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GA
I am glad it is over, I am glad it is all out of the way and we can concentrate on Saturday now. It is always a time where there are a lot of rumours, a lot of speculation and a lot of concern about what is going to happen in and out. We as managers are probably pleased now that it is done and we can get on with the football, which is what we are here to do.
JP
Tell us what you make of your two additions?
GA
Well they (Ben Marshall and Lubomir Michalik) have looked good today. Lubo is a really big size, he is a giant to be fair and he has come in and he looks OK. He has joined in with the boys today and I think he has settled in nicely.
Ben Marshall has looked in great shape, his football was terrific, he even probably looks sharper and brighter and stronger than he did last year. So, I think he is going to put a lot of pressure on a lot of people, so, in that respect, very good.
JP
Tell us a little bit about Lubo first, a second international in your back line?
GA
Yeah, I think my language skills might need churning up a little bit at the minute. But, he has got good pedigree, he has got good background. He wants to play, he wants to prove that he is a good player again, and you don't play four times for a country as a big as Slovakia without having ability. He has certainly got that and then he has been at Bolton and Leeds, so, he has had good background and we are hoping he can come and add something to us.
JP
What sort of defender for fans who perhaps haven't had the chance to see him is he?
GA
He is a big 'un, he will win his headers and he will be strong and he will be dominant. We are hoping he will give us probably that stature and that physical presence that we haven't had with the side that we have had just recently. It probably lacks a little bit of height and a little bit of stature, but he will certainly give us that. We are hoping that in both areas of the field he will be a value to us.
JP
Your other addition, Ben Marshall, tell us a little bit for perhaps those who didn't see him last year, what sort of player have you brought in there?
GA
Exciting I think, one that can certainly give us versatility upfront. He can play as an attacking midfield player, left or right, down the middle, he has done all that with us last year so we know all that anyway, we have got the inside run on Ben. But, he just looks in really good nick, today he was really strong and fit and powerful and I am quite excited about this one, I think he is going be a really good addition for us.
JP
And just clear it up on Marshall where you think he can play because a few fans have questioned why you have signed another winger when your own wide-men aren't really getting in at the moment. But you feel he can play in more roles than just those wide areas?
GA
I think he can play massively better than as a wide player. We have not brought him in as a wide player, we have brought him in as a player that we know can do that job. But, you just might be really surprised on how he has developed, listen, we played him at Norwich in that central position just behind the front two and he was terrific.
We know he can play upfront on his own because he did at Wycombe and he was very, very good there. So, there are a whole lot of things that Ben can do, we haven't just brought him in as a wide player. I don't think I would be a manager that is currently not playing with wingers that would bring another winger in. So, he certainly can adapt to all sorts of positions and I think he is going to be a really good asset for us.
JP
Onto Ian Harte then, what is your understanding of how all of that happened in such a quick period of time as it appeared?
GA
My understanding is that we would have found it very, very difficult at the end of it to stop Ian doing the move. We did have a verbal agreement with him where we wouldn't stand in his way, that was part of the signing initially when he signed for us first and foremost.
As soon as I had spoken to Ian and he had told me about the deal and the length of time and the fact it was a Championship club, and the look in his eyes that he had probably made his mind up that he wanted to go. With the agreement we had had, we set about trying to get the best deal we possibly could for the football club.
Well, John (Nixon) did that together with myself and I thought that John did a fantastic job. Again, contrary to reports, it wasn't £50,000, it was a whole lot more than that, at Reading's request we have to keep that undisclosed, but, he certainly did a fantastic job for the football club. At the end of the day we lost a player that we didn't want to lose reluctantly.
Everybody from the board down to the management, the manager and my staff were adamant that we wanted to keep him. But, we knew that we were fighting a losing battle, probably with Ian wanting to go to that bigger challenge at a higher level. We respected his wishes and then we set about replacing him and getting the best deal possible, and I think we have done that.
JP
Do you think it is the best move for the player? Because he had had a number of clubs a little bit higher up before Carlisle, and Carlisle seemed to have re-established him as as a player.
GA
That is not really my decision to say whether it is right or wrong. Ian thinks he can do the job at a Championship club, he has got an attractive deal at a very good club. You will have to ask Ian whether he thinks it is the right or wrong thing to do, and maybe hindsight will determine whether it is a good thing or a bad thing to do.
But, I wish him well, reluctantly, very, very reluctantly, and I fought long and hard and had a couple of good run-ins with Ian. He is a player where I think there is respect on both sides to Ian and myself, and at the end of it we reluctantly agreed to it. Then we set about replacing him and getting the best deal we could for our football club, and we think we have done that.