Tuchel talks summer transfer plans and his involvement, and why he wore a hat in the presser!
The manager's unheard words from the media only section of the Fulham Press Conference
I would usually tweet this (but I'm on the social media boycott as explained yesterday), so here is everything Thomas Tuchel said in his press conference yesterday when the public filming stopped and it was just the media section…
Firstly, someone actually asked him why he was wearing a hat inside at a press conference… Yes, seriously! Personally, I'd have sworn at them in German then kindly advised them to mind their own business! But the boss is a classy pro, and he responded with..
"Bad hair day. I’ve a lot of bad hair days. But I also don’t have much hair anymore so can we switch subject! A little bad hair day can become a super bad one for me. I decided not to bother you with that so I went for the hat.”
Brilliant!
Then we moved on to the juicy stuff, our summer transfer plans, and Tuchel was pleasantly open about this.
It is always unclear just how much of a say managers get in transfer decisions at this club, but as I understand, they certainly get a say, but the decisions are always collective with the board and manager together. Tuchel will definitely get his say and give his targets, as he has confirmed here…
"I have opinions about what we can add to the group to get better. This is my job. I will give my opinion when I am asked my opinion. We will do this and sometimes your opinions change and this is also a process.
"I have my ideas, of course. I have my ideas for certain profiles. It is not about me wishing for player A and player B and if they don't come, I will get angry. It was never like this in my whole career and it will never be like this.
"I understand that there are issues to solve with the agents, the players and the interests of the club. It is not only about me and my wishes. This is the baseline for all talks that we have here. Of course, we talk about it.
"I talk with the club, I give my opinion and talk about it with the scouting department. I am involved and I should be involved. I have the feeling that I am involved. The players that we have all have fantastic personalities and right now is even a moment where we get to know each other better and better.
"We have big games and crucial times ahead of us, so we will have a very clear picture of our group. The stronger they perform then the harder it is to improve this squad from the outside. But there's always room and ideas that we will find out.
"I have a strong feeling that we are not in a rush and we are not in a big need. We are very relaxed. Everyone is fully focused and it is not the time to get distracted with any of that."
Its great to hear that Tuchel will have a big say in the summers transfer activity, and he looks to be planning a long-term stay at this club, which is also great!
I'll be back later for the game, unless there is any big news before then. Our latest Podcast will also be delivered to your inbox at 8am today, and trust me there is a lot of cool inside info you won't want to miss in this one, Dan has some good transfer stuff in there as well! 👀
Have a good day, let's hope for a good win later! UTC! 💙
Simon
Looking forward to the podcast at 8👏👊