Every word Southampton interim Rusk said ahead of Fulham

What's your reaction to the news that Ivan Juric is seemingly close to becoming the next Southampton boss?

SR: I must admit, we had the players in this morning, so I took the training session. The communication from the game the other day was to prepare and carry on with the team as normal.

So, in honesty, I don't know too much about the situation from my point of view. It's obviously an ongoing thing and I'm sure I'll get some further clarification from above me later on about what that looks like.

How would you describe the mood amongst the players at any football club around this time?

SR: I think the first point, the mood was good. The mood was good this morning. We trained and trained well. The boys were good. We had slightly different things going on with the group physically.

I think in terms of the actual spirit and energy in and around the place was good. I didn't hear too much chat going on other than focus about the task in hand and training.

We spoke about some of the things that we thought we did well the other night. Really, it was the risk of repeating myself.

I was concentrating on the process with the players that we trust and believe in. I think the general mood was focused and energetic.

You're obviously a very experienced coach. What assessment would you give of this squad to the incoming manager?

SR: I think I've obviously only been working with the group a couple of days. I don't think it would be right for me to be too conclusive about what I think this is.

My job was to, in the very short term, work with the players in terms of confidence, in terms of recouping from the game last Sunday against Spurs and preparing for the Liverpool game.

I think what I can tell him is that whoever comes into the role, they're a good bunch of guys. They want to do well. They've trained hard. They've been open-minded about my ideas and how we deal with the current situation.

So, I don't think I'd be too conclusive about what the group is or isn't, tactically, technically, or physically. But what I would say is I think they're a decent bunch of guys that want to do well.

You talked about the confidence there. Do you think it's possible for them to improve dramatically from a defensive point of view?

SR: Yeah, I think there's always room for improvement. I think the important thing is, without a doubt, is the belief. I think belief is important for the group at the minute. They have to believe that, bigger picture, they can get themselves back into a situation that they want to be in.

Then they need to start looking at the immediate. The immediate focus is what do we need to do to be defensively more solid or harder to beat or limit the opponent's opportunities? But equally, you've still got to find a way to score goals as well.

I guess really the key is how do we find the balance? Probably that's in my thinking in my short space of time, me preparing for the game on Fulham. How can we get the balance right to be hard to beat, but have that footprint of creativity in the team as well?

Will you definitely take the Fulham game?

SR: I've prepared the team this morning, I've been working with the guys, so I probably think the sensible thing for me is to wait for a little bit of communication all round. But, as it stands, in my mind, I'm preparing for Sunday's game.

Do you visualise that moment? Would it be a proud moment? With the eyes of the world on you, taking charge of a Premier League game?

SR: I've not stopped to pause and think of any of these scenarios that I can't really find myself in, other than doing my job. I think that's important, I pride myself on that, and being a good professional, doing my job.

I'm employed by the football club to be adaptable and available to any task that they need me to do. As I said the other day, post-Liverpool game and pre-Liverpool game, it's an absolute honour.

It's a big moment for me personally, the Liverpool game. But I'm not jumping too far ahead. I've been very much day-to-day in terms of what does the next 24 hours require from me, what do the players need.

It's obviously been great for me. And at the end of this, whatever the fallout is, I'll have had a lot of growth with that. But I keep bringing it back to one thing that was important to me, that this isn't about me.

This is about the football club at the minute. This is about how do we win the next game of football. And I've not looked at it in any other way than that, really.

Have you got any worries that your Christmas schedule with your family will be altered? 

SR: Well, look, I've been in professional football since the age of 14, 15 so Christmas has never really been much of a thing for me. Not because I'm miserable about it, but basically I love my footy, and I love it in a professional capacity, and I love it in a personal capacity.

So I was always itching for Christmas Day to get over and done with anyway and look forward to the Boxing Day game, to be honest. Like everyone in professional football, you make sacrifice.

And I love that sacrifice. And as much as I love a bit of time with my family, they've always been super supportive. I've worked Christmas days a lot of years last year.

Of course, we all want to have a bit of time off from time to time, but listen, at the end of the day, they know what my job is and they know what I love doing. So it's a pleasure to be involved. And it's a privilege.

I see it as a privilege, these sacrifices, and turning up at professional football stadiums around the country, particularly Christmas, it's such a passionate time of the year regarding football. So I enjoy it.

How tough has the job been given the schedule?

SR: I think you can view that two ways, I guess, from my perspective, that when the club take the decision on Sunday to go a different way with Russell, that I think you can look at it and think the game against Liverpool in such a quick turnaround is a problem or it's a blessing.

For me, I think I viewed it as a good thing. It's a quick opportunity to refocus the players and the immediate task became clear. Whereas if you've got a little bit more lingering time, there's a little bit more uncertainty, and obviously training sessions.

