Moments after signing a long-term contract with the club, Brad Jones sat down with Liverpoolfc.com at Melwood to talk about his delight at the new deal.
Here’s what he had to say in full.
LiverpoolFC.com: Firstly, Brad, congratulations on your new deal — you must be delighted.
Jones: I’m happy — happy to stay on and happy the club have been supportive with me and seen enough to want to keep me here longer.
LiverpoolFC.com:Â What does it mean to you to commit your long-term future to one of the biggest clubs in world football?
Jones: I said when I signed here it was a dream come true. It was something I’d wanted as a young boy — and that hasn’t changed. I want to stay here as long as I can. At the minute, the club is on a progression and we’re improving a lot. It’s a good time to be here and I’m sure in the next couple of years, I’ll be part of a successful squad.
LiverpoolFC.com:Â Are you happy with the progress you’ve made since you arrived at the club?
Jones: Yes. Obviously there was a difficult time in the middle of that, and three managers in that space of time is difficult because football is very much about opinions. Some people rate you more than others and I think I’ve found that in my time here at Liverpool — some managers have thought more of me than others. At the minute I’m really happy working with Brendan [Rodgers] and the group of players we’ve got. I’m delighted to stay on.
LiverpoolFC.com:Â How much of an influence has Brendan been on you?
Jones: He’s a big influence. When he came in, I don’t think he was too sure about whether I was going to stay or not and I had to prove to him I was worthy of being here. He’s a very positive guy and somebody that wants to be amongst the players, talking to them and making sure they know what he wants. He was very honest with me at the start and said maybe things weren’t going to work out, but he was then just as honest to come and say to me I’d done well and proved myself to him. That’s what you want from your manager — somebody that’s honest, that you can talk to and is going to help you progress as a player.
LiverpoolFC.com:Â You’ve made several first-team appearances so far this season — are you happy with how you’ve performed?
Jones: Yes. I was happy to get those chances. Obviously they came with Pepe [Reina] getting injured, but you want to be able to prove you can do it at the top level — and I think in those games, I was able to show I was worthy of being here at least and being in and amongst the squad. Overall, it was a good period certainly for me, but also in the league games we had some difficult matches but got some good results. I was really happy to get that run of games. You don’t always expect it — I don’t think too many ‘keepers who have been here with Pepe have had that chance, so I was happy to get the games and show I can perform when needed.
LiverpoolFC.com:Â How much are you enjoying that challenge of trying to get in ahead of Pepe?
Jones: It’s good. We’ve got a healthy relationship. With Peter Gulacsi as well, there are three of us working every day. John Achterberg [first-team goalkeeping coach] has been really good as well in pushing us every day. The four of us as a group are a hard-working team. I think a lot of people are sometimes not too sure what goalkeepers get up to during the week, but I can tell you it’s not easy — John is pretty ruthless sometimes! We all get along well and drive each other. It’s a good position to be in when everyone is snapping at the heels and wanting to be out there playing. When Pepe was injured, I had Peter right there and in training you can see there is good competition.
LiverpoolFC.com:Â Finally, you’ve received great support from the Liverpool fans over the last few months — do you have a message for them?
Jones: I’ve said before, it’s one of the biggest families in the world and I’ve been very lucky to receive the support they’ve given me. There is no other club I’d want to be at. Given the chance, as long as the manager wants me here, I’d be willing to stay — and that’s been proven to be the case.
