Chong reveals coaches' contact
In-form Tahith Chong says Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been keeping tabs on his performances during his loan spell at Birmingham City.
The Reds' boss has taken time to text the Netherlands Under-21 international, who is making the most of his loan spell in the Midlands and catching the eye for Lee Bowyer's side with some dynamic performances.
It is clear that the staff at United are pleased with the impact he is making in a third temporary spell away from Old Trafford, following stints with Werder Bremen and Club Brugge on the continent last term.
When we asked if Ole has been in touch, he replied: “Yeah, it's always nice to hear from him, and that he's watching the games as well. That's good. The coaches and staff are obviously in contact after the games.
“I’ve got Darren Fletcher and Kieran [McKenna] and, like I say, even the manager sometimes texting me. You know, after matches, it can be a ‘well done’ or ‘well done, you can improve on this and this’ and, to be honest, the contact has been very good.
“Les [Parry] has been calling and I think he’s even been at most of the games. That’s nice, to have that as well, to stay in contact and sometimes we analyse and speak about the games.”
Chong came up against his pal James Garner, who is on loan at Nottingham Forest, in his last outing and is relishing a battle with Di'Shon Bernard, who was Hull City's Man of the Match in a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough last Saturday.
“On the weekend, I played against Jimmy and we had a little catch-up after the game for a bit,” he added. “I think I’ve got to meet Di’Shon somewhere in this season as well, as he’s at Hull. We’ll probably meet each other on the pitch as well, which is going to be fun.”
The Curacao-born midfielder is determined to keep learning from his experiences and help the Blues, who are currently 16th in the table, climb the standings.
“Especially where we are [in the league], it’s about taking it game by game really and step by step. Our focus is on the next game, which is West Brom, and we want to get the points and put in a good performance there. That’s where the mindset is at the moment.
“Myself, I’ll keep improving on my performances really, and learn from any mistakes I’ve made in the previous games and try not to do that in the game. I’ll try to keep doing the good things.”