|
" You are always relieved to get deals done, we have been after Matty from the end of the season and he has finally come over. He wants to come to Carlisle United, we have spoken to him and his wife today and he is delighted to come and join us, and he is looking forward to this season. So that is a big plus to get one under our belt, we did need a left-sided player. Simon Hackney left of course and Lewis Neal left as well, so we were desperate to get someone in in that position, and now we have got Matty.
" We have liked him all last season, when we played against him and we know about him. He can play anywhere down the left but we see him as an attacking player. The boy wants to do well, that is the main thing, his attitude when we have spoken to him has been top class. He wants to come here and play and that is always a big plus for us and we are pleased that we have got him on board.
" He is going to bring some pace and give us some width on the left-hand side of the field, which having lost Simon we were a bit unbalanced, with Lewis Neal not coming as well we didn't have a wide left player. We have got people in the side who are left-sided, Peter Murphy, Hartey (Ian Harte) and Evan (Horwood), but they are not left-sided players going forward, so we desperately needed that to balance the team up.
" We are chasing one or two others up, we are pretty close but it is a difficult time of the season. Everyone is in there and it is a cloak and dagger situation, but we have got one or two options left and we would like to bring probably a couple more in if we possibly could. So that could be forthcoming soon that could, hopefully anyway.
" If things break down then we have still got our options though, we do our homework through the summer so we have our targets. If the first one is not there then we have other targets as well, but we are hopeful in the next day or so that we will get another one on board. "
" There are people up in Scotland, we go up to Scotland, obviously since I have been here we haven't got as many players probably from Scotland. We have got a good relationship now though with Celtic and Rangers for their younger players, I have been up myself to watch games after our season finished. So we always monitor that situation because they are only probably an hour or an hour and a half away anyway, so that is very important.
" They have to be the right player though, it is no good just saying that because they are from Scotland and that they are near, that we are going to take them. We try to get the best for the football club but obviously they are living only an hour and a half away. With the Rangers and Celtic thing, some of the players there that aren't getting in the first team that they want to go out and get experience, so we are forming a relationship with both those clubs.
" We had monitored him (Dean Furman) as well, he is one but unfortunately with people that we have in that department at the moment. We looked at the situation with (Marc) Bridge-Wilkinson coming back available, (Paul) Thirlwell, (Graham) Kavanagh, people like that. So with the younger ones that we have got, we are quite well off in that area actually, but he is certainly one that we did look at. You can't get everyone in with our situation, you can't get all the people that you want in on the budget that we have. "
" We are still waiting to hear from Colchester on Ben Williams, again, if that goes through then we will be looking for a goalkeeper. Which again, we have got our things in order anyway so if Ben does go then we know our target. If we don't get the first target then we have got other people that we need to bring in. So that is something that will happen, if Ben goes then we have got to act very quickly on that one.
" I don't really know what Ben's thoughts are, he has had an offer from Colchester. I believe that he is down there and I would possibly think that it would probably go through. So then we have got to get on our bikes a little bit and start looking around, but we are close to sorting things out as well if that situation happens.
" We don't know what the deal could be yet, it could be possibly two things on that count. It could be a deal with another player from Colchester or it could be a cash thing. That is something again that we have to look into. Things are very much up in the air at the moment in football, clubs like Carlisle, and the smaller clubs anyway, we all try to wheel and deal and get the best deal we can and strengthen the squad the way we can. So we are looking at both aspects of that.
" I haven't spoken to Danny (Graham) but I believe it is correct that he has agreed terms with Watford and we wish him all the best. Good luck to him, he has got a chance to go and play in the Championship and we hope Danny goes on.
" He is one of our old players, he scored goals for us, he wants to make the step up. We can't stand in people's way, his contract was up, we made him an offer, he decided not to sign it. We don't hold any grievances towards Danny though, we just wish him all the best and he has got a chance to prove himself in a higher division. "
" You never know when you sign people, or try to get people in, whether they can get you 20 goals. You hope that they do but every signing, for whatever reason you can't guarantee that they are going to succeed. You just try to do your homework and bring in the right people at the right price that you can do.
" We can't go and get the fellow from Barcelona (Samuel Eto'o) can we, I think that we offered him Cumbria to sign actually but he turned it down, not enough. We do try though, it has got to be right for the football club, everything has got to be right, wages and things like that. We are always working at that and we are hopeful that something will, if Danny Graham goes, we will get someone in to replace Danny or hopefully get the goals that Danny did.
" It's always good to get back on the training field, I was just saying to Greg (Abbott) today, we were stood at the side of the pitch and it didn't seem five minutes ago that we were stood there with about a minute to go to beat Millwall. Then it seems to have just flown by but you are always glad of a rest, especially the season we had where it was a bit nerve-wracking and you are relieved and you need a break.
" You are always ready to come back though, you always get excited when you get back. It is a new season, we are looking forward to having a good season next year. We are going to have a go at it and do the best that we can. You are always excited and I am sure that everybody, the fans and everything, are ready to get the football season back on again after having a break. "