United Head of Youth Eric Kinder (EK) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) ahead of Carlisle's League One match at home to Bournemouth, Kinder first explaining what his job entails at Brunton Park :
JP
Tell us a little bit about what you do here?
EK
Well, I am the youth team coach here and my exact title is Head of Youth, so I really look after everything from 9-years old right through to 18 until they come to the end of their two-year scholarship. But, I have got David Wilkes who looks after the 9s to the 16s schoolboys for me and I control mainly, or concentrate mainly, on the full-time youth team players, which is usually about 16 a year.
JP
It must be a lot of fun working with a lot of young lads who have got that hope for a future in football, there must be a lot of impressionable minds and a lot of different characters in there?
EK
Yeah, it is incredible, when they first come in they all think they are going to be the next Wayne Rooney, and then some of them keep that desire right through their full two years, some of them find it really difficult when it gets about three or four months down the line and it gets too hard work for them. Then that is a problem for us because they actually do lose interest in it amazingly, the last thing I always say to a 16-year old schoolboy when I am signing them is that I am giving them the opportunity now to play football every day for two years, and their smile is unbelievable. But, by the time it comes to October a vast majority of them find it really difficult to play football every day.
JP
And this is how most kids are found isn't it? This is how most professional footballers have made it into the game, there are exceptions where people are picked up from outside of the game, in particular at this level you can find players just playing for their local pub team etc. But, predominantly they come through these sort of channels somewhere along the line, even if it is not from Carlisle's youth that all of their players come from?
EK
Yeah, we hopefully recruit as many as we can from our under-16s, which are usually Carlisle or Cumbria people. But, every now and then it is like anything else, you just have what you class as a poor batch. I have found that this year, we have had to recruit a vast majority of next year's intake from away from our own centre, which is disappointing, but these things happen.
You can't have four or five every single year, if we did it would be marvellous but we have to look far afield. But, I try to cut that down to at least two hours travelling time, so if we need to get the kids home during the week, if there are any problems with their families, touch wood there isn't, and we need to get them home then we are within two hours. So, that is what I look at, I look to recruit from two hours away.
JP
And also you have had a reasonable period actually, one of your players who you have worked with has been sold for a lot of money for the club to Sheffield Wednesday, Gary Madine, a couple more of your lads (Ben Mckenna and Steven Swinglehurst) as well have just been signed up to first-year professional contracts with the club. So, what is it like when you see that sort of fruition? Is that what it is all about for you?
EK
Yeah, you spend many frustrating days with the youth team players, and there are many frustrating Saturday mornings when they don't do what you want. But, at the end of the day your job is to try to provide players for the first team, Tom (Aldred) and Gary were the first two that came through all the way as you could say. I brought them to the club, they made their league debuts for Carlisle and they both got transferred for decent money.
It is satisfying when you see young lads go on, and I still get phone calls from Gary and Tom to this day every week mainly because they have got problems or they want answers to something. But, to be fair to them they ring up and ask how I am going on, which is very nice. And, of course we have got two lads who this week have been told that they have got a chance of professional football with Steve and Ben getting professional contracts. But, the downside to that is the six lads that we have had to say no to.
JP
What is that like? Is that the hardest part of the job? I can't imagine anything worse than taking a lad's dream away, even though it is not you taking it away but you know what I mean?
EK
Yeah, I am part of it of course, this year and over the last couple of years it has been the gaffer (Greg Abbott) and Kav (Graham Kavanagh) and myself. I have sat down and we have gone through everything and it is Greg himself who informs me of the decision and then I have got to sit down with the lads and try to help them out and hopefully plan the next few months of their life.
Make sure that they are either getting trials, get them on work experience at other clubs, make sure they try to get some education by going to University, which is still part of my job. But, it doesn't matter how many years you do it, that day when you have got to sit in front of six lads and tell them that that is it, is unbelievably hard.
JP
But, there are good days as well, as you say, seeing lads come through, and also finding a whole new crop like you have got, and you are quite excited about for next year?
EK
Yeah, I have worked extremely.........Well, I hope extremely hard every year on the intake but this year I seem to have really gone a bit deeper into it, I have gone into the person themselves. I want a group of lads who just want to give it their best shot they have had, and I don't think I have had that for the last two years with this group. I think some have let themselves down badly, they haven't really given it their best shot.
But, the group of boys for next year I am really excited about, there is some decent talent in there, well I think there is. I have trained this morning because it is our free date and I have looked at them and I have spoken to them about next season. Although I am ready for a rest, and there are still six more weeks to go for this season, I can't wait for next season to have a go with this new intake, there are some decent lads there.