Kristian was back in Wolverhamton to inspire children at Oak Meadow Prm Sch. It was part of there 'All about me' week. We chat to him about that and his new role in football.
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00:00 How you doing guys, you okay?
00:01 Yeah.
00:02 Cool, and you've got a special guest with you today, this isn't your teacher is it?
00:05 No.
00:06 Who've you got here with you?
00:07 My uncle.
00:08 Your uncle? Oh is he?
00:10 [Laughs]
00:11 What's your uncle's name?
00:12 Christian.
00:13 Christian Thomas of course it is. Hello Christian, how you doing bud?
00:16 I'm very good thank you, not too bad. We've had a fun assembly this morning here at Oak Meadow.
00:20 Seen some gymnastics,
00:22 um, seen an Olympic medal.
00:24 Cool.
00:25 And got to give them a little bit of a demonstration as well, which is always good fun.
00:29 And I didn't land on any of the children, so that's a positive.
00:31 Well yeah, you went for a big jump there didn't you?
00:34 Was it five kids and a teacher?
00:36 Yes, five children and Mr. Lion the head at the end as well.
00:40 So yeah, I'm not too sure. He was as thrilled as the children perhaps, but yeah.
00:44 Are you glad he cleared everyone?
00:47 Yeah.
00:47 Or were you all thinking, oh I want to feel squished Mr. Lion?
00:50 [Laughs]
00:52 Yeah I'll be good, so then we can have a dog in the school.
00:54 [Laughs]
00:56 So what did you think of what you saw then guys? Has it inspired you a bit?
00:59 Yeah.
01:00 You know, of what you can do in gymnastics.
01:02 And have you learnt some lessons about that you can carry through just into normal life?
01:05 Yeah.
01:06 Go on then, what have you learnt then? Tell me a few things.
01:08 I hear Christian saying about when he got injured and he just carried on and that sort of stuff.
01:12 So go on, who wants to tell me what something, go on chicken.
01:14 We learnt that when you're an athlete we need to eat meat because it's got protein and vegetables.
01:21 Yeah, anybody else want to, go on bud.
01:24 That we should never give up and always follow our dreams.
01:28 Good, good lesson. Anyone else want to say, yeah go on bud.
01:31 And always believe in yourself.
01:33 Oh I like that. What do you reckon Christian, they've obviously been listing.
01:36 Yeah, very good listeners I would say.
01:38 Yeah, and you know, you're not an Olympian anymore, you know, it's a few years on.
01:43 You still got it though, there were still some moves there weren't there?
01:46 So do you still keep, you know, do you still do training and stuff then?
01:49 Yeah, I try and still keep fit, healthy and active, that's kind of, I guess, part of me and who I am
01:54 and what I think is important for me to keep my own well-being in good shape.
01:59 So yeah, I try and get down to the gym as much as I can.
02:02 Don't really practice handstands as much as I used to, it's fair to say.
02:06 It's not really something you do in a normal gym but yeah, all the same, at least I get to train now
02:11 and try different types of training that I never really had the opportunity to do previously.
02:15 Yeah, and let's just have a look at the medal there.
02:18 Do you ever get complacent about it yourself, you know, or do you still kind of sometimes wake up and think
02:23 "Man, I'm an Olympic medalist", do you know what I mean?
02:26 I think, perhaps not complacence but it's nice, particularly now as we're building to Paris Olympics,
02:31 there's a lot more noise around the Games, the profile is raising it
02:35 and I suppose because of that you see it out and about a little bit more
02:37 and that's a nice sort of proud moment then in kind of knowing that you were part of that journey
02:42 and part of that Team GB success in raising the profile of gymnastics and the sport.
02:46 So yeah, I suppose it's a proudness more than anything else.
02:49 That's good. Well, he's done the city proud as well, Wolverhampton, hasn't he?
02:53 We're all very proud of what he's achieved.
02:55 So this is all part of your "This is Me" module at school, isn't it?
02:58 Yeah.
02:59 So I'll tell you what, after three, shall we all shout "This is Me"?
03:01 Yeah.
03:02 Ready? One, two, three.
03:03 This is Me!
03:05 What's your life like for you now then, Christian, what are you up to?
03:07 So, daily life now is working at the Premier League, so working in football.
03:11 So that's my Monday, Friday, 9-5 job and that's player care and engagement manager.
03:16 So two-folds to that role really, it's the player care side,
03:19 so putting those support provisions in place for the Premier League footballers.
03:23 And then the other side is around the player engagement,
03:27 so sort of going out, canvassing player opinion and then feeding that back into the Premier League
03:31 which then informs the decision making, you know, things like on the game
03:35 and anything maybe technical, tactical, football operations, etc.
03:38 So it's a really good job.
03:41 Home offices are down in London, so a bit of commuting a couple of days a week
03:44 and then some club visits and work from home in between, so real nice meetings.
03:48 Do you still live local then?
03:50 Yes, so still living local, so I'm in Worsley now, so not too far away.
03:54 Yeah.
03:55 And yeah, I sort of split my time in the week.
03:57 So who is your footy team then for yourself?
04:00 I mean, obviously you're from Wolves, I'm going to presume it's Wolves, is it?
04:02 It is indeed, so Wolves is my team.
04:04 I think the party line I have to use is all teams are equally important.
04:07 Yeah, at the end of the day, sport is the winner.
04:10 That's the line, isn't it?
04:11 Sport's the winner.
04:12 But what's your predictions on the Wolves at the minute?
04:15 It's going to be tough this next season, isn't it?
04:17 They've just hiked up the prices of the season tickets
04:20 because I think it has to become a more sustainable club.
04:23 Yeah.
04:24 What's your thoughts on the coming season for our Wolves then?
04:28 I'm optimistic in the sense that Gary Neill did an incredible job last season
04:32 with the resources he had, with the short time period, now pre-season
04:35 and I think giving him that opportunity and keeping the squad of players
04:39 and keeping them fit and healthy, that's probably the biggest thing.
04:42 We do miss our big players, but that's all what ifs I guess.
04:47 If that happens, then I think we'll have a very successful season.