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JP
How are you feeling after going top of League One?
GA
Well, I am feeling alright because the team are doing alright and it is another good performance. I don't read too much into the table right now but I am alright because the team have produced another performance, not the complete performance but another really decent performance, and that is what we need to keep doing from now on.
JP
So much to be positive about, the fans clearly are, they love being at the top of the league. What were the main positives for you then?
GA
I think for one of the few times that I can remember, at the time of our first goal I don't think we were playing as fluent as we can. I don't think we got our passing game going, I don't think we were on top as much as we have been.
But, when we got that goal we were clinical and that is one of the few things we have been asking the players to improve on. Is to make sure that when we do get opportunities that we put them in the back of the net.
Funnily enough, before the game we said that it might be a game where everything is not going our way but if we get that chance then we must make sure that we put it in the back of the net because goals do change games.
I thought Saturday was a perfect example of that, once we got the first goal we looked a really good team. Then certainly for that period, 20 minutes to half an hour I thought we were fantastic in terms of our attacking play, and we got four goals, which is terrific to do that.
Then it gives you obviously a great chance of winning the game, which we ran out comfortable winners in the end, but it wasn't as easy as that along the way. But, I think the very fact that the first real chance we got we put in the back of the net, and it set us off onto a real good performance.
JP
How important is it as well that it is not one guy picking up all the goals? They have come from four different scorers for you.
GA
Well, I have said that all the way along. I think as long as we get the goals it doesn't matter who scores them. Obviously if you had a preference it would be your strikers but we have got two strikers who scored on Saturday and we have got midfield players scoring, which is what I have really wanted.
I have wanted Tom (Taiwo) to get on the scoresheet, certainly my top three midfield players in terms of where they are on the team, (James) Berrett and Taiwo and (Francois) Zoko. I think Zoko is classed as an attacking player, a striker if you like, so he has got to get his goals. But, I want Tom and James to chip in with half a dozen apiece at least and that would be a big help to the goalscoring ratio.
JP
When his chance came to score, Francois, he fair whacked it in didn't he?
GA
Well, he has got decent technical ability, we know he can do that, we think he has been a bit too unselfish at times, we are trying to encourage him to shoot more. The one where he smashed the post with his left foot was more like what we want, it was a half-chance, it wasn't even a chance really, it was just something he can do.
We want him to do more of that and hopefully we can expect the unexpected from him. Because in the final third he has got that bit of quality about him that we think can hurt the opposition, and on Saturday we were pleased he got his goal.
JP
After he hit the post though, it would have been easy to sit back and admire that. Was it more impressive in the fact that he want back after the ball and actually still set up a goal from that same move?
GA
Well, I think he works very hard. He is not what you would call maybe a typical his type of player, he is not a luxury player by any stretch of the imagination. He is one of these players that does his shift with the ball and knows he can hurt teams with the ball, but he also puts in a hell of a shift on the other side of it.
So, I didn't expect anything different from him, he is one that gives everything he has got and he has got a good side to his game, which is what the fans love, the attacking side. But, he has also got that willingness to help back when he needs to.
JP
What about your other two forwards involved, I know that you have various forward options but what did you make of the performances of (Gary) Madine and (Craig) Curran at the weekend?
GA
Well, I don't think we can play as well as we are playing without the massive contributions we are getting from those two. I think they have been fantastic, I really, really think Craig is going to be a really terrific player for us in terms of the energy and the work that he puts in. He makes sure that we stretch teams and he gives us that space to play in in the middle of the pitch, he runs all over.
And to be fair, take away Gary's quality, I think Gary Madine has reacted to Craig Curran's work-rate because he is working much, much harder than he ever has done. Because I think he sees Craig doing it and I think he knows he has to do it. What you have got with Gary as well is you have got that quality that he is producing, and I thought that Saturday was probably his best game in a Carlisle shirt.
I thought that not his only work-rate but his quality and his goal, the all-round play, was nearly the complete centre-forward's performance. I actually did remind him that the complete centre-forward's performance was yesterday and it was Andy Carroll, who he thinks he is as good as. So, there he has got something to try to live up to.
JP
You say that he has reacted a bit to Curran, but you also mentioned that he had come back at the start of pre-season and he looked like he had really stepped up a gear. Are we seeing a man who is growing up into a footballer now?
GA
I think we are seeing a man who is growing up. I think if we leave it at that and that then enables him to be a better footballer. I just think we are seeing a man that has had a real scare, in terms of his off-field problems, and I don't think Gary will mind me saying that because I have really tried to help Gary with everything about him.
I think he has had a real scare in terms of his life and where it might go if he doesn't grow up quickly. He has grown up quickly and we have seen an improvement in everything. People are saying what a nice lad he is, he is much more well-mannered, he is pleasant, he is not what we call 'Billy big-time'.
He is doing the right things and he is letting his football do the majority of his talking and I think fans and people and the club and everybody here is responding to that and seeing a better Gary Madine. I think we need to encourage that even more.
JP
Any thoughts about extending James Chester's loan spell?
GA
If you are asking me now would I like to then I would do. But, I think we just need to let him settle a little bit longer, probably ask the question to him first, see if he is liking it. I know he is, I spoke to his reserve team coach (Warren Joyce) and he is absolutely loving it.
James doesn't actually say too much and we will see what he says in the next couple of weeks, if he is positive then we can speak to Manchester United and see what their thoughts are and see where he goes.
JP
What is in your role as manager then after such a good start to the season? What do you have to do? Do you have to sort of curtail the enthusiasm or do you build on it?
GA
No, I don't have to curtail any enthusiasm, what I need to try to do is remind the players and remind the fans probably of how we got there, in terms of the hard work and the effort being put in. Not just over the last few weeks and not just in the last few games but over the summer, in the training, in the pre-season.
