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" We are making progress, which is the key. What we have got to try to do, we are trying to make sure that we keep these things warm, we don't fill up all the gaps right now. There are a lot of players that are going to become available. The system is that you work behind the big boys and players filter down, players come on the radar that you might not have targeted before because they can't get fixed up at clubs that they thought they might go to.
" Money is tight all over, there is a big recession on out there, so players, their expectancy levels are maybe not reached. They tend to find their way down to clubs like ourselves, so we keep as many doors open and many avenues clear if that situation arises.
" I have got names for midfield and I am really keen on two but I am really keen on about eight because you have to start with your number one target. Which if you lose out on them, which everybody's number one target is a sought after player, so we are in opposition against a lot of other teams.
" So we go down to about seven or eight choices to be honest, but hopefully we get number one. If we lose that number one then we go for number two and that is how it works I am afraid. We are not in a position with the clubs that are in for these same types of players that we can be first in, everybody else is in for them as well. "
" They are very good players so we have to wait and see how they progress but that is where a lot of work is going on. You are taking phone calls, you are speaking to agents, you are speaking to players, you are speaking to managers, you are speaking to coaches, all the time to make sure that you get the best available at that particular time.
" We are trying all out to get Danny (Graham) to re-sign, I am meeting him tomorrow, we have spoken to him twice since the season finished. We are going to meet him and sit with him and discuss what we can do. Hopefully Danny will have a look at that, digest it, but to be fair to Dan he has got a bit of time on his side.
" People are working for him and tempting him with bits and pieces of availability from elsewhere. We are just trying to do the best that we can, we know what we can work with, we know what we can go with Danny and we are going to do that tomorrow and hopefully have a positive conversation.
" I am not building a team around an individual, we are going to be better than that next season. What I want is a team ethic that is collective, that everybody in the team has got a drive, energy, hunger and determination. Some players carry all of those, some players carry three of them, if any players carry only one of those things then they are going to find themselves not at the club.
" That is where we are going with it, in the whole team we want to have energy, determination and we want to be hungry. We want to put this last season out of our minds and concentrate on what could be and what we think we are capable of achieving. We think that we are capable, if everybody comes in with the right mindset, to be a really decent football club next season. "
" Adam (Collin) is ready, Adam is ready to take the step up, whether he can do it immediately remains to be seen but Adam will benefit from coming to a league club for the first time and getting day-to-day training. He will play in the pre-season friendlies and he is there to put massive pressure on Ben Williams. If we can get Ben Williams improved like he has improved this season, because of the fact that Adam is behind him, Adam has done his job there.
" Adam on his own stance though has got to push him because he wants to be a league keeper. It is going to be a terrific duel I think between those two, Adam has got a terrific presence and a good size. He is of a good age now and he is in there to push Ben right to the wire which can only be good that you have got a really competitive situation for the goalkeeping jersey.
" You can never say absolutely yes that we have got stability now but if you look at Ben Williams's performances in the second-half you would think that he is now starting to produce the sort of form that he knows he is capable of and that we need. If you can add to that that Adam Collin is going to come in and push him and he is going to get better even still, then the goalkeeping situation is a lot better than it was at the start of last season where Ben had a big shirt to fill in Keiren Westwood.
" Keiren Westwood is the best goalkeeper outside the Premier League in my eyes and was always going to be a massive, massive void. The expectancy and the pressure on Ben was massive because of the ability that Keiren had. He is over that now, he has come in now, he has settled down, his performances have improved and we want him to kick on again. With Adam there providing that stiff competition then the situation is a lot better than it was.
" I think that if the fans see the energy and the determination and the passion that we are going to show next season, they saw that at the back end of the season. Listen, everybody was behind me, you get people reporting this and reporting that but when I walked down the street there was a lot of support out there for myself and for the football club. The be-all and end-all to be honest with you is players and results. "
" If they see the right sort of people coming in, with the right sort of determination and the right hunger and the desire to play for Carlisle United and work with Carlisle United, like I do, like the people round me do. Then there will be no problem, the fans will give you no problems whatsoever, what they want to see is full commitment week in and week out, day in and day out.
" They deserve that, I deserve that and the football club deserves that and I think that is what will turn the fans around. I say turn the fans around, I think that is what will maintain their belief that this football club is going to go in the right direction. The top and bottom of it is results as well, they need to see results, sometimes we have played well this season and not got the results that we deserved.
" Hopefully next season even when we are not playing so well, with that determination and hunger and desire we might get those results even when we haven't played well. To be honest the results have a massive slant and bearing on fans' perceptions of what is going on.
