United manager Graham Kavanagh (GK) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) following Carlisle's 2-1 League One defeat at home to Gillingham, Kavanagh saying that two individual mistakes cost the Blues:
JP
Lots to be positive about, as we talked about in commentary with Mark Gillespie, but unfortunately a defeat again?
GK
Yeah it is a defeat, incredible the way the game went. Very cruel on us I thought because we dominated every aspect of the game except you give away two individual mistakes and it costs you. But, the amount of chances we had, hitting the post, hitting the bar, Lee Miller gets a chance early in the game, Brad Potts gets one cleared and the keeper [Stuart Nelson] saves it on the line with his elbow. We just couldn’t get it in the net today, so it is disappointing but a hell of a lot of positives from the game.
JP
When you have a day like today, just taking this one in isolation, can you only just keep trying and keep doing what you are doing, there is not a great deal you could do or would do differently?
GK
No, well we could have defended better, there is no doubt about that. I mean to be fair to Courtney Meppen-Walter he has come in after the game, he has put his hands up and said he was at fault for both goals which is a lot of credit to him. But, as I have said when he first signed, he is a work in progress. We have got him in the team at the moment and he is making his mistakes in an environment that is tough, but fair play to the kid, he keeps coming back for more and he keeps wanting to improve.
So, we are a little bit young and naïve at the minute but it is what it is, we just keep going, we keep fighting, we keep pulling together and we keep hopefully getting performances like that. If we continue to get those then I am sure we will turn them into victories, that is what I keep believing anyway because I have got to and I want to and I want the lads to be incredibly positive and upbeat going into the next game.
JP
There are players who would say, boss I need to come out of the team because I am struggling at the moment, how much is it to Courtney’s credit then that he is wanting to try to keep helping out and get things right?
GK
Yeah, I mean he has got a huge heart has Courtney as they all have, I think they showed this afternoon. I think there were one or two comments after the game which were probably a little bit unfair but I understand the frustration of the fans, no doubt about it. They don’t want to see us where we are at the minute but I am learning very quickly.
The position we are in is real, we have got to do something about it, we have got a lot of young players who want to improve and they are, as I say, in an environment that is at times a little bit harsh. Their director and chairman just said me to there sorry, we apologise, we probably didn’t deserve that. But, they got it, they go away with three points and we are left scratching our heads as to why. But, we go again Monday morning and we dress ourselves down and look forward to the game on Tuesday, that is all we can do.
JP
And it is crucial to try to make sure that the home form doesn’t desert you altogether now doesn’t it, because it has been the thing that has been keeping you going really?
GK
Yes it has, yeah, and looking from the positive aspects we have performed well at home on the majority. We have passed the ball today, we have dominated the ball, we have dominated possession, we have dominated in the best areas but we just didn’t dominate the goals which is the key equation that matters. But, it is what it is, it has gone now, disappointed, will certainly feel the pain of this tonight, but we go again tomorrow.
JP
You have a wealth of experience in football, you have been a number two for a long time but it is your first stint as a boss, are you learning things on the job at the moment as well, are you finding this hard being at this end of the table?
GK
Well, it is not nice, I wouldn’t say it was nice, it is hard? Yeah, especially if you feel the lads should be rewarded with a little bit better than the results we are getting, but for one reason or another if you are not good enough in both boxes then you are going to pay the price. But, I can’t fault their effort and I would be worried as a manager if I was coming in and I didn’t feel they were giving us their all and I didn’t feel that they believed we could put this right. So, yes they are despondent and a little bit down, but we have been in this position before, we will go again.
We will have a look at the video on Monday and just show the positives of how well we can perform. It is maybe about having that little bit more composure in front of goal, Pottsy gets a chance at 1-0 and all he really has to do is hit the target, and because of his eagerness and probably his inexperience a little bit he tries to put the ball and the keeper I think into the net and so it goes over the bar. But, we are all learning, I am learning about myself, the staff are learning, the players are learning and I have to say full credit to the players for giving it their absolute maximum in difficult times. But, I do have hope and I do have belief that we will get out of this.
JP
You have talked about individual mistakes again today as with last week, at this stage with a young squad and a threadbare squad for you, not that many choices for you to make despite the signings that you have managed to get in this week, is there anything you can do beyond putting an arm round them and trying to talk them through where they have gone wrong in those scenarios that they just have to learn?
GK
Yeah, we will do definitely do all those things and we will definitely approach everything we do in a very positive manner. We highlight the indeficiencies and as a teacher would you, you show them where they are going wrong. You sort of lead them by the hand to a degree and show them, it is like the first goal today, the ball gets cleared, Courtney runs alongside the lad instead of actually getting up close to him [Joe Pigott] and making him feel his presence and maybe put him off.
He gives him too much room, probably because he has been an under-21 defender in an environment where you probably don’t get as tight as you would need to in League One and League Two and we have paid the price for it first-half. But, they are all small details that add to the big picture and the big picture is that at the minute we are not winning games.
