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PN
How pleased are you to have been able to bring Frank into your club?
GA
We are delighted to bring him in, he is a good guy, he is a good person, he is saying all the right things. He was only talking football, not talking too much finance, just wanting to improve his football career and improve us as a club and improve himself.
That for me was the biggest issue, all the talk when I spoke to Frank was about football and for me that is a dream. It is really refreshing and, apart from his ability and what we know about him already, it was really nice to see that he is a really rounded sort of guy and he is coming for all the right reasons.
PN
What qualities do you think Frank will bring to your side this coming season?
GA
Definite ability, he has got genuine ability, he is an international already and people look at the United States as not one of the stronger nations, but you can tell by this World Cup that they are fast getting to everybody else's level. He has been part of that, he has got a few caps and he wants to make some more of that.
He will bring an energy and an ability, he gets up and down, he has got great fitness levels, even today on his first day he was right up there with the best of the runners we have got. We think he will be a really good signing and one certainly that the fans will really take to and enjoy being with us.
PN
That is four additions so far this summer, ideally how many more would you like to add now?
GA
Well, I never put numbers on it do I because I never know what is going to come up and what is going to work within our framework. But I would like to just improve the squad a little bit more and give us a little bit more depth and a little bit more strength incase of injuries and suspensions and things like that that happen when we get to the September/October time of the year.
So I am not quite finished yet but I wouldn't like to say one, two or three and then people expect that number. But as the days are going on and certain players are not getting the types of moves they have probably dreamed of in May then things might change. But I am certainly hopeful of adding to the squad, definitely before we start.
PN
Would you like to add another striker to the two you have already brought in and would that ideally like to be a player who could probably guarantee you maybe 15 goals a season?
GA
Well we might but Gary Madine has already told me today that he is going to get 15 goals, so I have got players in there. Craig Curran says that he can score goals if he is played in the right position.
So at the minute we are OK with the striker situation, if the right type come in that could almost guarantee that and have the pedigree to do that and fits within the framework we have got then I would make a play for him as I have always promised the fans.
But at the minute we are OK with that position and probably looking at the minute of adding a little bit more strength in depth in other areas. But that type of player is always absolutely vital to a club and if we could find him then we would do.
PN
Obviously lots of speculation about Adam Clayton as well, who you made no secret you would like to bring back. What is his situation at the moment as far as you understand it?
GA
Well we have got a bid in for Adam, we have had a bid in for quite a while. Manchester City have got a lot of players on World Cup duty at the minute, so what they have done is they are probably needing all their young players to make the numbers right so the training looks healthy.
I think once that has sorted itself out and the World Cup players are back for duty then Adam's situation will be clearer on whether they are going to keep him or they are willing to let him go. If they are willing to let him go then we have to maintain our interest in that one. But whilst we are doing that we are always looking at other things and other options just incase that one doesn't happen.
PN
And has Adam given you any indication that he would consider coming back here on a permanent basis?
GA
Well that is what he said, we spoke to him during the summer, we spoke to him last season and he loved his time here. He was impressive in the way he played the game and the type of player he is and he complements other players we have got.
But Adam at the minute is back at Manchester City, he is doing his football there, and if he finds there is not a route forward there for him then he knows that this would be a nice place for him to come. He has always expressed an interest in coming here if things don't work out for him.
PN
Tony Caig, what is the situation now with regard to those talks with Workington?
GA
With Tony, obviously the situation is that we want to bring in a full-time goalkeeping coach rather than a part-time and we need some cover for Adam Collin for the bench. So we are trying to organise a deal with Workington, but we are going to meet with the chairman Humphrey (Dobie) and Darren on Monday and try to thrash something out. If that is all fruitful then something will happen, if not then we look at other options.
PN
And the players back in training this week, how did they look?
GA
They look good, it is surprising how as years go on how fit players come back. Usually it used to be the case where players come and they used to get fit, now they are coming back just to get fitter. They are in great shape and I thought that our boys were absolutely terrific yesterday and today, there have been massive levels of fitness and we will have no problem getting them right for the Brentford game.
Your worries about working your programme to get players fit are almost eluded when you see the shape and the condition that they have come in. They are an absolute credit to themselves and it gives me a good group to work with. I have always had that and that is one of the big plusses and one of the factors why we did so well last year.
PN
And the likelihood of getting some trialists in over the next week or so to have a look at?
GA
There might be some surprising trialists for you over the next couple of weeks, but from Monday we will have another few in and the following Monday another couple. We are trying to stage the trialists so there are not too many at one time and you never know.
It is a good time to have trialists in and a good time to exhaust other options and areas and get people in and see how they compare with what you have got. So we will look at probably seven or eight over the next three weeks and hopefully one of them might just come through and prove to be as good or better than we have got.
PN
But no names at the moment?
GA
No names, you know me.