United manager Graham Kavanagh (GK) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) following Carlisle's 4-2 League One defeat at home to Colchester, Kavanagh saying that the Blues didn't capitalise on their chances in the game:
JP
What can you say after a game like that?
GK
Obviously extremely disappointed, I mean I shook Joe Dunne’s hand at the end of the game and he said they didn’t deserve it. I disagree with him, if you don’t put the ball as we didn’t then you are going to be under pressure. I have just spoken to Chris Blake who is our statistics guy and they had six chances in the whole game and they scored four goals. We had eleven first-half and we had about eight second-half, we don’t put the ball in the net and you are always going to be vulnerable at the other end. But, the manner in which we conceded today was extremely poor.
JP
In particular those goals in the first-half, it won’t have been to you but it was almost comical some of the defending for them?
GK
It was schoolboy defending without a shadow of a doubt. We have always said show the ball wide, the first goal we allow the lad [Sanchez Watt] to break through lines that we set ourselves and get a shot away from a distance. I am not sure if Greg Fleming can do anything about it but it did look like it was in the corner.
The second goal, we have done loads and loads of work with Courtney Meppen-Walter about screening and getting people in front of you, and he allows the ball to come into the box without getting any front screen on, which is obviously going to be a danger because you can’t tackle him and you have got to stay on your feet.
Then for some reason I think it was James Berrett decides to play the ball across the goal rather than actually just clear the ball. So, you can’t legislate for that and with the chances we created, I mean I thought the performance was good in terms of everything we did going forward, we looked like a threat. But, nobody will want to hear that and I understand that because we lost the game 4-2.
JP
I had a chat with our colleagues from BBC Radio Essex and they said that Carlisle battered us first-half and we can’t believe that we were 2-1 up. What do you do at half-time when you are in that situation and then what didn’t happen in the second-half to try to make it better?
GK
Well, I think at half-time I was very conscious that the players were a little bit down because it was a very poor time to concede. We have conceded before half-time two games running now and it is not fitness because the boys are unbelievably fit, but it must be concentration and we don’t see the game out. It is difficult, anyway, we encouraged them at half-time, tactically changed one or two things and I thought we started pretty brightly.
I thought we looked like we were on the front foot again and we were the team taking the game to the opposition. But, I always felt we were going to be vulnerable, when they attacked I was nervous, I thought we weren’t looking confident and we were dropping deeper and deeper. I said to them at half-time that we need to get up, I don’t want to see the midfield players winning the first ball from the goalkeeper’s kicks and I need the centre-halves to do that.
But, we have got players on the park at the moment who are learning their trade and they are making mistakes and it is costing us. But, there is no other way to learn for them I am afraid, it is probably going to be the case for a period of time until we get through it and they start understanding and appreciating how difficult it is to win games. But, I am disappointed for the fans, there are no two ways about it, I took a bit of stick today and I am fine with that, not a problem.
But, I have to say that the honesty and the endeavour that they showed has been great, but we just lacked quality in front of goal. But, as I say, the amount of times that you get into the opposition third and you don’t score, you are always going to be under pressure, but we can’t defend the way we defended today, it is not acceptable.
JP
I am sure the fans were venting and they will do that in that scenario, but in our opinion most fans are very much behind you and they know it is a project that is going to take some time to sort out, but in the short term it is starting to get a bit squeaky bum time to coin a phrase?
GK
Yeah, I would agree with you, absolutely agree with you. As I say, we had a good week’s training this week, I am talking about when we were on the grass, other than the fact that we lose three players and we are now down to the bones of the squad. We are playing players that you would like to play, but not all at the same time, and they are learning and they are giving great honesty but it is affecting us.
I think because of the position we are in in the league it is probably affecting the players in general when they look at the table and see where we are. But, there is nothing we can do about it, we got to man up, accept where we are and we have got to be determined to do something about it. We have got to come in on Monday and we have got to work extremely hard again.
It is back to the drawing board as it has been on a number of occasions this season and I am sure fans and everybody else are sick of hearing that. I am sick of talking about it, I am going to be honest with you, I am sick of talking about it. But, what else can we do, we have got to keep going, we have got to keep driving forward, we have got to get to the summer and get over the line and we have got to re-evaluate.
JP
You have got a good break now, a week on Tuesday until the next game, is that a good thing, do you want a bit of time to really work on them on the training ground, or would you almost rather have a game coming up in the week?
GK
Well, from a personal point of view I am glad because I am not here tomorrow, Monday or Tuesday because I am doing my Pro licence. So, I will be in first thing Wednesday morning, obviously I will be on the phone to the staff but I will be in Wednesday morning ready to go again with the players and put my stamp and my mark on what we are going to try to do. We need to try to get some players fit or else we are going to need some money in the market to improve.