As much as there's a focus, nothing can focus a player's mind and a group of people like a game. There's challenges with that in terms of turning the players around physically and emotionally, particularly with what took place.

Actually, it becomes an opportunity. It becomes an opportunity to move forward quickly and swiftly. And that's how I viewed it. So not necessarily problematic. More comes with the territory.

Have you been able to really get ideas into them during training today?

SR: Obviously, we've played Sunday, a very challenging game. The Liverpool game was another challenging game. The nature of the beat today is recovery for a lot of the players, to make sure that they're physically recovered and in a good space.

Getting everyone on that same page physically in order to go again on Sunday. So, yeah, of course, we've touched on some bits moving forward into what we think is going to be important on Sunday.

But again, with three games in a week, you're limited in what you can influence, really. And like everyone else, I'll be using the opportunity of video work, leaning on the analysts for some information.

We are using a host of different ways to feed that information into the players. And some of it's on the grass, and some of it's off the grass.

What do you expect from Fulham?

SR: I think they're a high-energy team. I think they've got some individuals that on any given day can hurt you in a moment. I think they're in a fairly decent run of form.

We know that it's going to be a challenge. And we're going to have to be up for it in every single way, physically, mentally, tactically. They're a team that can offer you different types of problems.

I think the game is big for itself. Of course, there are no easy games in the Premier League. This will pose problems too. But equally, we're confident and we're focused that we can take the second half of the performance against Liverpool and run forward into the full game.

What's the latest fitness news?

SR: Well, we gave the players a day off after the Liverpool game. So we've reconvened really as a group today and had a go physically. I'm still waiting for the fallout from the training session today just to see exactly where we're at with that.

We're hopeful that we'll have one or two available that weren't available the other day.

Has Kyle Walker-Peters prepared to play?

SR: Yeah, Kyle trained today. He had a bit of tightness before the game against Liverpool and probably opted to ear on the side of caution with that one.

It is good to see Kyle back out there today. And I'm hopeful he's in contention for Sunday.

Aaron Ramsdale, what's the state with him?

SR: He's been backing and involved. I think that's a conversation to have. But he's definitely not far away. I think probably, you know, whether he's involved and available is probably still a conversation. But it's looking positive. We're excited to have him back in the fold.

How much of a help have the senior players been for you?

SR: I think the role of interim is less about my vision of football. It's just what's important for the club. So I think in the short term, I spoke the other day about the importance of communication with those guys.

They've got a wealth of experience in lots of different levels. And my experiences as a coach will be different to their current experience as a player.

You know, it would be daft of me to ignore their experience. They've been great. I've had lots of conversations with Adam and the senior players, as well as the younger players. The younger players can give you a perspective that sometimes can surprise you.

And maturity comes in different ways at different times. So I think the squad as a whole have been receptive. And they've been good. I think they've understood it's a difficult situation.

It's not a straightforward one for me to walk into. But equally, you know, I've drawn on lots of different experiences in the lives of Adam, and you mentioned Jan and Jack.

They've all been really open. And we've had good conversations. And it's about respect. I think it's about respect. It's about respecting where they're at and trying to understand them as quickly as possible.

And they've shown me an unbelievable amount of respect and absolutely supported me in any decision I've needed to make in this short time.

What's the biggest thing you can take from the second half against Liverpool going into the game against Fulham?

SR: Belief. I think belief. You know, and it's... I think we use these words a lot, don't we, in football now. They get written on walls everywhere. Belief, togetherness.

It's like you've got to walk the walk with them things. You know, you've got to walk the walk. And it's what actions are required to bring their words to life.

I touched on it briefly with the players how we can talk about togetherness, but what's it going to look like? And what's it going to look like on the pitch? You know, what are we going to do? 

What are we going to do to gather the belief? And I think that's the big thing for me about, OK, let's focus in on what are the things that allowed the second half. And the first half probably was going to be like the first half was.

You've got that balance to strike about, you know, how do we shut up the shop to a certain extent, but not be too negative, because we want the stadium, you know, to come with where we want to go on that night. And they did in the end.

It was fantastic. But equally, my professional referential experience says, you know, we need to make sure we set right to win the game tactically. I think the major things are the belief that we can go and win these games of football, and we can.

There's been lots of games this year that the players have been, you know, very close to turning the screw and getting them three points and reminding them of that and showing them what that looked like and what were the things within them games that we wanted to obtain.

Do the players want to win?

SR: Ultimately, the players are desperate to do well, individually and collectively. And as I touched on the other day, of course, they'll be hurt.

They'll have great connections with Russell. But I bring it back to that we all have a job to do. And you have to move forward.

They do say that the only constant in football and life is change. And you have to roll with that. And they've rolled with that well.