Greg Abbott - Radio Cumbria Interview

Last updated : 28 March 2009 By Thetashkentterror

Blues boss Greg Abbott
United boss Greg Abbott spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria ahead of Carlisle's relegation six-pointer against Northampton, Abbott first looking back on United's disastrous 2-1 defeat against Hereford at Brunton Park on Tuesday night :


" Tuesday was certainly the lowest result of the season, and the events leading up to the goals that they have scored and the job that we had to do after that made it a very poor night. I think that it has been in sync with our season to be fair, overall inconsistent and giving silly goals away and not scoring chances.

" So in those terms and then the reaction of the fans, who obviously turned up expecting a win, it is really disappointing. It is a hard one to stomach but it has gone now. From our point of view we have to try to turn those supporters round and give them a performance and give them some points so that they can go away from the ground a lot happier than they were on Tuesday night.

" We don't make excuses, I don't make excuses anyway, but I think that the seriousness of the situation and the attitude of everybody now. I think that is time that we stopped playing games ourselves, stop playing at the thing and making silly mistakes, and everybody approach the game and give it everything that they have got. I am not saying that they haven't in the past but I think that you try to make training interesting and good for the players.

" I think that at the minute though every single focus has to got to be on determination and rolling our sleeves up and making sure that we don't give goals away. Making sure that we protect our back four and clawing our way out of this situation now, because it has become one that is very serious and one that nobody at the football club likes and wants to continue.

" I don't believe that the players have let me down, I am the first to pat them on the back when they have done well and I am the first to say when things don't go so well that we are all together. It is not a players or staff situation, it is the whole of the football club. We take the praise together and I think that we have to take the criticism together. "



" As the manager I will stand responsible for that and I will continue to support and back the players and make sure that they have an understanding of what is required now to get us out of it. I think that the top and bottom of it is that if we can stop conceding silly goals and sloppy, soft goals then we are not far away from being half a decent team. At the minute our results don't suggest that but it is something that we have got to put right and do it quickly.

" I don't have many alternatives with players at the moment, we tried to do lots of bits and pieces in the loan window because injuries have played a significant part in our season. Again though, I don't think that the fans want me to harp on about injuries, the choices that we have got in certain parts of the field aren't brilliant. We have got options at the top end of the field but maybe not so many at the other end.

" So you really have to show faith and support in players at times. To be honest with you, if we do stop the silly goals that are going in and we do put our chances away with greater efficiency then we are not in the situation that we are in. Talking about rewarding players, the players that we have got are the only players that we have got and they have got to get us out of this situation, that is what it is.

" He (Gareth Taylor) started his career off as a centre-half, he has played there a hell of a lot of times. If you had to look at the two goals, if people want to start pointing fingers and pointing blame at people, if they would look at where the two goals came from. Just let them do that and find out which individuals were actually responsible for those goals, and it isn't Gareth Taylor. So in that instance whether he was a success or a failure, the two goals weren't down to him.

" Ian (Harte) has played 75 times for his country, he is only 31-years old, he is a proven player. He has got absolute top class pedigree, he will not be affected by the situation that we are in. Ian (Morris) will give us legs, he will give us energy, he is a big boy who will win his headers and he will win tackles. I think that at the moment they are two players that we need around the place to lift the situation that we are in. Altogether hopefully they will give a boost to everybody and hopefully give us a impetus to get a result tomorrow. "



" We were looking at all sorts of areas and all sorts of things. Again, the finance available suggested that we couldn't do everything that we wanted to do and player availability suggested that we couldn't do everything that we wanted to do. Every area of the pitch came under scrutiny, we highlighted the areas that we think we have had the most difficulties. Obviously that is conceding goals and that is the area that we have looked to strengthen.

" It now needs determination, collective effort, it is going to take, again, I keep going back to it, an elimination of individual errors and poor sloppy goals. Then if we can all collectively get together and produce some attacking play like we have been doing to be fair, but at the end of it stick the ball in the back of the net, then there won't be a problem.

" It is easier said than done though, these are words and what we have done is said that words are only cheap now on the training ground, words are cheap. The players have got to go out and eliminate the mistakes and put the ball in the back of the net, otherwise we are all going to come under scrutiny and come under exceptional criticism, which we have to take as part of the game.

" I am not going to give my team away to the other people but everybody that is fit is under selection. We have looked at it today, we have discussed it all today, we have got a good idea of what the team will be and everybody at the club that is fit will be considered.

" In football a week is a long time, if we produce a performance tomorrow then all the people that were critical, maybe half of them will stand there and clap the team off. That is how football is and that in a short space of time you can be turned from good to bad and from bad to good. So what we have to do is get results, we are not going to get people back on our side if we don't get those results. "



" That is the top and bottom of it, the people that were critical will become less critical if we win tomorrow, and if we get a result at Leicester next week then they will be even more less critical. Then if we got a result the week after that then most of the fans that were really upset the other night, along with myself, will be turning right round in full circle and be back on our side.

" I think that the fans are waiting to clap us off to be honest with you. I think that the majority of fans, and I have had a lot of messages of support over the last few days, in terms of what we are trying to do, are ready to support their team and cheer them off. They want to see a result just as much as I do.

" You are obviously going to get a determined response, they are football players and they are professional football players. They are hurt and they are wounded, they know that the errors that they have been making are costing them points, they know that the errors are costing some people their places in the team. You look at them today, there was a more serious tempo to the training session, there was a more edge to the training session, because people are now concerned about their futures as well as just getting three points in a football match.

" I think that as a whole of a football club and a city, everybody thinks that we should be mid-table, but we aren't and the table doesn't lie. We are where we deserve to be and we need to something about that quickly. To be fair the only people that can do something about it is me in the selection process with the rest of the staff.

" Then the players have to actually go across that white line and then they have to produce. They are the ones that have to make things happen, we give them the work, we give them the information that they need, they have got to make it happen and tomorrow it is a really important game for us. "