Because, at this moment we are too fragile and it is a problem, so I will be asking this week what we can do. We are going to have to try to improve, there is no other way because I think up to this point the amount of goals we have conceded, it is quite clear where we are faltering. Likewise at the other end we are not putting the ball in the net regularly enough. In saying that we got two goals today, if you get two goals at home then you expect to win a game.
JP
It is a big week you have got coming up then, how much more can you get out of the board in terms of getting money in with the gates where they are. I mean it is a balance isn’t it and it would take a big ask for them to keep giving you that money to do that?
GK
Yeah, well listen, I am very understanding, they have been very good, the chairman [Andrew Jenkins] and the directors have been excellent. I think they know where we are, I think they know where we need to get to, I am also aware that we probably need to move one or two, which is difficult in any window. But, we do need to try to recoup some money and the money we do generate we have to invest wisely.
JP
Do you think the players understand how serious the position has got now, do you think all of them do understand that?
GK
Well, they are incredibly stupid if they don’t, let’s be honest about it. I am sure they do, they are bright people and they want to be successful. I think they are giving it their all and they are not shying away from it, but they are just making individual errors at moments. I think when you start the season the way we started it, you lose the first four and draw two then you are always playing catch up.
Even when we won the first four and drew one under the tenure when I first took over, you never jump away from the pack and it takes a seven or eight game run. We haven’t done that for four or five years now and that was always the difficulty, the problem that we had was when we had the opportunities, like against the Oldhams and the Gillinghams we were lacklustre.
That goes back to the mindset for me and the mindset of the group has to change, you have to be more harder on yourself and look and evaluate where you can improve. Whether it be preparation, performance, training, whatever it is, you have got to be critical. I am critical, I look in the mirror every evening and ask if I have done as much as I can do and I think that is all we can ask.
If I get a performance like today with that energy and that honesty and we can add the intelligence, I keep using the word and I will continue to use the word for the rest of my career, we add that intelligence to our performance then we won’t be far away. But, individual mistakes at the minute are killing us.
JP
And I know you said you will want to try to do something given the opportunity, is anything on the horizon are you close to anything at this stage as we go to print if you like?
GK
No, not really, no. There were a few deals this week that I thought may or may not happen and they didn’t happen. One has obviously happened in Michael Drennan, so even that one I want to try to play a two up top but I am thinking we have to play the three because we are conceding goals. The fans may argue that we are still conceding so what is the point and put two up the other end of the pitch.
Well, it generally has been a first goal league and if you concede the first goal then you are always going to be playing catch up and the mindset of the players changes. So, it is important we stay in the game for long periods and at the minute we are not doing it. But, it was only sort of three or four weeks ago that we were playing extremely well, Preston, Peterborough, Sunderland.
So, they are capable, but we need to get the likes of Sean O’Hanlon, Paul Thirlwell and one or two others back and we need to get Lee Miller back firing again. We need to get Mark Gillespie back in goal and the spine of the team, I mean I am not making excuses but we haven’t had the same back four or keeper since I think I took over, I think every single game I have had to change.
I don’t want to be coming in after games making excuses because I think the fans get a pain in the neck with it and I totally understand that. They have paid their hard earned money to come and they deserve results and they deserve a performance. I think we gave them a performance today, but we just didn’t give them a result.
JP
And looking forward, what sort of a player have we got in your new lad in from Aston Villa?
GK
Well, in the 25 minutes he was on today I think you have seen that he is extremely hardworking, he will chase paper, he will close down defenders, he has an eye for the goal, he is left-footed, he has got excellent movement. I thought he would be a great foil with Lee Miller and it is one of those, he had only trained one day so I couldn’t throw him in.
But, I am going to have to try to come up with a system and a solution for MK Dons who are a very good side. We beat them away with a tactical performance, we are going to have to look this week and see how we can compete and beat them next week.
JP
And just on that one, there are fans and there are who will go away today saying they are not going back after that, what would you say to them, you have got ten days now until that game, what are you hopefully going to get out of that game and for them next time out?
GK
I don’t really know how to answer that to be honest, I think obviously I want them to stick with us but I think there have been a lot of fans who have decided that Greg Abbott wasn’t the man and they were staying away for that reason. We got four wins on the bounce and there weren’t particularly too many fans who came back, they are waiting for whatever which is fair enough.
That didn’t really happen, we had a very good game against Preston over Christmas and we got eight and a half or nine thousand and you think OK, we are turning it. We got an unbelievable amount of support going to Sunderland and you think OK, the fans are buying back into it. If they are deciding they are not going to come, well other than us working hard, getting results, getting performances, as I have said already, this isn’t something that is going to change overnight.
I thank them all who do come and I know it is difficult times we are in and they want to be entertained. I am not criticising any of them who come, I genuinely am not, but it may give the ones who don’t come that little bit more reason to decide not to. But, it is a long season, it is one as I said we need to get to the end of as quickly as we can with as many points as we can on the board knowing we are still in the league, re-evaluate in the summer and then address it then.