Wilkinson: Our Fans Put In More Work Than Anyone

After seeing his side battle from 1-0 down to end the Vancouver Whitecaps ten match unbeaten run, Portland Timbers head coach Gavin Wilkinson was in such a good mood, he nearly accidentally praised a referee.

We spoke to him on the Swangard pitch seconds after the final whistle. However his praise for the Timbers supporters who made the trip was neither accidental nor tongue in cheek.

Finally he had some harsh words for popular centre half Ross Smith who let a nasty head knock, loss of copious amounts of blood and 13 stitches put him off his game. (Clue – he had a big smile on his face at the time.)

Timbers Retain Cascadia Cup

PROST AMERIKA: Firstly, your views on the penalty?

GAVIN WILKINSON: It was a definite penalty and a definite red card. I think that’s one of the few calls the referee got right.  There’s no question I think Roro (Rodrigo Lopez)  made a great ball in and Ryan Pore made a tremendous run and it’s good to see Ryan Pore perform the way he did.  I think he was tremendous again and I’m delighted for the guys. And I think that was a great call by the ref.

PROST AMERIKA: Now you’ll be aware there was a cup at stake tonight which has disappeared with the fans.  And although it’s a supporters cup does that mean a lot to the players?

GAVIN WILKINSON: Definitely.  I think we have a tremendous group of supporters and are really just phenomenal to drive six hours to come up and watch us play, especially given our history here.  It shows a lot of character, it shows–you know I talk about character from players, but you need character from fans as well and the motivation that they give the players is tremendous and they deserve it.  They put in more work than any player I think.

PROST AMERIKA: Even though the cup won’t be with you and the team  on the bus will there be some celebration on the bus down?

GAVIN WILKINSON: We may allow the boys a half an hour to enjoy this game before we focus on the next one. No I think, it’s a long bus ride, obviously this is the first time we’ve come here in a long long time and brought back maximum points and tonight I think we deserved it–we were better. We’ve got to enjoy the wins and we’ve got to develop a sense of camaraderie on the road and it’s important.

PROST AMERIKA: Were these three points you didn’t bargain for when doing the maths for the play-offs?

GAVIN WILKINSON: No we bargained for 12 out of the next four so three tonight–it’s a matter of percentages and odds.  You look at — they haven’t conceded a goal for 4 league games going into this one. Our defending looked great.  I thought we started with a bit more bite to our game. I thought 3 points here was realistic and it’s good that we reached that and get to go on to the next game and keep going.

PROST AMERIKA: Is Ross Smith still alive?

GAVIN WILKINSON: Yes, he’s only got 13 stitches.  We think he’s soft and we thought he only needed one stitch and he should have got back up quicker.  But he’s fine.

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