United chief executive David Allen spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria on Friday evening as he talked about the financial difference between QPR and Carlisle, Allen also mentioning a couple of ground improvments at Brunton Park :
" The QPR game was a good experience, it was good to see it, but I think that what we have got to appreciate is that QPR are not just a Championship side, they are a side that is geared up for the Premier League. I think that we can compete in the Championship, we need to continue strengthening the team a little bit but remember that QPR are not an average Championship side.
" I think that what is important to think about is that QPR is owned by three people. Bernie Ecclestone who is reported to be worth about £2.4 billion. Flavio Briatore at around £120 million and Lakshmi Mittal the steel baron who is reportedly the fourth richest man in the world with a personal fortune of about £28 billion. So competing against people like that, they are living in another world.
" They are fantastically well connected, those people are getting sponsors like Gulf Air, Abbey Financial Services and Lotto Sport Italia. I was down there on Tuesday night and we couldn't actually go in the boardrooom because they were refurbishing that at the time. Where we went though in the boxes that were refurbished, they are out of this world, £7 million on a carpet probably.
" We can work away doing what we are doing, there will be more sponsorship, there will be more money from the Football League and we can see things working in the Championship. We have just sold a player for more than £1 million so we have had a guy there who could be worth that, Gary Madine could be worth that before long, we will have those players. We wouldn't rule anything out like spending that much ourselves but we wouldn't want to go shouting about it either.
" I was down at QPR on Tuesday night and one of the richest men in the world part owns that club. Yet they had (Emmanuel) Ledesma who scored three goals and he is on loan. They had another player on loan from Italy as well (Samuel Di Carmine), they had that guy on loan from Real Madrid (Daniel Parejo). They took in Peter Ramage on a free transfer from Newcastle, so they are shrewd people as well. "
" I was listening to John Ward before, a very, very wise man and what he is saying is that he is looking around and he has got his scouts. He is just not going to bring people in for the sake of bringing them in though when he has got a half sensible squad now.
" We don't feel under pressure to get fans excited because when I am down there the atmosphere is great at the club. I know that there are concerns from the odd one or two fans but to be honest I think that they are in the minority. There are a lot of fans very, very excited, they are seeing football the other day against Crewe that was great.
" We have said right from the start that we would not stand in anybody's way if they came with a lot of money to take the club on. If these people come along then we will be standing aside, we see ourselves as custodians of the club for the town, for the wider community and for the fanbase who want to enjoy good football. If somebody can bring better football than we can then we will welcome them.
" What I would bear in mind is that these people like Bernie Ecclestone, Flavio Briatore and Lakshmi Mittal. Those people are going to be buying clubs around London, they are going to be moving out to Luton and places like that to buy clubs in the future. Unfortunately it is a long time before they come to Carlisle.
" There are cheap tickets and that now, what we want to do is just encourage people to come down, an adult and two kids for £20 and things. We just want to encourage people to come down and enjoy the game. What we are going to do is that we have listened to the fans who are saying that they can't get in to the bar at the Paddock, so we are going to make a new bar at the Warwick Road End of the Paddock. There is a lift going into Foxy's so that people can get upstairs into Foxy's. We are looking at what we can do on the East side as well, on the CBS stand, so we are doing what we can. "