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GA
We have agreed to take Nahki to the end of the season. With Nahki's university commitments, his schooling, which is why he is in England, well the main reason was to try to carve out a football career, but the route to do it is through a footballing college, so he is studying. So, we have not seen a great deal of him, obviously with the weather hampering our training programme as well we have not seen a great deal of him for that reason as well.
So, what we have done is we have seen enough of him to think that he may be a good acquisition. So, we have given him a short-term contract from January 1st agreed in principle through to the end of May, hoping that Nahki will show us enough to maybe make an impression in England.
So, he has not come as a first-team player right now, he has come as one that is maybe further down the line and we hope can develop, and the deal reflects that, the financial side of it reflects that. So, he is one that we need to just be patient with him and see what he can do, but he is one that we are hopeful from what we have seen can develop into a decent player for us. But, he is sort of like a low key signing if you like.
PN
For the benefit of people who haven't seen him play yet, what kind of a player is he?
GA
He is very quick, he is one that will excite people, he has got great ability on the ball. We would like to have seen a lot more of him but we think when people do see him, if he gets that far through the progression he has got to get through, he is an exciting type of player. One that we think can make people look up and like the sort of way he plays. But, he is certainly one that is going to catch the eye if he can show people on the big picture what he can do that he has done in training.
PN
Of course not much opportunity to see him out on the pitch as the frustration continues with the weather at the moment?
GA
Yeah, I think most of us managers are all in the same boat, we are all fighting for a training facility. But, again we have done really well in terms of keeping the momentum going and the training programme going. We have spoken to people that we know and we went to Middlesbrough yesterday.
Morecambe Football Club have been absolutely fantastic, they have got, with their community and council, they have got a 3Gplus pitch, outdoor full size which we have been using, which has been terrific, and we are going to go there again tomorrow.
But, we are sort of carving most of the motorway up in the north of England to find some sort of training facility, and do you know what, we haven't had one grumble from our players, which is absolutely fantastic and shows you what a really good group they are, and they are a group keen to keep the thing going.
PN
How careful do you have to be with your players on artificial pitches? Because, it is not ideal is it?
GA
No, it is not perfect, but Morecambe's is as near to grass as you could get, it is soft, it has got a real good give in it, you could wear a stud if you wanted to. But, it is a mental thing with players, modern day players mentally now think that their groins and their hips and their knees are all going to suffer through the artificial.
But, I just think it is a mental blockage, but it is there and you have got to deal with that. So, we can't do it every day, today we are back at the training ground and we are in the indoor centre doing a different programme with the weights and the running machines and the bikes and stuff like that. Tomorrow we go back on the artificial at Morecambe again.
PN
Hopefully touch wood you will have some matches to play, but in terms of training, how much leeway are you giving them?
GA
It is just normal, we are preparing like we normally do, like we have done every single year. They will get their normal time off, they will get their normal time in, so we just do exactly as we have done. The only difference is that the venues are going to be slightly different, I don't think we are going to get any training in Carlisle whatsoever before the game on Boxing Day. So, it is maintaining the venues that we have been using and probably doing our work outside of Carlisle.
But, not perfect and it is not ideal for me certainly with all the bits and pieces I have to do after training. But, again, Kav (Graham Kavanagh) is in the indoor centre with them today doing the gym work and I am catching up on all the other bits and pieces. Again, there is the January window coming up, so there is that to think about as well, which you lot have forgotten about just for the minute, I thought I was getting away with that one.
PN
Now you come to mention it, the January window of course, lots of speculation as to what you might be doing in the transfer window. In terms of the possibility of players going out, has there been any interest, are you anticipating any interest?
GA
Can we do one of those whoop things now so I have a bleep, bleep, bleep bit and I can swear as much as I want and then get it out of the way. No, listen, like I said, again, with a bit of crack with you guys it is an exciting time, it is when things happen. Like I have said, and I am going to be not quite boring but what we want to try to do is by the end of the window make sure we have got a squad that is continuing to take the club forward.
If that means some shuffling around with players in and out then we will do it. But, at the minute we have got numbers but the obvious questions about players that haven't been playing regularly and people wanting to have a look at them and give them regular football then I would have to offer it to the players. Then if that happened we would put that position and that finance back into improving what we have got as well. So, it is a one out and one in sort of situation.
The equation has to fit, has to add up, and financially it all has to be married in, there is not a great deal of money to throw at it. But, again, like I have said before, if I have gone to the board with something that they think is going to improve us then I fight my case and they have generally been very good with that. But, I think the answer to your question is that there could be some movement but as such I couldn't promise anything just yet in or out, but I would imagine there would be.
PN
Hypothetically would you be happy if the squad stays the same at the end of the transfer window as it is now?
