Greg Abbott - Radio Cumbria Interview

Last updated : 21 April 2009 By Thetashkentterror

Blues boss Greg Abbott
United boss Greg Abbott spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips at Monday morning's open press conference for the local media after Carlisle's 2-2 draw at Leicester on Saturday, Abbott also later looking ahead to respective home and away matches against Oldham and Huddersfield over the Easter weekend :


" We are obviously very happy with the performance at Leicester, we were happy with the response that we got. The game had a lot of ups and downs in it, it could have gone either way. We were winning the game and then we were drawing the game, it looked like we could lose the game. Then to equalise in the fashion that we did so late on makes it like a win. I think that the key though is that it wasn't a lucky result, it wasn't a lucky point, we deserved to get something out of the game.

" That has to give us encouragement and impetus for the two massive games coming up now over the weekend. We have a lot of determination within the camp, everybody can see that the camp is united. There is a great spirit throughout, nobody wants to be in the situation that we are in and I think that everybody at the minute is pulling together to do their utmost to get us out as quick as we can.

" I know that the players are resilient and I know that they are very determined. What they have said is that they are better than their league position lies, we are better than where we are but we are where we are because that is what has happened over the season. We have not been able to put that performance in on such a regular basis, and that is the disappointing thing and that is something that we have to address.

" What the players have said though is that they are not throwing the towel in, they have told everybody that they are going to roll their sleeves up. I think they play for themselves, they play for the club, they play for the fans and they put in a performance that was top drawer. We know by fans' reactions and fans' reactions are sometimes over-exaggerated one way but I don't think that they were on Saturday.

" The fans were absolutely terrific, they have stayed behind, they have clapped the players off, they have seen a gutsy determined quality performance. Then to see where we were after 90 minutes of the game, to come back and score against the league leaders just shows that we are having some of this. "



" We created more chances against Hereford than we did against Leicester believe it or not, we should have beaten Hereford quite comfortably and I keep going on about that. Performances like Southend away, Colchester at home, Crewe in the cup game at home, they are one or two games I think where they were poor performances. They shouldn't happen, we have got good enough players for those not to happen, Hereford we gave away two ridiculous goals, apart from that we created numerous chances.

" That is the disappointing side of it and that has been our cutting edge all season, our Achilles heel if you like that we have not been able to score when we are on top and we concede soft goals at any times in games. That is something that we have to look at though and that is something for further down the line. We can analyse what has gone right and wrong later on but the key thing at the minute is the impetus given from Saturday's result to take us forward into this weekend.

" There we will have been nobody more pleased in the whole stadium at Leicester than Scott Dobie. He is a Carlisle boy through and through, he has had a stop-start sort of season. He has been coming off the bench and adding his little bits to the performance. He will be frustrated that he is not playing but he has shown me that he can come on with the right frame of mind and get us a goal.

" He did against (Leyton) Orient I think it was, he has come on on Saturday and got one, he has had other occasions where he has got himself in the right position and the ball has not just found its way into the net. He is a really good lad though and he is a local boy, he won't be happy with the situation that we are in and he has come on and he has been able to do something about it. "



" I think that this weekend is very important isn't it, it is vital, we have got impetus now and we have got encouragement. We have got confidence from Saturday and the game against Leicester, now we have got to go into Friday's game clinical, ruthless, determined, all those same words. We have got the confidence behind us that we need, now we have to go in there and take the game to Oldham.

" We need to put them on the back foot, try to do to them what Leicester did to us at times, make us defend and make us get bodies behind the ball, but we need to push Oldham back. It is a big weekend and we just think that Saturday's point in the manner that we got it, and the manner in which we played the game, gives us every chance and every belief that we have got a good weekend to look forward to, to get us out of this situation as quick as we can.

" They are words though, they were words before last week but the players produced, they are words this week but hopefully the players can go out and produce again. I'm sure that they can and they will be getting every encouragement from myself and all of the backroom staff. I think that you have seen by Saturday's performance that the players accept what the situation is, they have got a grasp of that and we all have.

" We are talking about how good we are in training but training was fierce, the tempo was high last week and it is going to be no different after today. We need to get a few of the walking wounded through the early part of the week but then we set about really getting to grips with what we are going to do and how we are going to play against Oldham. In terms of quality and determination, not a lot different from Saturday's performance to be honest.

" The players should be playing for their place right from day one but certainly they are now. Everybody is playing for a reason, there might be a reason that they want three points, there might be a reason that they want a higher wage packet, it might be that they want a new contract. There are loads of reasons, they might be playing because their pride says that they should be playing football well every week, which I think is the key. "



" Whether you are playing in the training now today or whether you are in a reserve team game or in an important League One game, or not an important League One game. I think that every game that they take part in they have got to have a pride in performing to the best of their ability. If they don't grasp that then they won't be around here that long.

" Chris Howarth won't be playing, if he does then he will be doing well, Danny Livesey won't be playing. We have got the long-term ones, we have to have a look at the walking wounded, it is something that we can't say too much about on a Monday. We are protecting a few at the minute and we are looking after a few at the minute but come Wednesday I would hope that everybody will want to take part in what is going on and that they will find their way onto the training field.

" I was confident last week so after Saturday I have got to be even more confident. It is not done, they are only words but if you are asking me then I am no different to what I was when I got asked the question last week. My confidence will always be high, the encouragement that I give my players will always be massive and we will get out of this situation.

" The fans were awesome on Saturday, I think that to a man there wasn't an empty seat I don't think when we finished the game. Everybody stopped to clap and to give the boys the encouragement that they needed. At the minute we have said that it was a collective effort, I am on about the people that run this football club, I am on about the management staff, I am on about the players and I am on about the fans.

" We need everybody rallying round together, we need to be as positive as we can be. We can all think about what happened right and wrong later on, we can analyse that and work it out. At the minute though it is about getting the points together, and certainly we were together as a club, we were together as a club on Saturday. That is what we need to do on Friday and Monday and then let's see where we are at at the beginning of next week. "