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JP
Lot's of good news, but I must start on some bad news relating to Danny Livesey and a bit of a flare-up with his injury?
GA
Yeah, it is just a bit of a setback and Dolly (Neil Dalton) will look after him and we need to make sure it is right for when he comes back into the squad. Because, we don't want to run the risk of him doing any damage that is going to set him back for a real period, so Dolly will look after him from now.
JP
How is his mental state? Because, he looked delighted to be back involved first in the Penrith game and then getting some proper frontline football, and to be back out again must have been a real blow for him?
GA
Yeah, football is never black and white and straightforward. So, it is something he will deal with but the good thing is that we take him out now and get him right before we put him back in.
JP
When is it he is seeing the specialist, and is there any indication at this stage what sort of timescale or span we are looking at?
GA
No, you are probably better off speaking to Dolly with that, Dolly looks after them and he is fantastic with them. He looks after him and he knows all the ins and outs of it, so you are probably better off speaking to Dolly on that. I just don't put any pressure on him or Danny, I just want him back fit and well and without the chance of him doing any damage that might put him out, so Dolly will tell me when he is ready to come back.
JP
And great news, Tom Cruise, shin splints is one of those injuries that you are never too sure how long it could keep you out for but he is back involved and he is available for the weekend?
GA
Yeah, with injury problems you generally have a little bit of good and a little bit of average and a little bit of bad news. So, we have had this week, Paul Thirlwell is back around the squad, Tom seems to have got over his shin splints. So, with the addition of the two new boys we have got a really good squad to pick from, and at one point it looked like we were going to be a bit depleted.
JP
On your new boys, we will talk about them both, but the man you have got from Cardiff, we have all just been debating how you say his name, so from the master?
GA
Miguel.
JP
Comminguez, I have got that right?
GA
Yeah, Comminguez.
JP
Oh, very good, I like that.
GA
I am alright with languages at the minute, I just put a different slant on the way I say it. But, call him Miguel if you have any problems, I think he will be alright with that. He is a good lad, he has already had a bit of fun with the boys.
He knows Francois (Zoko), he has marked Francois a few times in France before and says he has never got by him. So, he is pretty confident in his abilities, he has come in and gives us a little bit of strength and cover just incase from now to the window opening we get any more problems with our back four.
JP
He is predominantly a left-sided player but he is right-footed, so that presumably allows him to play on both flanks when required?
GA
Yeah, he is one of the few that plays on the left but he is strong with his right foot. He is quick, he is gritty, he has got a bit of experience and he is at the right sort of age. So, with him being right-footed he can play right-back should anything happen I would think to Frankie (Simek) or he could play left-back if we need him to play there.
He has played centre-half as well, he is really good in the air for his size but that is something we probably hopefully won't need him to do. But, he will give us some good cover, between now and the end of December we can't do anything else so we had to make sure we got some bodies in to cover us.
It is a really difficult period to try to get the right type and quality of player at this stage when obviously nobody wants to release anybody. Obviously, there are finances involved as well which makes life difficult as well.
JP
We are obviously talking about a number of your loan players and whether they might have longer term futures with Carlisle United. Miguel, does he come in almost looking for another club, does he have much of a future as you know it at Cardiff?
GA
Erm, I am not sure, I think Cardiff have probably gone too far for Miguel now in terms of where they are looking to be. But, you never say never in football and I think what he has got to do is just play his football now to the best he possibly can and get some games. Probably alert Cardiff and alert other clubs and alert ourselves, he is playing for his career at the moment. So, he comes with the right type of hunger in his play.
JP
What about the man you have got in on loan, the youngster (Ashley Eastham) from Blackpool?
GA
Yeah, again he is one that if with Peter (Murphy's) back and not knowing when that is going to be right. Obviously Danny, we have talked about Danny's news, if anything would have happened to Lubo (Lubomir Michalik) and James (Chester) then we would be left without any sort of cover whatsoever. But, he is not a bad player is Ash, he has been really impressive today in training and he comes with a good pedigree.
I have fought off another club to get him here because we needed that cover. He is another one, if he can't force his way into Blackpool's team, because they have gone really quickly, their progress, then he might be looking at other things later on in his career. So, we keep that door opened, a great chance to look at him and a terrific player to have to give us that depth and that squad strength from now until Christmas.
JP
On the players that you have had in on loan for a little while now, are you starting to get any indications as we draw towards Christmas whether they do want to spend their longer term futures here?
GA
Erm, yeah, you are always doing stuff like that. We are constantly looking to make sure that every time we have a transfer window we come out of it at the other end with at least as good a squad as we have got now, so that is something that work is ongoing with.
JP
How confident are you that you are going to repeat that again this year?
GA
Well, we have done it most years, we hope to come out of the window as strong as we are now and that is part of the process of being a manager, and that is part of the stuff that I am on with at the moment.
JP
The centre of defence though with Lubo Michalik and James Chester is a particularly key area in particular with the injuries that you have got in there. Are you hopeful that they could be with you beyond January then?
GA
Yeah, like I said, the key is, we have got a big cup tie tomorrow and we should be talking about a cup tie and not maybe the window. The window will take care of itself, all I am saying to you is that come January 31st I hope to have a squad that is as strong as we have got now, if not better.
I am working on that as well as trying to win FA Cup ties, win Johnstone's Paint ties and win league games. So, I think you can tell I have got a busy workload at the minute but I am into all that and hopefully at the end of January we are as strong as we are now.
JP
Tamworth then tomorrow in the FA Cup as you say, a huge cup tie, a great opportunity for Carlisle once again to get to the third round. But, Des Lyttle has been saying that nine times out of ten Carlisle will beat them here, he is just looking for that one?
GA
Yeah, it is probably a nicer position to be in than we are, because we are in a no-win sort of situation at the moment. If we win people say that we should have done and if you don't then people will question why you didn't.
Des will have his team prepared, it is interesting, he was on our radio this morning, I listened to all the work he has done in preparation for the game. I think that is the sort of work you should do for every game, I don't think this should be any different. We have treated Tamworth with exactly the same amount of respect as we have treated Southampton, and done exactly the same work.
We watched them three times and we have got the DVD and we know what their strengths and weaknesses are. So, they have got the greatest amount of respect from us and hopefully we prepare properly mentally, the players, and we give a really good account of ourselves, which is a very, very important game for us.
JP
So, Micky Adams giving him all of the crack from the Port Vale game is just par for the course, you are not going to kick Micky in the shins next time you see him or anything?
GA
No, I would expect that, we have had people from non-league clubs giving us a rundown on Tamworth as well. So, we have all got friends in football, we have all got friends at lower levels and we have got friends at higher levels.
Des is no different, Des has played at a decent level, he has got players and people that will give him information on us and we have taken no shortcuts for this one either. We have spoken to two managers from the non-league and they have given us an absolutely complete rundown on Tamworth, so we are well prepared ourselves.