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GA
He has got good pedigree and he has got a good way about him, and we are hoping he can come in and help the lads we have already got upfront and help the team and be a big success for us and for himself.
JP
Tell us about the sort of player the fans are going to see when he does get that start.
GA
Well he is a big, strong lad, he is very strong. It has been interesting seeing him grapple with Richard Keogh and Danny Livesey and they are strong boys. He is a tough lad, he will be a handful and we have got to get him fit and we have got to get hungry and we have got to get him enjoying his football and he will make a big impact we hope.
JP
He said, and I think it was common knowledge anyway, that there were a few clubs in for him, how hard have Carlisle United had to fight to get this player?
GA
We have done a lot of hard work to be honest but we do that, we are prepared to do that. I travelled down to see him after training one day last week and met him and his pal. We sat and had a coffee, we had a bit of a laugh, we tried to get a good feel for each other.
I think that he was impressed with the fact that as soon there was an interest I had agreed to jump in my car and drive two and a half hours down the road to meet him. His agent said that I went a long way to him thinking that we were prepared to do the work needed to get him in.
Then the relationship has grown from there and we invited him to the game on Saturday and looked after him and his girlfriend, and then he has trained on Monday. Then obviously we have agreed and finalised everything today, and we put a short-term package together for him which we hope can be extended. If he goes somewhere else then it means he has done really well for us and other clubs have come in for him, but that is a long way off at the moment.
JP
Tell us more about that package, it is to the end of December, what is the thinking behind that at this stage? Why was it only the three months and not for say the season?
GA
Because we want to see where he is at, listen, he has got a lot of pedigree, he has been a big player and we want to see where he is at. The situation the club is in, we can't afford to make too many wrong decisions and wrong calls, there is not a lot of scope for making mistakes.
So if he is fit and he is hungry, and if his approach and his attitude is right then it is a fantastic signing for the club. If he is not quite where he was then we don't lose out too much at this minute in time. It is a bit of a gamble because if he does succeed then the chances are we might not be able to hang onto him.
JP
Just tell us a little bit about what you know about him in the past because he has obviously played at a very high level. I think before going to Portsmouth he got spotted playing in the Champions League.
GA
Yeah, he is a Champions League/Premier League player, he has caused a lot of problems, Dennis (Booth) has seen him in the past when he was at Preston. He said he was a handful, he said that him and (Mamady) Sidibe when they were at Stoke together were a battering ram and too strong for them.
He has got power, he has got strength, he has got good technique and we want to see where he is to where he was. He has had a bad achilles injury, he has got himself in the right shape, he has got himself in the right frame of mind and we hope he can come and help us in this short-term period.
Which is where our priority is at the moment, is the short-term run of results, and then we can see where it leads too from there. Sometimes to be honest if they do really well and they are comfortable and happy at a club then you have got a great chance of hanging onto them. That is what we aim to do with Vincent if he succeeds in what he is doing.
JP
And he says you have brought him in for his goals, is it as simple as that? Is that what you really need at the moment?
GA
I think so, I have brought him in to help the team create and score more goals yeah.
JP
He is a whopper though isn't he, he is massive, so is he a focal point for the team as well for you?
GA
He can be, we have been on the wrong end of big, strong aggressive centre-forwards that have caused us problems and we are hoping we have got one in our team that can do that. But when you think that we could going up for corners with the likes of Ian Harte, Danny Livesey, Richard Keogh, Vincent, Scott Dobie, those type of people, then we could be a big threat you know.
He can handle the ball as well, he is not one that you just boot it up to and he heads it. He can handle a ball, he deals with the ball really well and that might be the French finesse in him. We have to find that missing link soon, while we think we are doing a lot of the right things, and Vincent said to me when we were having the conversation on Monday how well he thought we had played (on Saturday).
His term was "amazing" actually, and I didn't think that we were quite amazing but it is nice when you get a player that obviously has played with good players at the top level to turn round and compliment you on the way you are trying to do things. What we need now is less compliments and more pats on the back because we have won games.