JP
In terms of your signings, you have made a couple, I know that you are probably not thinking about that too much after a defeat but what can you tell us about the new men you have got in?
GK
I have to say I thought they were excellent, I genuinely thought all of them were excellent and they all added something to the game today. Charni Ekangamene is an industrious midfielder who likes to break play up, and we are playing him on the left at the minute just because I feel he doesn’t have that experience to play in as the holding one. I think James Berrett’s performances at the minute are outstanding, he is playing really on top of his game and he is playing very well, so I really don’t want to move him.
Mickey Drennan today hits an incredibly half-volley from close on 35 yards and doesn’t get the rewards that we hoped it would, he hit the bar last week from 30 yards again and doesn’t manage to score. Sam Byrne came on and I thought he looked really lively, he can go off both feet and really wants to sniff out a goal. I thought little Danny Redmond came on and he looked really bright, he is probably the one in the group now that can open the defence with a pass and an incisive moment of cleverness if you like. Who else have I forgot?
JP
Jordan Pickford.
GK
Oh Jordan, yeah, I thought Jordan was outstanding. I mean he is only a young kid with not a great deal of experience, albeit he has been at Alfreton, he has then stepped up and went to Burton and then he is now at this level and I am sure he is going to be a top class keeper who will play at the very highest level. So, again, as I have said before, and I am not making excuses by the way, this is not an excuse whatsoever, but the budget when I came in was spent.
So, we are in the market at the moment where we can afford, with a little bit of help from the other clubs, young inexperienced players who if we give them the platform and they do well, they go back to their clubs and we have done their job for them. But, it is difficult because that sort of means we are going without experience and at the moment in the key areas we probably don’t have enough experience.
But, it is what it is and we just crack on because I think the younger players give us that real honesty, they give us that energy that we would all hope for, and because they are so keen to do well they probably find themselves in positions that we probably don’t want them to be in. But, you can’t fault that so it is a learning curve, but we are all certainly trying to put it right.
JP
You talked before you announced the signings about one of them coming in on a month initially, was that Danny Redmond and is that sort of a suggestion that he might be more of a long-term option for Carlisle or is it just a one month loan at this stage?
GK
No, there are a number of them who we have brought in initially on loan with a view to keeping them until the end of the season and then seeing what their parent clubs fancy doing with them. As it stands at this moment probably two or three would maybe come into the equation, I don’t think Mickey Drennan would come out of Aston Villa, I think they have real high hopes for him and certainly Jordan wouldn’t.
I am not really sure on the other three if I am being totally honest, but it is one that we are very fortunate with the contacts and the way we have dealt with their parent clubs, that we have built a good relationship. But, I am sure the fans aren’t really particularly interested in that at the moment, all are they concerned about is the fact that we lost the game. So, I understand, I understand the frustration but all I can say is we will go again.
JP
I think the fans will have a degree of interest on the signings, in particular the trialists you were hoping on, once you had seen how much it cost you to get the two lads in today, any idea when you might have news one way or the other on the guys who have trained with you?
GK
Well, we have let one or two go, I let Paul Reid go yesterday, I let Lewis Young go. We have still got one or two in the building who we are still looking at and one or two are out of contract so we can actually still sign them outside the window on a permanent deal. That is what we are exploring at the moment, obviously I don’t want to bring players in who I feel are just as good, I want to bring them in if I feel that they are better. So, it is a case of whether we can afford to do that and if we can we will certainly endeavour to get them in the building.
JP
And looking to Tuesday, obviously a really big game that you will desperately want something from, how do you need to manage the lads this week because they must be disappointed to have played so well and still come away with nothing today?
GK
Well, they are down but I mean, we have had this situation before when we have won and they just get on with it. Obviously, when they are down maybe we need to put an arm round one or two a little bit more. As I say, we will show a positive DVD from today’s game of all the aspects that we did particularly well in, we will maybe identify the areas that I think maybe as a player they think they are in different areas and then you see it on the DVD and you realise what you could have done better. So, we will do that, we will have a good session, very upbeat on Monday and wipe ourselves down and go again, that is all we can do.
JP
And just finally, Paul Thirlwell, great to see him back on the bench, with a few more days might he be able to threaten the starting line-up for Tuesday’s game?
GK
Yeah, well I am hoping so, Thir has been a big player for us this season, he gives us that real experience in the middle of the park and as much as he is never going to be a flair player, he is going to be somebody who organises and manipulates the players around him to fill holes and to be defensively stronger than what we probably have been.
But, I am very cautious of Thir because of his history of his calf problems that if I rush him back and I lose him again for a long period of time. So, it is a case of easing him in, I think if you asked Thir he would want to play but I have probably at times got to take that out of his hands because I don’t want to disrupt the four weeks good work that he has sort of received trying to get back. Because, he has got back ahead of the game, ahead of the time really we thought he was, so just trying to manage them.