" We are on with the contracts offered, you are talking about phone calls we have made this morning, one of them was one of those situations. So we are hopeful that they will get sorted quickly either way. I am not holding them to ransom and they are not holding me to ransom, we wait for their decision, so as soon as I have a decision my next move then takes place.
" I can't move now, it is a game of chess at the moment, I can't do anything until I know what is going on. Once I have found out the answers I can then decide what we want to do about it, but we already have a plan, we already have our next move. The moves depend though on what happens with the players out of contract at the moment, as soon as I know that then we can go the step forward and let you people know. "
" We set a month from the time the letters went out last week, we set a month, so I would like to think that the players will respect that and come back to us and say yes or no. Then we know where we stand in terms of other players' developments.
" I have been talking to Dave Bayliss all season, I don't know if anybody has noticed that but we have been in contact all the way through the year. We have got a terrific relationship with David, they (Barrow) have done fantastically well to stay in the division, and it is a tough division is the Conference. We have had a relationship that has been going on for 12 months to be fair.
" An affiliation is already happening, you are asking me a question that is already going on. I speak to Dave Bayliss who is one of the joint-managers there, this thing goes on. We don't have to broadcast and advertise everything we are doing, what we are doing is we are working very, very hard and no stone goes unturned as far as we are concerned.
" The situation is with David is that if we have got players that we think will benefit going to his club they are more than willing to take them because we give them the right players at the right time for them and for our players. David likewise is very good at making sure that we know about what is going on in the Conference, so the situation has been happening.
" Listen, being a manager at any football club is tough but being in charge of it at a club that is at the bottom end of the table having a tough time of it in terms of results is very tough. Listen, I have been in the game since I was 14-years old, I know that results flavour the situations. There were a lot of people patting me on the back at the end of the season so I am glad of that and I am really thankful of that. "
" The support that I was continued to be given throughout those difficult periods in the last two months of the season I absolutely adored. To be fair I think now that we have a duty to this football club to make sure that we improve on last season's performance and give those fans something to cheer about, and I thank them for their support at the end of the season.
" I have tried to get hold of Josh (Gowling), I think that he might even be away. I am planning a meeting with Josh this week or as soon as he gets back off his holiday to have a imminent conversation with Josh to find out where he sees his future and what his plans are.
" I would hope that by the end of the week we would have some movement on the contracts offered, and that by Friday I will be able to tell you that x, y or z has agreed or not agreed. I think that by the end of this week though, because players are going away on holiday and I think that they want to get their futures wrapped up so it is a bit of a waiting game for you as the media.
" Obviously you need things to write but it sort of stalls a little bit with players going away. I think though that by the time players do come back off their holidays they want their situation resolved so that they can concentrate on their sunbathing and all that kind of stuff.
" I think that the division next year is looking a whole lot harder than this season. You have probably got 12 to 16 clubs who think that they could certainly be in the top six. There are other clubs there that would try to want to consolidate but I think that you will have 16, maybe even more, thinking that they have got a realistic chance of getting into the top six. Because there are some big, big clubs in there and it will be a tough league next year, it will be a terrific league for our supporters and for us. "
" I absolutely believe that we are going to be massively improved on last season. With just the way that the season ended and the performances at the back end. With a tad more luck, a bit more quality and tidying things up around the football club. I have got a great belief that we are going to go on and be, I have got a real sneaking suspicion that we are going to be a nice package next season and I am looking forward to it.
" Ian Morris playing at left-back for Scunthorpe, that is what Ian Morris is all about. You are talking about versatility, Ian can play anywhere, he has gone in and I thought that his performance in the home game against MK Dons was decent. I thought that in the away game at MK Dons though, I thought that he was outstanding at left-back, I thought that he was absolutely terrific.
" The lad has come here and got some games and he has put himself back in, that is the advantage of the loan system, put himself back in Nigel (Adkins's) plans. We have got him match-fit as well, he played the three or four games for us and God bless him he is going to play at Wembley which is fantastic. Really, really, everybody at this football club will be really pleased for Ian that we have possibly helped in some small way, but he is going to play at Wembley and good luck to him.
" It is going to be close between Millwall and Scunthorpe. I think that what you have got is two teams that are similar, they are both tough, determined, spirit, a lot of character and spirit in the team. I wouldn't say that they are the best out and out footballing sides but both have goalscorers, Neil Harris at one end and Gary Hooper at the other respectively.
" Both though have real tough backbones, the back four, and maybe it is a lesson to ourselves that the back four has been terrific in terms of if you get something out of that then you really have to go into areas that hurt you. We had to give everything we did against Millwall to win that game didn't we, and again they were desperate to win by the way because they wanted to avoid Leeds and we did it. Two really tough teams with big backbones though. "