It's been a difficult start to his managerial career at Bournemouth for Kevin Bond but at least the former Portsmouth and Newcastle coach saw his team start 2007 on the right note after a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Brighton at Dean Court on New Year's Day. Although still in the League One drop-zone, that win lifted the Cherries two places up the table and another three points against basement club Brentford this weekend could see Bond's men climb out of the bottom four. Givemefootball's Mark Shail caught up with central defender Neil Young, who played an important role in that welcome win against the Seagulls.
Q:YOU MUST HAVE BEEN DELIGHTED WITH THAT RESULT AGAINST BRIGHTON?
A:It was a massive win for us and hopefully we can build on that result. We've played a lot of the top teams recently, and played quite well, and in many ways we've been unlucky not to come away with some better results.
Q:WAS THERE AN ELEMENT OF RELIEF AFTER THAT WIN?
A:I suppose there was a bit of relief and to score as late on as we did was a real bonus. But we were due a bit of luck because over the last month or so we haven't been getting the rub of the green in our matches.
Q:AND A CLEAN SHEET AS WELL?
A:As a defender you pride yourself on clean sheets and it gives you confidence going into the next game. I played alongside Eddie Howe in the centre of the back-four and we've always had a pretty good understanding because we know each other's game so well. He's been missing for a large part of the season through injury, but it's nice to have him back because he's an important player for us.
Q:YOU CAN PLAY AT FULL BACK AS WELL AS CENTRE HALF, WHAT IS YOUR PREFERED POSITION?
A:I've played a lot of my career at full back but last year I played the entire season at centre half and probably had my best season ever. So now I would like to continue in this position and, anyway, at my age I probably can't get up and down the wing like I used to when I played as a right back. I spoke to Kevin Bond when he first came to the club and he said he saw me primarily as a central defender – and that suits me fine.
Q:HOW HAVE THE CROWD BEEN DOWN AT DEAN COURT THIS SEASON?
A:Obviously it's been frustrating for them because we haven't been getting the results we would have liked. But I don't think we've actually played that poorly and hopefully that win against Brentford is the start of an improved run of form for us. The players desperately want to win for the fans, the manager and also for ourselves.
Q:YOU MUST BE HOPEFUL OF ANOTHER THREE POINTS AGAINST BRENTFORD THIS WEEKEND?
A:We'll go into the game with a lot of confidence after the Brighton win but we're certainly not taking Brentford lightly even though they've been on a disappointing run. In this division the key is consistency and if we can start stringing some good performances together I'm sure the results will come.
Q:IS IT EVEN MORE OF AN INCENTIVE KNOWING A WIN COULD LIFT OUT OF THE BOTTOM FOUR?
A:To tell the truth I don't look at the league tables – I stopped doing that a while ago because it was getting me down. A couple of the lads told me the win against Brighton moved us up two places and that's all I know.
