United boss Greg Abbott (GA) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) at Tuesday morning's press conference for the local media, Abbott in the second and final part of a lengthy interview first talking about the eight players that have been offered new contracts at Brunton Park :
JP
Looking ahead to the coming season then, you have talked about this important month and you had talked about the players that you had offered contracts to, I think coming towards the end of the sort of three week period that you were hoping to hear from them on those, what is the situation with that?
GA
I haven’t heard from them, I think they are all abroad, I think they have all booked the same holiday as you in Turkey. Listen, they go right to the wire, players become a little bit, and it is understandable and it is not a criticism but they become a little bit selfish at this time of the year. They are looking for the best possible deal for themselves, and they will look at everything, they will weigh everything up and then they will decide what is the best for them, and then I will get to find out.
But, what they need to know is that in and around all that I have got to make sure I am making enquiries and asking questions about people just incase the worst scenario happens because I would like to keep the bulk of the squad together. I have said that last season at the end of the season, I am saying it again now but it won’t phase me because we have built up good squads from near enough scratch before.
I am pretty confident with the recruit work that has been done that we can do it again, so my ideal scenario is that most of them do re-sign and we are only looking for a few players rather than a lot of players. But, we have got a lot of irons in the fire, we are making a lot of phone calls, making a lot of enquiries and things are pretty warm at the moment.
JP
You had those one on one conversations with them, do you have a sort of a steer on who is more likely and who is perhaps more of a long shot at this stage?
GA
I think I have got a good idea on most of them right now, who is going to sign and who is not going to sign and who is a maybe.
JP
A very tricky period for you waiting to see on them and then waiting to see what you can get to fill in the gaps if they leave?
GA
Yeah, it is a period of frustration for probably a lot of people, I manage my frustration pretty well because the harder I try at the moment the probably the worse it is. Because, until I get those answers then I am banging my head against a brick wall to an extent. So, if I can be patient and less frustrated then everybody else has got to work along there as well. But, the key to it is when we come back on July the 5th, and more importantly the first game of the season, that we have got a squad together, and I am pretty sure we will have, that is going to be able to produce the same type of work that we did this year.
JP
One or two signings are starting to happen in League One, how far along is it possible for you to be at this stage given that you are waiting on these guys telling you about their futures?
GA
It is not an easy question to answer because I can’t offer somebody something, and then one my players comes in that position and says he is going to sign and we have two players in that same boat. So, what we are doing is we are actually just telling the truth, telling the truth to players that we are looking at that we have got a situation where we have got a player out of contract, he is weighing up his options, if he signs then this conversation we are having with you is fruitless, but if he doesn’t sign we would definitely be interested in your player. Most of that is done with agents and the agents know where they are going. I have actually spoken to I think at least four players face to face across the table, so I think I am quite a way down the road.
JP
And you have talked about the fact that best case scenario, the squad that you want you would still want to add a couple more to try to get you where you want to be for next season. With those that are going to move on, are you any further along with those guys, are they in the same boat that they are waiting to see what happens with the rest of the squad?
GA
No, I am in good shape, I am in really good shape at the minute with the people we are chasing. When I say the two players I don’t want to be tied down to that, if we get everybody re-signed and we get Lee Miller back and Chris Chantler back and Rory Loy back it might be that we only do two initially and save one. Because, I think at the minute the way the market is there might be some surprise people thrown at you late on that haven’t got the deals they were looking for and they become available.
So, I wouldn’t want to fill up every space maybe by July the 5th, it might be that through pre-season we leave a space open. But, it is so hard to predict exact figures, I wouldn’t want to be quoted on that he said two and he means three and he said four and he only signed two. It is very difficult because we are looking at what type of player to bring in that would make us better. They are not always available and I don’t want to bring in players that aren’t necessarily going to make us better or in time aren’t going to make us better.
So, there are types of signings, the young ones that can improve and develop and get better, like Jordan Cook. He is one of those that we think if he did come, he is one of those that would progress and get better you would hope and maybe develop into a Championship player. Or there is the older type player, 33/34 year-old player that you might be thinking that you bring him in for one year to do you a job because of all his experience and stuff like that. So, there are different types of signings, there are some for now, there are some for later on down the line.
JP
And you are interested in Jordan Cook?
GA
It is common knowledge that Jordan has been here, we think he did well and Jordan again is another player, he is like one of them that we would be interested in because he did well for us. But, Jordan has got a lot of things on his plate, a lot of things to digest at the minute, the biggest thing he has got to digest is that he has been told he is not wanted at Sunderland.
So, he has got to get over that disappointment, and it is not great etiquette as a manager to be banging his door down the day after he has been told that news. He is a local boy, he is a Sunderland boy done well and that is his club, so we have had to make sure that people know that there is an interest there, but in the most delicate way. I think that people that go steamrollering in and show a lack of respect to him and the way he is feeling at the minute maybe won’t do themselves any good.
There are so many players named on different places and lists, and I could comment on a numerous amount of players. I am not going to make any individual comments on any players whatsoever, the reason we are talking about Jordan is because he was here on a loan and he is one that I am going to tell you there is an interest in him. I am not going to tell you that we are close to signing him or not close to signing him, but I am going to start talking about individual players because you will bombard me then with different names all through. When I am close and I am going to get one then I am going to tell you.
JP
OK, that is fair enough, what about how short to medium term it could be? Fans very excited at this time of year, might there be anything happening sooner rather than later? Anything for them to be excited about?
GA
Again, I don’t want to be holding back information but I don’t want to be telling lies. But, I think that we are pretty close on one, but it might be that we agree something and then that said player goes away on holiday and comes back, so instead of being two or three days it could be two or three weeks. But, I think we are close to getting an agreement from one player, I have met him, I have spoken to him face to face, I think he liked my jokes.
I think he liked my foresight of where I want to take the club, I think the foresight of where I want to take the club was more important than my jokes. I think he listened to that first but I did make him laugh, we had a good crack, we had two and a half hours, maybe only 15 to 20 minutes was talking about the nitty gritty stuff, the other was finding out about each other. I spoke to his agent and he said that he really enjoyed the conversation and we ended up talking like friends really.
I think he felt comfortable that he could fit in to the way we do things, but I said there is a real seriousness on trying to improve on what we are, and everybody that comes into the group has to buy into what we are doing. We are very tight, we are very close, we are very together in what we are try to do, and it is type of people and he was the right type of person.
JP
Is it a good time of year as well to have got these contacts that you have with the big clubs, Manchester City, Manchester United etc, Sunderland as well, in terms of being able to get perhaps some of these younger players either on loan or through other angles?
GA
Yeah, I mean, listen, it is never a wasted contact. I think they are probably more of a value during the season because the ones that they are looking to loan us out we wouldn’t know about until well into August. Because, they have a look at them back pre-season and then they decide, so it is not always ideal, there is one at the big clubs I would love to take on a year-long loan, they are considering it and they are really keen but they are not going to let us know until August the 1st.
So, it sort of halts your progress in terms of looking for somebody because that might happen, but it might not happen so you have got to still look. It is a really difficult scenario but I think during the season when we need players quickly you can go to these big clubs, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle, Sunderland, and you can get a loanee pretty sharpish because they know they are coming to a club where they will be well looked after and they will be well developed.
JP
Have a good month then and enjoy your holiday.
GA
You don’t really mean that do you, you are going to pester me again aren’t you?
JP
Yeah.