had a whole city behind the team, and that is so good and the feeling is so good that it’s something we have to build from.
"Every time that I go to a restaurant or something around the city, you have someone telling you how they appreciate what we are doing. We can feel it every day. You can see that, you can feel that.
“It’s always important to feel that the people appreciate what you have done. A lot of times in my career, if (fans) talk about one of my trophies, they say ‘you gave me the best day of my life’. I say it’s a pleasure for me, because it’s something I wanted to do and I enjoy that.
“I like to do my job properly and I like to win. Sometimes I’m really, really upset when we cannot. But at least now, experience has given this calm; that you know sometimes you cannot, but still you have to try the next time.
“When I was younger, I was always upset because we were losing or I was very happy because we were winning. Now, you can manage the emotions a little bit more.
"I started my career as a coach in the Real Madrid academy, and we were winning maybe 80% of the games. You didn’t used to lose too much, but then when you leave and you realise that the other teams are quite strong and you can lose, that’s when you start learning. It’s quite difficult, but that is the way.
"You have to lose some games to realise how important it is to do things well – the little details, the small things that can change a game. You have to have balance.
"If you lose a game, you are disappointed, but at the same time, what the people – your players especially, and your staff – expect from you is a reaction, a positive reaction, a solution. You have to be calm, keep your composure and then analyse what is going on to give a solution or an idea at least, and they can follow this idea.
"I wave to them (the fans) and I say thank you very much. It is my responsibility to stay focused on my job, but I can be very happy because they are singing my name. I’m really pleased, but at the same time, it’s more responsibility for me too, because I want to do well for them.
“As a professional, I have always done the same. I was trying to do my best in every single team I was managing. But when you have the love of the fans, then you try even harder, because I think that they deserve that.
"They (the players) were trying to catch me (to spray with champagne) – they caught me a little bit, but not as much as they wanted!"
"I have sometimes the feeling that I did my job, and I’m really proud for that, but I am not very emotional externally.
I don’t get carried away with the emotions too much, but inside, I am really proud of what we have achieved, so then I try to stay with my staff or my family and friends and enjoy it with them.
"I’m not someone who will be jumping around the streets or whatever, but I will try to enjoy it with my people.
"I think it was a mix of emotions, because everybody was a little bit anxious with the results before and a little bit nervous about what can happen. So there was a little bit of relief, but at the same time, pride, because it was a great achievement. Everybody was….you could see, playing against Cardiff, the team was playing with more freedom. You could see the real team.
"In terms of the preparation (for the Premier League), it’s more or less the same. What you have to be sure now is that you choose the right players and you do the right things, because you have to change things and try to improve. That is my responsibility.
"I think as a manager, when you achieve something and then you start preparing for the next challenge, you have to be excited. I’m thinking about every single detail that I can improve, and then seeing my staff, everyone, and trying to get feedback from them and seeing if we can make less mistakes.
"It’s important for me to be excited and it’s important for my staff and the people around us to be excited too. It’s a challenge for everyone. We know that it will not be easy, but at the same time we know we have the ability to change things around and to try to do good things.
"After the Preston game, I said ‘OK, we have achieved what we wanted’. I didn’t expect Brighton to lose the other game. Now, we have another opportunity. We were really pleased (after Cardiff), because we won and it’s the record (for away wins in a season), but at the same time now we have a chance to fight for the title, and we’ll try to do it."
I'm gutted after reading that, it's probably spoiled my whole weekend.