GA
Erm, no, I would want a better squad like every manager probably would, whether we can afford to do that would be another case to answer. But, the squad I have got at the minute is not bad, it is not bad, it is three points off third or fourth place is it? (five points - ed). It is in the third round of the FA Cup, it is in the final of the northern section of the Johnstone's Paints, so most people would say you are grumbling about a squad there that has actually been reasonably successful.
I think what I have seen over the past six to eight weeks is that we can't rest on our laurels, there is still work to be done, there is still a consistency to find and there is still room for improvement in results for sure. So, that is where I am at at the moment and I have got to try to rectify that and marry up a budget to go with it.
PN
Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and Jason Price are currently out on loan at the moment. Is there any suggestion at this stage that those deals could be made permanent next month?
GA
Not at the moment, I think to be honest as you have said in this interview, the January window has been slightly put to one side at the minute with the problems players and teams have got trying to organise training venues and training programmes for the games coming up over the Christmas period.
So, I would imagine once those four games in the eight days have gone then there will be nothing else you are going to ask me about bar the January window. But, up to now it has sort of been slightly shelved, so I have not spoken to anybody about any of the players, like I have not really done as much talk about other players as I would probably have liked because we are actually concentrating on the training programme at the minute and finding a facility to work with.
PN
Let's assume that weather permitting you do get some games on, how crucial is this next two week period to your season?
GA
I think if you look at the next four weeks, I think it is going to determine how successful the season is. I think the next four weeks is pivotal to everything, the FA Cup, the start of the Johnstone's Paints journey, important league games.
I think we are either going for a really successful season or we could find ourselves fighting to keep the season going if you like, the momentum and the interest within the season. I think it is crucial that we get results in the league, the FA Cup and the Johnstone's Paints, but I think you are absolutely spot on that this is the most critical month that we as a club are going to face this season.
PN
And we had better mention Oldham on Boxing Day, if it does go ahead what kind of game are you expecting there?
GA
Well, I spoke to Lee Duxbury last night because sometimes you get duff information and he thinks the game is going to be on, he is confident the game is going to be on. He said their pitch is soft, the snow is on top of the covers which is insulating everything.
Oldham is colder than the Arctic, I will tell you that now, it is the coldest place, not in England, in the World, there is no colder place than Oldham in the World. So, if they get a game on at Oldham then there are games on everywhere in the country because, I am telling you now, there is a penguin plays in their back four and he loves the conditions.
PN
Yeah, what type of football do they play? What have you been able to decipher from their games so far?
GA
They defend well, they don't play too much from the back, they defend well, they put their bodies on the line, they play with a lot of energy, they have got pace through the team. Chris Taylor is back to his best and they were talking about £1 million for him a couple of seasons ago. They have got (Oumare) Tounkara who has done really well from Sunderland who nicks a goal and you have got big centre-halves in Reuben Hazell and Yves Voto (Jean-Yves M'voto), the no nonsense players.
Then they have got quality in midfield, (Dale) Stephens and (Dean) Furman. So, I don't like talking about opposition players and too many individuals, but they have got, similar to us, they have got a lot of good strength but they have certainly got their weaknesses, as has every team.
We will be giving them the greatest amount of respect but going there, we have never done that well I don't think at Oldham, some dire performances if I can remember, so we are due a decent one there, get the turkey digested and let's get at them.
The type of teams we struggle against, and maybe I shouldn't give too much away, is the sides that really are physical with us and turn us round in terms of going from front to back long and pressure us and chase and run after everything and actually don't play too much football.
I think when teams try to come and play football we find that a comfortable sort of side to play against, so that may be something that we have looked at as a staff. We can raise our game against lesser sides, I think it is the sides that come at us and show that physical strength in the way that the Tamworths and the Dagenhams did that maybe is causing us more of a problem.
PN
Just finally, a quick word to the Carlisle fans and Radio Cumbria listeners ahead of Christmas?
GA
Yeah, get one of those warm hats, get some gloves, get one of those warm hats and get one of the snoods that is going around, the Premier League players have got them, and they keep your neck warm and whatever else it has to keep warm. But, we need you, we hope we have improved things, we want to continue to do that.
The support has been brilliant, I actually took the criticism a lot better than I have done in the past from the last home game against Dagenham. Because, I think the fans are entitled to do that and they did it in a constructive way and the manner in which they did it was fine, no problem to me, I accept that, we take it on the chin.
I don't want to give them too many more opportunities to do that because I want to be winning games and I want to give them that excitement between now and the end of the season. God bless them they will be with us a little bit longer and stick with it and hopefully share the optimism that we have at the football club to go forward and be better than we have been.