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GA
It is one of them that we are looking forward to. They have been doing ever so well themselves, it is a team that has come up and they are on a run of momentum. I think it will be a really tough game, I think Eddie (Howe) has done a fantastic job with that team to get them where they are and to get them playing the type of football that he is playing. It is going to be a really difficult game for us but take the seven hour journey out of the way and it is one that we are really looking forward to.
JP
With that reputation then for being a side who like to have a go basically, and your own for that this season, it should be another exciting match for those who can get down to the south coast?
GA
We have given our fans plenty to be enthused about on the road, and hopefully we are going to go again and not disappoint. We want to keep the run going, certainly the unbeaten run going as long as we possibly can because it does breed confidence, and it breeds a good energy round the ground. The players are in fine form at the minute, it is a lively club and a lively dressing room. The training is pretty easy to put on because everyone is happy, reasonably happy, and long may that continue.
JP
How are you building the trip down this time? How will you set about getting down there, training etc.?
GA
I have no idea now, because Andy (Hall) has just thrown a real spanner in the works, but we had it all sorted until Andy cocked it all up. He has come up with a couple of good options, fly, cost a fortune, so that has gone down like a lead balloon with the board. But, the timings weren't fitting and it was no fault of Andy's, I am just having a bit of crack with him.
So, we are going to re-jig that, but we will hope to set off early morning, train halfway down and carry on to the hotel. But, we got there a bit too late for the Colchester game, the Colchester trip was too late, so we don't want to run the risk of arriving at 11.30 at night. We want to try to get there for a reasonable time, 7-ish, 7.30.
JP
Craig Curran was saying after the result on Saturday that it is just part and parcel of playing for a club like Carlisle that there are these long trips. But, out of that almost negative of having to go on these long trips, what positives can you build out of it in terms of I guess bonding etc.?
GA
Erm, none, he is right is Craig. No, listen, we get used to it, he is right, you make more of it than we do. You ask me the questions and I have to answer them, not that I don't want to answer them but we don't really bother to be honest with you. We seriously don't bother too much, we know we have got to travel there, they have got to come back up here.
We just know come Thursday the good thing is that a lot of the lads live a couple of hours down south, so they get a little bit knocked off. They will go home on Thursday and we will pick up en route on Thursday and then we will find a nice training ground and we will train. The good thing is that if you do get a positive result then it is a nice journey back, and the lads have a real good crack together.
We eat together afterwards and we have a game of cards and the DVDs and we just have a nice bit of fun. So, the journey can be a long one if you concede in the last minute like we have done at Plymouth and Colchester last year and things like that. But, hopefully it is a good journey back and we can enjoy it.
JP
First game and first sight of your new man Oliver Norwood at the weekend, what did you make of his display?
GA
He is a footballer, he is what we thought he would be. In the second-half at times for a 20 minute period we didn't have the ball as much as we would have liked and everyone found it a bit difficult. But, I thought that in the first-half he slotted in there, his passing range is exceptional and he wants to make himself better and he wants to make the team better. He has already come in and he is like one of us already and I think that is the key.
He wants to play for Carlisle at the moment, he has taken off his Manchester United hat just for the loan period, but he is fully committed. For that you have to say brilliant, because he has come with no ego, no problem whatsoever, he told me straight away after the game that he had absolutely enjoyed every moment of it, and that he couldn't wait for the next game. That is the type we want and the type we have already got, so he has fitted in no problem.
JP
And any news on a couple of your other loan signings, in James Chester and Lubomir Michalik?
GA
We have certainly spoken to James's agent and told him what we think of him, and how we think he is progressing. Then we are going to sit down with James and ask him what his long-term plans are and if he would consider extending his loan, and if he was happy enough with what we are doing.
Then we have to see Manchester United's thoughts and take into consideration everybody's opinions and then we will move from there. Big Lubo (Lubomir Michalik) is certainly something I think we would be daft not to try to make happen, and maybe in the next week to two weeks we could have some news on that.
And the younger players in the team are all performing well?