We need to make sure that nobody is comfortable where they are because you are in a position now where you are there to be shot at. Everybody will see that table and look at it and think that Carlisle United are at the top so we need to raise our game. They will get a bit of respect actually, and they will get a lot of teams now working out a plan of how to beat them.
So, we need to probably work even harder now, and out of respect to us that is the position that the lads have got themselves in and they have to deal with that. But, certainly we need to be not getting carried away and look at the table in maybe ten or twelve more games, and think that we are still around the top of it, good, we are off to a really good start, a platform to do well this season.
JP
Just over 5,000 in Brunton Park for the MK Dons game, your opinion on that?
GA
You can't bully fans through the door. There are still school holidays to be fair, there are still people away on holiday and it is not boom-time support for football teams because of that. The kids go back to school and then everybody is back normal in about a week or ten days time.
I would expect that coincided with the Swindon game, where if we do get the result at Colchester it will be fantastic, fantastic to see the fans come through. Everybody is asking for improvements in the squad, everybody is asking for improved football, everyone is asking for improved results. I think we have given them that, short-term, we need to do it over a longer period, correct, I accept that.
But it would be fantastic for them then to back us up and say that they are going to come down here and have a little look at what is going on now. We can try to convince them that Carlisle is back to being their team and that that is what they are going to do on a Saturday afternoon.
But, you can't bully people through the door, you just hope that you are doing the right thing to encourage people to have a little look and see what is going on. Winning games, or certainly not losing games is what people thrive on and the place is a happier place at the minute.
Training is bright, it was this morning and it will be while you are winning, when we get the first defeat I think you will see a definite drop in that but that is when you have to start working even harder to pick everybody up. But, at the minute they are enjoying coming in and doing their work and they are looking forward to the games. So, we are going to try to keep that going for the next 15 to 20 games if possible.
JP
Onto Colchester then, always a strong side and a team who you will know a fair bit about with the man who was here before you (John Ward) in charge of them these days?
GA
Yeah, it is another game, that is all it is, it is another game that we are desperate to go down and do ourselves justice again, keep performing like we are doing and hopefully again get a positive result out of it.
JP
Is there a sort of master and apprentice feel between you and John Ward? The man you I guess learnt part of your managerial teeth under.
GA
Not at all, I am just going there and I am a manager in my own right now, I have been in it long enough now to be able to cope with what is going on with it. We are dealing with all that, I am just going there, another game, absolutely nothing to prove to anybody.
I just want to get a good result, that is all we are doing there, it is Colchester, like it is Swindon, like it is other teams after that. We just want to go there and continue the type of football we are doing and try to get a really good result so we can chase after Swindon the following week when we get back to Brunton Park.
JP
Of course the last time you went down there it was a bit of a heartbreaking late winner for Colchester. After seeing a heartbreaking late equaliser for Plymouth you will be keen to avoid something like that?
GA
Well, obviously, I don't want to get beat do I. We had a bit of a rough ride at Plymouth in terms of the timing of their goal. But, we probably got a bit of the run of the ball on Saturday, or the run of the luck that was going on Saturday. Let's hope we get a continuation of that, again, we are just looking for a nice result again that sets us up again for the next home game.
JP
Who do you think are their particular dangerous players, Colchester, against what you know from previous encounters?
GA
Well, I know a lot about Colchester, I know a lot about their players, we know a lot about all the teams now. We have been in the league quite a bit and the teams are getting more familiar, so we look at all that later on in the week, we are only on Monday now.
We are still getting ourselves together and getting the boys back on the training field from Saturday. But, we look at their strengths and we try to deal with that like we did MK Dons. Hopefully when we have dealt with that we cause them a few problems of their own.
JP
Andy Bond was a player who it was well documented you were interested in, how impressed have you been with the way he has started life as a Football League player?
GA
He has done great, he has done smashing, but I am more interested in James Berrett, the one we have got. Andy Bond is Colchester's player, he is nothing to do with me, but I am dead pleased for him because he is a good lad, and I like to see kids do well. But, I am really pleased that James Berrett has come in and has been superb, I think you are certainly making no judgements at the moment.
People get off to good starts which is brilliant because that is what everybody wants, but you are looking to see after 12 to 15 games, that is where everybody is. Everybody has had a chance to play the good and the bad and the indifferent teams in the division, and we will find out roughly what the shape of the team is then.
We are always looking to improve if we have to if we think we can, so this week will be an interesting one to see what develops with us. Maybe we just look at it and see what happens and let the thing take its natural causes, but we are ready if we think we need to move on stuff.
We have got some irons in the fire if we think that we can do that, so we will see where it takes us this week. Teams that haven't been doing as well as they thought they might, or teams that even have done better than they thought they might, might come chasing players to strengthen, and the others to improve what they have got.
So, everyone will have their phones on I am sure on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and we will see where it goes towards the end of the week. If I thought I could let one go that I knew I could get one better than then I would do it.
That is common sense but I am not over-keen on letting anybody else go because I don't think the squad is big enough really and deep enough in terms of strength to be able to do that. But, if one went that I knew I had got better than then I would ask the player and move it on from there. But, if it was a no then we are OK.
JP
How much more do you need to see of Francois Zoko before you maybe think about extending his deal? Because there is always that fear that if he impresses that much then other clubs will be looking at him, and his contract will be up for dispute if you like from Christmas onwards.
GA
Yeah, I wouldn't have thought too much longer before I tell the chairman (Andrew Jenkins) and John (Nixon) that we might have to do something there because he has shown attractable form if that is the right word.
Obviously he has got something that a lot of players haven't, I wouldn't want to lose that. But, that is another good sign that we are doing things right that people are showing an interest in our players. So, it is probably something that doesn't need to be left too long.