United manager Graham Kavanagh (GK) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) following Carlisle's 3-0 League One defeat away to Wolves, Kavanagh talking about a result that confirmed United's relegation to League Two:
JP
It is all over, Carlisle United in League Two, how do you feel at the end of today and this season?
GK
I think it was inevitable over the last sort of two weeks, although I didn’t want to publically say it. I knew it was going to be a big ask against Wolves today but the manner in which we lost was symptomatic of some of the really poor performances we have had. It shows the character of this group of players, so Tuesday will come, we will make decisions. We have already made them to be fair but the players will find out on Tuesday and we move forward.
JP
Do you think you need to make big changes and refresh things and try to get that squad that is a Graham Kavanagh squad and that plays in the mould of its manager?
GK
I need a squad that is honest, hardworking and doesn’t make excuses. I need a squad that doesn’t look for ways out and has quality, so I will do all I can this summer to implement what I need to do in terms of changes, and put us a squad together that is fit and capable of challenging at the right end of the table next season.
JP
He didn’t quite give you the old vote of confidence, it wasn’t like that, but John Nixon had spoken to Jon Colman and I believe part of that is in the paper today, and he has intimated that you will be the manager next year and he has intimated there will be big changes, talking about eleven or twelve signings. So, are you looking at that big of an overhaul to try to make this Carlisle team be where you want them to be again?
GK
I am going to look at the signings I need to make, I am not going to put numbers on it because I don’t know exactly what is available yet in terms of budget. I have an idea of areas of the squad that I want to improve, I haven’t told the players yet with regard to who is staying and who is going. So, until I do that I am not really going to divulge obviously too much information, but there will be changes yeah.
JP
John Nixon as I say did intimate that you would definitely be here next year, he wasn’t looking to make that changes, has he made that sort of noise to you as well?
GK
Yeah, he has yeah, I mean John did a couple of weeks ago, we sat down and we had a discussion based on what has gone on this season. I felt all the way through that this squad wasn’t good enough when I initially got the job, and then when I took over I thought I was working miracles and I thought the way we have changed things and the way the new ideas we have implemented are very much coming to fruition and we are a better team for it.
That was the case for long periods, I wouldn’t say we played brilliant in all the games but we had a platform and a structure which we played to and people were prepared to listen and do the work that was needed. Once we started to get injuries and one or two of the leaders and characters came out of the group they couldn’t cope, and that was very much evident today in the way we conceded ground.
Listen, it is not just today, we played against a very good Wolves team and I am going to give them credit, Kenny Jackett has assembled a very good side with a big squad and obviously a big budget, but you have got to produce, and fair play to him he has. They are bringing quality onto the pitch when they are replacing and I knew it was going to be difficult regardless of where we are in the table today when I saw the fixture list.
Some of the decisions we made, the fear we played with, the lack of confidence and belief, there wasn’t anybody who was prepared to take the game by the scruff of the neck. I bring a kid on in Kyle Dempsey who showed everything that you ask and that you would want. I thought Dave Symington to be fair was magnificent and I thought that Sean O’Hanlon played well, but after that there wasn’t too many that I could hang my hat on and say that they were good enough at this level.
JP
Are they the sort of players you want to build your team around, players who will give you everything and try even in adversity?
GK
I know what you are saying, but I don’t think I can build my squad around kids. Lessons that need to be learned this season are we need to have our own players, they need to have an affinity to the football club and they need to understand what it means to play for us and what is expected. That is regardless of who the manager is, the fans expect us to work hard and put your body on the line and I think any professional footballer should be prepared to do that and must do that.
If they are not then they are going to find themselves on the scrapheap, as some of them may find out this season. So, they have had their opportunities they haven’t taken them and we now move forward with what we have left and what we can bring in.
JP
Looking at moving forward, I know you have received criticism for the volume of loan players but your hands were tied behind your back on that as you have said, when you hear the Wolves fans singing songs about their players and you see players’ names on the back of Wolves fans shirts, we want that around the city don’t we, wants that closeness again with the players in Carlisle?
GK
Well, the only way you will get is if you are successful, I mean I am sure the Wolves fans weren’t buying jerseys last season or the season before when they were struggling. But, fair play to them, Kenny has come in, he has stabilised the ship, he has got rid of what he has seen as the dead wood, and whatever way you look at it he has assembled a very good squad with a lot of work ethic, obviously with a lot of quality and a lot of know-how in this league, and all credit to them.
But, we are not going to be able to do that next season because obviously we won’t have the budget. I am going to have to be very prudent in the market, I am going to have to get players in who I know are going to work as physically hard. I have said to one or two of them there, including the lads who are going to be here with us next season, I am expecting more and demanding more and if you are not going to give it then you are not going to play.
JP
The chairman Andrew Jenkins came out in the week and apologised to the fans for the season that the club has had as a whole, do you think that not enough people realised that they were letting Carlisle United and their fans down at times this season?
GK
Well, I don’t think the chairman should have done that if I am being honest, because I don’t think the chairman has ever let this clubs down, he has only ever been after the best for this football club. Nobody else in the city is willing to put their hand in their pocket and fund the club. People can moan all they want, we need this and we need that and we need a board that will do whatever, those people aren’t out there because they are not knocking on the door asking to invest in the football club.
Dress it up how you want, that is the reality, and he is doing it because he knows what it means to the fans and what it also means to him. He has been here 50-odd years and he is desperate for this club to be successful, as I am. I feel a huge obligation to him, I feel a huge obligation to the fans, I think the fans who came today were absolutely magnificent and the fans who have been coming to all the home games have been absolutely top drawer regardless of the stick I have taken. They pay their money, they are entitled to do what they want to say and I have not a problem with that.
Sometimes it spills over, sometimes that is emotion, sometimes it be can passion, sometimes it can be out of order. But, on the whole this season I wouldn’t say it has been, I think they have been first class and we owe them a season like Wolves have had this season, next season. So, when we are at this stage next season we are hopefully singing with bells and whistles with regard to being at the end of the table we want to be, which hopefully makes us successful to be in League One again.
JP
And you are the man who is charged with making Carlisle marketable for those investors potentially to try to get it going on the pitch, get the fans going off it, how excited are you despite the disappointment of this season at having that chance and being the man to lead Carlisle United back into good fortune?
GK
Well, I am extremely proud to be the manager of this football club. I mean in defeat it is very difficult to feel proud because the players are representing you, and I don’t mind losing games but it is the manner in which we lose games, and it is the honesty we have towards the approach, the way we play, the way we chase, harry, close down.
We have lacked quality at times but we have still managed to get results in games, but there are other games where I have demanded and expected that little bit more and we haven’t got it, and we are now paying for the price for it. So, as I say, that won’t be tolerable next season, it can’t be, and we have got to be better for it.
JP
You will have noticed the massive group of fans who came and supported you today and the fact that 500 or 600 were still here to applaud Wolves on their title just shows the class of the Carlisle United travelling support?
GK
100%, yeah, absolutely top drawer. It was a game that I am sure they thought coming they were hoping rather than believing that we could get out of it. But, all credit to Wolves, I thought they were magnificent, they didn’t give us many opportunities but we probably didn’t help ourselves. But, the manner in which the fans stayed, clapped the players off was absolutely top drawer and I really applaud them for that.