JP
And just looking at the team itself, the fans are talking about the same mistakes, not scoring the goals and not defending at the back. Do you think it takes some pressure off that back-line for that concentration, just as much as they do if they know that the goals are going to come at the other end of the pitch?
GA
Yes of course it does, we have conceded a poor goal (against Norwich), but the defence needs a bit of a helping hand, it needs a bit of support. They are doing well in their own right but we need to take the pressure off them by scoring goals at the other end. You will find that if we score one, two or three goals that clean sheets will follow that because it works hand in hand.
But listen, we know where our problems lie and this is another step to trying to put them right and assure the fans that we are trying everything we possibly can within the guidelines of what we have available to make that happen.
We have succeeded today, let's hope that the proof is in the pudding, that we are not just talking about a signing, we are talking about a player that has helped us and set us on our way. I think everybody at the club is pleased to have him in, he has been really good to have around, he is a genuinely likeable chap and we are going to enjoy working with him.
JP
At this stage of the season where you are know, a quarter of the way through the season, is there a bit of pressure now to start making those draws wins and those defeats draws?
GA
There is always pressure, it is how you handle it and how you deal with it and how you let it affect you. They are key points and we know that if we win on Saturday and get a result against Southend the following Saturday then we will be in the top twelve. So there is no real pressure, at this stage we have got to be happy with the way we are playing, but we have got to be very concerned with the results that aren't coming if you like, and that is the key to what we are doing.
If you were not performing and then couldn't see a way around the situation you would be genuinely worried. I am not over-worried, I am concerned but I think the way we are playing football and what we have and the type of football we are dishing up, somebody might get a real good drumming from us soon and the sooner the better.
JP
But making that happen is the important thing now, I guess you hope Vincent is part of that, and the other players as well because of his influence.
GA
Listen, everybody at the club is part of what we are doing, but Vincent has come because we are short on goals, we are short on putting the ball in the back of the net. We hope Vincent comes and helps us out, he wants to do it and we will have to wait and see with that.
But he is there to help all the other players, even just his presence alone, he is a big man who has got a big aura about him. We are hoping he comes and excites our fans and excites our players and everybody runs off the back of that, and we are really pleased to have him.
JP
And ahead of the Yeovil game, is he in line to be in the squad at least for that one then?
GA
Yeah, he is definitely going to be in the squad and I definitely hope he takes some part in the game. We will see where is on Thursday, we have had two really good tough days with him. He has trained really hard today and yesterday, he has done a little bit, well not a little bit extra but a lot extra.
He is going to have a rest tomorrow, do his gym work tomorrow and his weights work, he likes that type of thing, so don't be criticising him too much because he is built like an outhouse. Then on Thursday we will go through some genuine team practices and see where we are all at, where the whole team is at, and see what the best team is for us to go and get a result on Saturday.
JP
But is there hope that he is fit enough to be available for if you need him in that game?
GA
Absolutely, absolutely, he will be travelling with us that is for sure. We have to see later in the week where he is at, where all the other players are at and what we think is the best side, but he will getting stripped that is for sure.
JP
And it will give everyone, fans, players, the club, a lift going into that Yeovil game, but it is a tough game and it is one that you need to get something out of isn't it?
GA
Yeah, we are putting pressure on ourselves to go down there determined to win the game. All we have talked about since the game finished on Saturday is winning the game at Yeovil, winning the game at Yeovil, not drawing, not losing, winning the game at Yeovil. I will continue that message and press it home all week.
JP
And in terms of the rest of the squad, how are things shaping up?
GA
We are going to be still probably without David Raven and Paul Thirlwell, and apart from them we are as we are from Saturday.
JP
And how important is just getting something, just finally, out of that game for you as a manager just to relieve a little bit of that unrest about where the club are in the table at the moment?
GA
Well it is no more different than any other game, at the minute the situation is not a desperate situation, we just want three points to shoot us up. Stockport won last night (Monday) and went up seven places and that is what we are looking to do.