"You were handling big players, big personalities, and spending more time talking to them tactically.
"If we didn't survive I'd have to accept that I didn't have a strong enough squad, or didn't twist the chairman's arm hard enough to get a strong enough squad, but you also have to accept that we shouldn't be relying on the chairman [Steve Gibson] the whole time.
"We have to become self-sufficient.
"Most managers will say they want experienced players because they've only got 18 months in the job. We, as a club, don't want to go down that road. We could put the club in long-term jeopardy that way.
"Maybe when I'm 50 I might change my philosophy and be a bit more selfish. But I don't think so."
"Afonso Alves has had the opportunities to go and score goals and if he'd taken them he'd have had double figures this season, no problem,
"Unfortunately it hasn't worked for him but you accept again that it's a signing I'll be judged on. You have to look beyond that and say the next signings we make have to work. We probably won't be able to spend that money again, probably rightly so, as a club."