Leeds United v Blackburn Rovers: Daniel Farke press conference every word on Ipswich Town, Leicester City, Southampton, Dallas tribute and 'gut feeling'

"Yes, of course. This was one of the reasons why I signed a contract for this club and I really like how our supporters how emotional they are in both ways and this is also if I am honest one of the biggest challenges why I signed the contract because I was so interested to lead this club because I know which potential this club has and how many emotions this club influences and creates in both ways. It's so difficult and I was never naive when I signed the contract. I know in the last 20 years, Marcelo had a pretty good spell but apart from this, I am here nine months meanwhile, if you judge managers more or less in the last 20 years apart from Marcelo, it feels already a good shift if you survive for nine weeks because everyone is so emotional for this club. It's important that you lead this club with not being like a flag in the wind and also to be convinced of what you're capable of. And we never take it personally and it just shows how much they care about it. So it will always be a club where when you have a game day there are whatever 500,000 managers who have their own thoughts and they are all a bit overexcited. They're over the moon once everything goes in the right direction. And sometimes they're also a bit nervous when it doesn't go in this way and it is just important that once you want to lead this club you have to understand this and yourself you have to be calm and no one can really explain. For example, when I think about the last game, I don't want to praise ourselves too much and I also like to stay humble and don't want to be in the spotlight. But I also like the fact that we are playing in terms of points at least the best season in the history of this club. We are there with the best home record in the history of this club during this season. We are by far the best team in the second half of the season sitting on position one and we have the best home record of all teams, we have the best defensive record of all teams, we're not relying on one player so we make sure that we trust the whole group and we share the goals for example, between between several players when I think about Joel Piroe, Daniel James, Cree Summerville, Patrick Bamford, Willy Gnonto, Georgi Rutter, there's not just one main player so we don't rely on one player, we show what this club is all about that no one is bigger than than the side so we're living Leeds United. We have created also a group with spirit, with identification, with being united and we have climbed more or less the ladder step by step. I spoke about this before, if you want to play a perfect season you have to do it step by step. First season, I don't want to bother you that much or bore you that much but the first step is always make sure that you don't struggle on the wrong end after relegation. Check. Make sure that you have a chance to finish the top six. Check. Make sure that you then really finish in the top six. Check. Make sure that you finish in the top four to have the best possible solution for the playoffs because then you have the second leg at home. I would also say check already and then right now just the fifth step. Yes once you are in this position then you also want to promote by using the play-offs or even better by automatic promotion and we are exactly in this shape. Then we are playing against a side Sunderland and dominate the first half, don't allow them to have any chance. dominate the game with 70 per cent possession, one or two crazy decisions from the referee against us, normally Cree Summerville scores or there should be a penalty and then at half-time 0-0, this point brings us into the top two and you get the feeling the whole stadium is nervous and there are even boos around at half time. But we don't take it personal. This shirt, to wear the shirt as a player, it's the heaviest shirt in the league and you have to enjoy and you have to relish it and you have to know when you sign a contract what you're doing because this club means so much to all the supporters and all the people who are connected with them and this is also a big strength of this club. It's never easy but you have to understand why because everyone wants this club to succeed, everyone wants this club to do so well. We brought ourselves into a perfect position. Right now everyone wants also really to take the last step to speak about the perfect season and is so highly, highly motivated and for that I totally understand this. But it is also  important that you don't lead this led too much by emotions, that you stay calm, also with fire in the heart but also cool in the head and also to calm the players because we are work with many, many young players and for that, on the one hand I totally understand all the emotions. On the other hand, although I love the emotions, I have to make sure that my players are not too affected about it and that we make sure that we are there with the best possible outcome by also keeping our nerves.”

"After each and every game you analyze what we have done, also pretty self critical what we as a coaching staff or me as a manager could have done better. But the second topic is also right, you never know. So it's impossible to judge because you never know if you would have played a game, for example, the last game with a completely different lineup or you substitute earlier or you substitute not at all. You never know, if a different striker would have perhaps scored or if I should have let Patrick Bamford longer on the pitch because he would have scored in the last minute or whatever or you should have changed the base formation. You never know. It's also why we love the sport that much because everyone can have an opinion. But for me it's just important that I totally trust my players and my group of players otherwise we wouldn't share for example that many goals. Yes, if someone thinks we should be there  with better decisions, I can't argue against this because I can't prove the difference. Like I mentioned before I like to stay humble and also to stay self critical and I don't want to put myself into the spotlight. But staying humble, I love the statistics, I think I was nominated three times right now and won three times the manager of the month. I am nominated for manager of the season, we are playing the best season in the history of this club. We have the best defensive record, we have the best home record in the league, we have the best home record in the history of Leeds United Football Club. We are there with 87 points after 42 games, we have shared many many goals, we have the best goal difference. We have still the chance to play the perfect season. It could be that it's perhaps because of me that we are not there even better in the table and are already promoted. It could be, I can't argue against this because I can't prove it a different way round. But one thing is also for sure, although I try to analyze each and every game and I also like to be self critical, if I am allowed to say this in a humble way, I am also not too nervous or too critical about our season so far. The most important topic is I totally trust and back my players and I also managed the season out of this league also a few times and you have a gut feeling and the gut feeling right now is we are out to create something special in the last games and the gut feeling is that we are allowed also to look back on the season and speak about it being quite a successful season. It's just the gut feeling I have and we will see what the outcome is.”

"You know what I like sometimes also to work with a young side, that they don't realise it at the moment in the moment that they're in and they don't think too much. So, for that I will speak about that you need also this energy of the youth and the young just to enjoy the road and not to think too much about oh what can we achieve and we can write our names in the history books of this club because sometimes otherwise you're too nervous and over motivated and overexcited. I think once you're a bit more experienced and a bit older in age, you think perhaps even a bit more about it, but you can handle it also in a better way because probably you've been there before in similar situations and I quite like the balance of it. So I don't think just because Stuart mentioned right now there is even more motivation there for the young players because everyone is so highly motivated to finish as strong as possible and also to look back on a successful season. So it's not like before there were players just 98 per cent motivated right now because Stuart has mentioned right now have found the last two per cent so I totally back my players and also the mentality of my players and know that they are really greedy to be successful as possible and for that, yes, we're trying to do this but it's still good that we have also like legends around who wish us well and to support us and give the players some trust and some belief and for that I also liked Stuart's message."

Some great lines from him there. A confident message and string defence of his players and season so far.