Greg Abbott - Radio Cumbria Interview

Last updated : 17 March 2009 By Thetashkentterror

Blues boss Greg Abbott
United boss Greg Abbott spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Derek Lacey on Monday morning about the latest contract news at Brunton Park, Abbott later in the interview talking about a building job for the future as far as the squad is concerned :


" Contracts for Danny Graham and David Raven are important, and if we can resolve it then we will, if we can't then we will look elsewhere. It is important that I get a squad ready for next season, they are part of it at the minute and if they want to be part of it then fantastic, if they don't then I won't have much choice in that, it will be down to the individual players.

" We will look elsewhere and we will try to get better than Danny Graham or David Raven if they don't agree to sign. If they do then that will be smashing, if they don't then we will look and we will try to improve on what we have already got. We don't want people of lesser quality, I can assure you of that, we might have to spend money in that area and that is where the board will say yes and that I can have money there because I need to replace them.

" They have had offers and their people that represent them are mulling them over, I think to be fair I have said this before, the priority at the moment is their football and getting those points. Once they get those then they will come in and they will sit down and assess them. I would again be telling you an untruth if I said I was confident or not confident because it is down to them to come to me with an offer within reason that the can club get to.

" We have made good offers in principle, they have got to go away, they have got to muse them over, come back to me and say that we are nowhere near or that they are close. If we are close then we can maybe push a little bit further, if we are not then they have to do what they have to do.

" So I would be telling an untruth if I said that I was confident one way or the other, I don't take anything for granted, I work hard at trying to do that, I will stick to my gameplan in terms of what I think is a worth. They have to have a look at that and if they can get better elsewhere then they will, that is what players do. If they think that they want to be part of this football club and the amounts that are being offered are right then they will do that as well. "



" Murph (Peter Murphy) will be in today and Paul Thirlwell will be in, they are the two, Thir has got a niggling knee but he is cracking on at the minute. Admirably doing so as well because we are short in that department with Lummy (Chris Lumsdon) not quite ready yet and Jeff (Smith) just coming back from his injury.

" So we are looking at getting some more bodies there but I think that Murph, the game will have done him good, it is a rest period now, it is a swim, it is a cotton wool job for him. We have got to try to keep as many bodies fit and get some more fit between now and the end of the season, so that we get those points that give us that comfort zone.

" I don't think that anybody wants to hear excuses about injuries but they are big important factors aren't they that those players (Danny Livesey and Marc Bridge-Wilkinson) are out and not fit for selection. It doesn't give me a lot of option for manoeuvre in the defensive part and the midfield part of our pitch.

" We have got plenty of options upfront, all the front players generally are fit, it is other areas of the pitch that we are struggling with, so in that sense we would like to get them back fit. It doesn't look like Danny Livesey is going to make it this season, it doesn't look like Bridge-Wilkinson is going to make it this season with the type of injuries that they have got and the rehabilitation work that needs to go with that to get them back training. "



" So we have just got to roll our sleeves up, accept it, dig deep with the resources that we have got. Possibly play a few players out of position now and again, throw younger players in now and again, the two full-backs (Michael Liddle and Tony Kane), were 18-years old on Saturday. Admirable, learning the game, by no means the finished article, learning the game, but we are encouraging them and they are making their mistakes now and hopefully they will be better for that in the long-term.

" There is a big long-term picture isn't there that we are trying to do as well, there is a further down the line agenda. Whilst they are in there now getting games, possibly longer and earlier than we would have liked, they are coping and they are dealing with it and they are making their mistakes and they will be better for it.

" We have got a couple of weeks haven't we until that loan deadline comes so we will have a look at what we have got. We will have a look at what points we have gained, there is a big job to be done once we have achieved what we need to do this season. I think that we can safely say, and fans don't want me to tell lies, they wouldn't want me to talk about the play-offs because I think that that is probably out of reach.

" The concern is getting the points to stay off relegation and not do that, it is a concern, it is not a massive difficult situation at present. We have got to get those points to steer clear of that though. Then we have got to start building for the future and it is whether we start doing it now in terms of the loan or we start looking for permanents for next season knowing what squad we will have and what squad we won't.

" That process is ongoing, we will all be out at games again tonight, tomorrow, Wednesday looking at players. The group of scouts that we have got will be out looking at players, the reports are coming in all the time, we will assess them and have a look. There is a building job as well for the future, there is a big job to get this squad ready to take us forward and improve what we have done so far. "



" I'd like to think that the squad we have got is capable of getting enough points to the end of the season. I know it is capable, it is capable because of the Leeds result, the MK Dons and Huddersfield results, I know that we keep talking about them. I want to keep talking about them because I want to keep reminding everybody that there is a basis of a good squad here.

" We haven't been consistent, I will give everybody that but what we are is a squad that is capable of playing and competing with every team in this league. Leicester never found it here, they are the best team in this league by a mile, that is the squad that we have got and that is the squad that we have been dealt with. If we think that we have got to go deeper into that in terms of survival then we will do. I have got two more weeks to do that, two more weeks, three more wins, four more wins, we are safe.

" So do we spend the money now, do we save it until the summer, these are situations that arise and develop over a season. Let's have a look at it, we have still got a bit of time, so we will look at that situation. If it does need enhancing then the board will back me, I guarantee you, the board will back me.

" If I think that we can do with what we have got then we might do that, we might then look at saving that money and looking to spend it wisely, shrewdly in the summer. We know what we have got and what we haven't got in terms of finance, I have been assured that there is money there to strengthen and improve this squad, and I will do that when I see the time is right. "