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" It has been no busier than other weeks, it is just that things have happened this week. It is one of those where things have just fallen into place and have been sorted out better than they have been in other weeks. A lot of the work that has gone on has come to fruition this week and we are sort of sitting here reasonably pleased with the outcome.
" Paul (Lambert) did speak to me quite a while ago as the season ended and expressed an interest in Ben (Williams) and came onto me a couple of times and I turned him down. We got to a stage where we thought that there might be something happening with the player swap thing but that wasn't to be.
" He pursued his interest and we got to a level where we thought that we would have to allow Ben permission to speak because it was a chance for him as well. It is a deal that is sort of relatively OK for everybody, so Ben spoke, agreed the figures and left us to sort out ourselves at this end.
" You never know, I am not going to say that Ben is a better keeper then Lenny (Pidgeley) or vice-versa. We think that the deal on paper seems OK for everybody, that will be determined by how Lenny performs here and how Ben performs down there. We have been impressed with Lenny in training, he is a name that was on our radar from last season. "
" Dennis (Booth) threw him at me last season but we couldn't do it then, and there was no need to do it then really because we had Tim Krul who came in and did an adequate job while Ben was gaining his form. Now he is in, he is a bright character, he has fitted in great, his attitude is spot on and we are hopeful that he can replace Ben and take that position forward for us.
" For one or two different reasons his career has gone slightly off track, and that does happen with goalkeepers. To be fair he is still a baby as a goalkeeper in terms of age, I think that keepers start reaching their peak around or about maybe 27 or 28, sometimes even later than that. They are a breed on their own aren't they goalkeepers but he has come in and his attitude has been first class.
" All that he wants to do now, is to prove, well probably prove to himself first and foremost, that he is a top goalkeeper and that he can kick on and get his career going forward again. The early signs are very, very good though and we have been really sat back looking at him thinking that he could be some player for us, and let's hope that he performs that way for us.
" What we are doing at the minute is that we are trying to make sure that everything is right for Carlisle, and that we are getting the best of everything I think on a one-year deal. Because if Lenny comes in and does well then he has got to be hungry because he has got a one-year deal. "
" If he does well, and he is under a bit of pressure to do that, we can then pin him down to a little bit longer. If it doesn't work out for everybody then we can do something about that. The signs are though that we want him to be hungry and we want him to prove to everybody that he is the right goalkeeper for us.
" We believe that he is and the way that we have done it is that it keeps him hungry, it keeps him under a little bit of pressure. He has got pressure with his one-year deal and he has pressure from Adam Collin who looks in terrific shape and terrific nick at the minute. So the whole situation I think is right for us, it gives him a hunger to be successful and to go on to prove what a good goalkeeper he is.
" I have known Tom (Taiwo) since he was 15 to be honest, he came up through the Leeds United ranks and he got into England's under-16s and then England's under-18s. Chelsea signed him with Michael Woods for £1 million in compensation, which is a hell of a figure for 16-year olds. So I knew all about Tom, what he has done is that he has got himself into Chelsea's reserves and he has found his way into the first team blocked by the unbelievable talent that they have at that club.
" We needed a young player, we needed one that is relatively clear of injury, he is a fit young boy, he plays in the type of mould of a Paul Thirlwell. We needed a bit of depth of strength in the midfield area, if anything happens to our senior players, and we did have injury problems in that area last year with Thir (Thirlwell), with Lummy (Chris Lumsdon), with Marc Bridge-Wilkinson.
" They were all injured at one time and it left us a little bit thin on the ground. Tom gives us strength of depth of cover and he starts behind the three experienced players, but we are hoping that he can come in and prove that he is a player that is worthy of his place in his own right. "
" We have got attacking midfielders, Paul Thirlwell scored four goals last season, I think that Kav (Graham Kavanagh) scored six. I think that Marc Bridge-Wilkinson is a player that people tend to forget about, he is an out and out attacking midfield player. So in terms of attacking players I don't think that there is a problem there, we have got Gavin Rothery and Michael Burns who are looking very, very good in training as well and their time has to come at some point as well.
" So we are in a position now where we have got that type of player, it was a more of a holding midfield player that was required because most of our players are OK going forward. It gives us energy though and it gives us a tough tackling player that keeps the ball and keeps the game simple. It will allow other people to do that role, which we think that we have already got.
" We thought that we were close to a striker today but it has not happened, but we might be close tomorrow, we might again go at it again on Monday or Tuesday. What we are going to do though is that we want one that is going to excite everybody, we want one that it is going to be different in terms of the ones that we have got, we want one that compliments the ones that we have got.
" Everybody is looking for the striker at the minute that gets them 25 goals and is going to win them the league, or get them in the top five or six places. They don't come cheap and they are not easy to find, so we are hunting, we are active. A lot of the work has been done and we are now getting enquiries back on that sort of work and we are looking at all the options of that striker.
" We can assure everybody though that we will have one in, well we hope to have one in, certainly by the start of the coming season. I'm not going to tell you who my targets are, it is a dangerous thing to do because you are alerting everybody else of your work. As soon as I get something concrete then I will let everybody know. "
" We are going to give the centre-forward (Yan Klukowski) a little bit more, we are probably going to give him a part of the game tomorrow at Workington. The other three trialists, to be honest we were slightly disappointed with them. They didn't blow us away in terms of ability but it is a good exercise because we have them in, we look at them and it doesn't cost us anything to do that.
" We don't have to make decisions on them until we are ready, and what we decided is that they are decent, their attitude was good, but they just weren't better than what we already had, and certainly weren't going to go straight into the first team.
" The position on Josh Gowling and Cleveland Taylor is that at the minute they belong to our football club. They have come in, they have been terrific on the training ground, they have both performed superbly well up to press, attitude is spot on. While they are like that, while they are coming on the training ground and wanting to work for themselves and this football club then there is no problem whatsoever.
" I have had a good chat with both of them and I am having no problems with them at all at the minute. They are actually trying to provide themselves with competition for their place and that will continue as long as they train and perform like they are doing. "