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GA
We are probably pleased with how things have gone. We are pleased with the performance on Saturday and the progress that we are making. The difficult side of it now is trying to keep that going, maintain the progress and the expectation levels that will probably be thrown at us.
But, we still for me are in the fledglings of this season and if we are still where we are in another ten games then the first part of the job will definitely have been done. But, we are doing OK and the boys know they have been playing OK and people around us are telling us some nice complimentary things. So, we would like to try to keep that going, that is the key thing to what is going on at the minute.
JP
I was asked by Mike Parr on our breakfast show this morning what was behind it. Why were Carlisle so good at the moment? And I could only volunteer - right people, right tactics, what is it in your opinion?
GA
Yeah, I think right people, that is a good shout, right people is definitely right. I have a belief in what we have been doing from day one that it would take time. I think people above me have to take a little bit of credit as well for sticking with a system and sticking with people and not being frightened to let it ride a little bit, even when there have been a few criticisms.
Which, I think some of the early criticisms were a little bit unjust because of the time thing, you need to get a bit of time under your belt before you can start being judged. I don't think we give many people that in football, not at this club, I am on about managers and coaches in general.
So, we knew we had a lot of work to do, when we took the job it was a really difficult circumstance with the one point in ten games. Morale, I am telling you know, morale was really, really low and we have had to build that up first, and we get the right personnel in.
We still don't think we are complete with it but we have made progress and headway. I think what we have got in the dressing room at the minute is a real good group of people that are very, very easy to work with and give of their best.
I was talking to Sheffield Wednesday's staff before the game and my talk to their staff was, whatever the result, whatever the outcome, this group will work exceptionally hard and they will give a completely honest performance, and we did that.
I think that is the key that we have got that and we are finding the right formula at the minute more often than not on the pitch and people are understanding their roles and the way we are trying to play, and we are getting some success from that. So, it is a bit of a long winded answer to your question, but I do believe that they are the key factors in there.
JP
What does it say about the character in the team to go to a place like that with an intimidating atmosphere like that and to come out on top?
GA
Well, I think I spoke to you guys earlier last week and said that that won't be an issue. I think the group is fearless at the minute because of the age group they are, because of the way they are, because of the enjoyment they are finding within their work on the training field and in the games. But, that is not an issue, it wasn't at Leeds and it wasn't at Southampton and it wasn't at Norwich, they performed.
I am not going to guarantee we are going to win at these sort of places but what I can guarantee is that the players will give everything they have got for the shirt, and they did that. I have never ever counted as many blocks, Adam Collin has hardly had a save to make on Saturday by the way and they had a lot of pressure and they had a lot of attacking play.
But, the amount of bodies that were thrown on the line to stop the ball getting through to Adam was as good as it gets for any game I have been involved with in a Carlisle shirt. They were absolutely outstanding in the way that they did the ugly sides of the game, things that people often don't see.
The fans are seeing a team that is rolling up their sleeves and are performing, and they are getting appreciated for that as well as the good results. We have tried to work with the fans both ways, when things weren't going great we told them not to get too downbeat and we are telling them at the minute not to get too carried away with things. That is the message that I would give to everybody.
But, I think they are certainly showing more belief in what we are doing and more understanding in how we are trying to do it. I think we are buying ourselves a nice connection with everybody, everybody is saying nice things about the club and I think they think we are not a bad team now. I really do believe that they think we are doing alright, and they are showing a lot of belief in what we are trying to do.
JP
I know that you don't like to talk about your tactics too much, but it is a noticeable movement from last year to this year, and you have clearly worked hard on it. Do you think it was a victory for the thinking that has gone into putting the team together tactically?
GA
It looks like it at the minute, I am in a position where I believe in a lot of things. I have my own ideas, I have my own ways, I don't think football is that complicated. I don't want to come across as the big shot that I know this and I know that and I am better than him and I am better than that.
What I know is that I need to get a group of players together, a type of group of players and then put a system that suits those types of players in, and I think that is what we have done. We have discussed this at length with Kav (Graham Kavanagh) and with Dennis (Booth), we have thrown things in and we have agreed on some and we have disagreed on others.
But, we are finding through the discussions, a formula that suits us, and I am not saying it would suit anybody else or it is right or it is wrong, and everybody does things differently in their own way. But, I think at the minute you probably could say that there is something happening that is right for this football club.
Maybe long-term I wish people would believe in what we are doing and trust us to make the right decisions, and not react to an odd performance that is not up to scratch, or an individual's performance that is not up to scratch. Look at the bigger picture, and I have said this right from dot, it is not something that I have just invented now because we are doing alright.
I have said it right from dot, look at the bigger picture all the time and be balanced with your criticism. Don't all of a sudden come out and say that he is rubbish and he is that, and that is rubbish and that is no good. Have a look at it and digest it and I suppose that is why we are in this industry and we are not fans. Fans want instant success and it can never happen.
You have got to look at the broader picture and the longer-term view, and football clubs and football teams and squads aren't put together overnight. They take time to put together and we are getting near to where we want to be and we still think we are short.
We think we are still a bit short but we are working as hard as we can to maintain the progress and maintain the depth of quality of the squad where we could carry an injury or two or a bad performance or a few players having slightly off-par performances, and that is what we are aiming to do.
We are working all the time, we have already got a list together for next season, and that is something that we do that nobody knows about. I have got a list together, infact the secretary Sarah (McKnight) is on with it now, that I am going to present to the board today for next season. That is how early we start doing our work, and I have been doing that right from dot.
JP
Who is on the list?
GA
You haven't got time, you haven't got enough time and you haven't got enough tape in that micro-thing, because there are about 100 names on it. Which will work down, which will get dissected and we will work down.
But, all the scouts and all the staff here will get a copy of that and then we will start working through them. We will have meetings and by January or February next year, hopefully that list will be down to a manageable number to go out and make last opinions to see which is the right type to bring in to improve us again for next year.
JP
Good to see Craig Curran getting his first goal for the club at the weekend?
GA
If you could be more pleased for anybody then it would be Craig Curran. I think our fans are going to like him because of his energy and his work-rate and his effort. But, the cynical ones, or the cynics in the game would say that he is a number nine so he has got to score goals, when I say number nine I know that is not his number but he is a centre-forward.
He has got to score his goals and we were desperate for him to score, he was, I seriously had to drag him off the training field on Thursday because he is trying too hard. You know yourself that sometimes the harder you do anything the longer you look for something and you don't find it, sometimes you have got to let it happen.
We hope he goes on a run of goals and Gary (Madine) does as well because those two upfront I thought were absolutely outstanding on Saturday. Together as a partnership they are looking very, very good and they compliment each other well.
We want them to score goals but they are providing a platform for others to get on the scoresheet and the way they are working gives us a chance to get right the way up the field, which is where we want to play our football.
JP
And just on one aside from the Sheffield Wednesday game, it looked to me like Francois Zoko came in for some pretty rough treatment at one point off one of the Sheffield Wednesday defenders (Darren Purse). Has he picked up any sort of an injury from that?
GA
No, he is durable is Francois, he is a tough lad by the way. He is a strong lad, he is really strong, tough lad and I think Francois understands the game well enough to know that he is the type of player that is going to come in for some clatter. I would be disappointed if opposition teams didn't get tight to him and dish out rough treatment. Because then you would find that Francois actually wasn't performing as well as he could do.
Only players like that get the type of treatment he gets, and we are OK with that. I have warned Francois about the English game and what to expect, and he is not daft. His English is getting well enough to understand that you are going to get kicked up the backside if you hang onto the ball too long, and it is true to his word that he will get that. But, he is fine, he is OK.