GA
I just think our crowd want to see that enthusiasm, that energy and that honesty. I think they are enjoying the kids as much as we are. They are all learning and I think the more we can get of that type of age and that type of quality then the club is always going to be in good shape you know. It won't be long before one attracts a big, big club and makes the club a few quid because they are all playing very, very well and they have all got lots of different qualities.
One of them will take a shine to one of the bigger clubs soon, and that I suppose is a great fillip for the club, and we will go out there and try to replace that and keep the momentum going and keep the club going in the right direction. But, I think it is fantastic that the fans can look at them and see loads of energy and loads of determination, and I just think it is great.
JP
Three clean sheets now, is that something that you build your season around, that sort of record?
GA
Well, if we get many more we will win the league, if we keep getting clean sheets it is a no brainer, we will win the league, so it is vital that we do that. I haven't made a statement there that we are going to win the league, but certainly if we could get more of them then we are going to win a lot of games.
But, I am delighted, the goals conceded has been fantastic. We felt at times last year that we had to score two or three to win games and we conceded too many cheap goals without teams having to work too hard. Well, we have knocked that out of the thing so far, and again, long may that continue.
JP
Minor thing though it is, you have found goals a little bit harder to come by in the last couple of games. Is that something that you think is going to come? Any concerns about that whatsoever?
GA
I would you think you would always be concerned about a lack of goals, but if you look at the table and you look at the goal difference, we are the second best at plus six. So, it is nothing to be worried about at the minute, I think if we were playing dour, dull football without creating chances then I think we would have a massive problem, and conceding goals.
We are not playing dour, dull football, we are scoring goals, not at an alarming rate I have to say, but we are not conceding goals. So, we are allowing ourselves that opportunity to win games. I think we created some exceptional chances again on Saturday, as well as we did at Sheffield Wednesday, and the difference was that we put one in there.
Maybe on Saturday we might be critical of ourselves for not scoring when we were that much on top. So, you are not too upset but always concerned about not hitting the back of the net on a regular basis I agree.
JP
Just one criticism from the fans at the weekend, of course they will do when you don't win at home, was that the substitutes didn't have a great deal of an effect at the weekend, what do you think on that one?
GA
We have picked a team, or we have selected a system that we think is working, and it did work. Making substitutes sometimes upsets that rhythm, sometimes it is not the right type of game to do it. We made the substitutes in hoping they would work and they didn't not work, but they didn't do work.
Should we have given them a bit longer? That is a hindsight one, and I didn't want to lose the game, and we didn't lose the game and we still had the best chance of the game when Ben Marshall nearly nicked in at the far-post at the end, and that was one of the substitutions made.
So, we can all be critical about when and where to make substitutions, we have got to make them and hope they work. You could make those substitutions and lose the game and everybody would be saying that you shouldn't have done. So, there are always tough decisions to make and you will not always please everybody, and you will not always get criticised from everybody.
But, it is not that easy to make the right substitutions at the right time all the time, because if we had lost the game I wonder what criticisms would have been labelled at us then. That maybe it was down to substitutions. But, if we had made them earlier and we had won the game then people can argue that, but we don't know what is going to happen in hindsight do we?
JP
Just finally, on the injury table, anyone who might make it back who has been out at the weekend? Anyone who is a doubt who has been involved?
GA
No, little Tom (Taiwo) and Gary (Madine) have both got little knocks. But, that was why little Tom came off on Saturday. We want him right because we think he has been terrific, he is inspirational in the way he plays.
That is spreading and getting better, but he looks like he is going to be OK, and Gary's ankle we think is going to be fine. We might have Kevan Hurst back in contention in a behind closed doors game at Stockport tomorrow (Tuesday), so that will be another plus. So, we are heading on the right lines.
JP
That game I guess, just finally, finally, an opportunity to let a few of the players have a bit of a look at match action?
GA
Yeah, you have probably seen by the substitutes' appearances that they are not as tuned in as the others are, because they haven't had much football. That is why it is important that we get these games and get the right games, and get players coming on in the right frames of mind to go and do a job and make sure that their impression is one that tests my resolve in terms of changing the team round.