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JP
What is your assessment of that one today?
GA
We are disappointed aren't we, we have lost the game, we've lost the momentum that we had in the league. It is the first one in a few and on the whole it is a game which probably looks entertaining with the pitch and the conditions and all that, but it is one we are disappointed to lose.
JP
Where do you think you did lose it today?
GA
They scored three goals and sometimes to do with a bit of the conditions and putting the ball in the right areas and putting the ball in the net. We have had as much of the chances, certainly early on in the game and then at the back end of the game and we haven't made the most of those chances.
We are talking about things that by and large take care of results don't they in football, if you don't score at one end and you do concede at the other then you are going to be in bother. But we are disappointed with the way the goals went in and I am little bit disappointed that we haven't made more of the chances and the half-chances that we have had through the game.
JP
You have talked about there, disappointed with the way the goals went in, you were on top for half an hour, you were the better team on the pitch by some way. Their goal, a bit of a sloppy one, and it knocked the stuffing out of you.
GA
Yeah, well we have had this haven't we. We have done this in the early part of the season where we have been encouraged by our performances and then the goals, they come in and they change the games. Then I thought for 35-40 minutes after that, a good half an hour anyway, that they looked the better side and that is what goals do.
We were a little bit unfortunate with one of the early ones, they were good efforts, the keeper (Wojciech Szczesny) made some terrific saves and we think we might have had a penalty with Richard Keogh. It is a penalty all over from where I am sat but you need one of those to go in and get your noses in front and we didn't. Then they got a foothold in the game and they got their goal and in the end we couldn't quite claw it back.
JP
You mentioned there the Keogh penalty, Tommy Cassiday in commentary said it was an absolute cast-iron penalty, no doubt about it, (Tom) Taiwo also with a volley that was well saved, likewise a Keogh chance that was well saved. These are key areas, but you just didn't get that goal when perhaps you needed it?
GA
That is the thing, we are talking sensibly aren't we. Those situations hurt you, they are always going to get a spell in the game are Brentford on their own ground. They are always going to get time in the game where they are going to be on top and we want something to hold onto when they have that spell and we didn't get it today.
You see the penalty better where you are but why did Richard fall over in that situation when he is so far forward? We were miles from it but it just looks a penalty and more so maybe than the one we actually did get.
JP
Onto the forward areas, the three strikers had the opportunity to prove that perhaps Carlisle don't need to buy to replace Vincent Pericard, how do you think they got on there?
GA
We have got to see how they do, they are going to be judged by putting the ball in the back of the net. They are going to be judged by the way they look after the ball, they are all now going to be compared to Vincent because that is what people do.
It is up to them to put their claims in there and make sure that they get their goals and their play is what Vincent's was, because unfortunately that is the way it is going to be. They are going to get judged against him and the results improved while the big man was in the team so that is something I can't do anything about and that is something the forwards are going to have to deal with.
JP
But you say that they need to be judged over a period of time, how do you think they got on today?
GA
OK, they haven't scored, ultimately you want them to score. They have worked hard enough, I thought Dobes (Scott Dobie) and Joe (Anyinsah) will benefit for the game. They have not had pitch time which is certainly……… Joe Anyinsah has had nothing really and has not been able to do any work but he will benefit from the game and so will Scott.
Because they have not had a great deal of pitch time there, so that hopefully will give them a leg up. It is early in the piece with the duration they have had out and not played any football to start being too harsh on the judgement with those two. But we want better and they will want better for themselves as well.
JP
Fans must realise that in that opening half an hour Anyinsah had a couple of lovely spin and shots that forced saves and also Scott Dobie has won you the penalty, so although they have not scored they have contributed. But the key factor for us in commentary was that the ball just didn't seem to stay upfront, that seemed to be what you were lacking without your targetman as it were in Pericard.
GA
And we were a little bit more open today weren't we, we had the two up there as well and we didn't dominate the midfield areas like we have done. We are all going to talk about the strikers, we didn't dominate the midfield areas like we have done and we didn't defend as well as we have done in the past.
So I am loath to just say it is down to the strikers, I am going to say it is a team thing, a team situation and really a lot of the battles in the game ended up even-steven. People will always point the finger at your strikers and I just think that is a tad unfair at the moment.
JP
Beyond the strikers, Graham Kavanagh and Tom Taiwo in the centre of midfield, a sort of a new partnership in what you have had in recent weeks with (Adam) Clayton gone. Did you feel that quite worked for you today?
GA
Well it is tough in there, little Tom, it is a really tough heavy ground and little Tom, I think he struggled to get around the pitch like he does do. He has got phenomenal energy and phenomenal effort and determination but he was up against big (Marcus) Bean who is six foot and was ploughing his way through the ground.
So it is a pitch on heavy going and it is hard work for him, but Thir (Paul Thirlwell) came on and he gave us a little bit of strength and it does him a deal of good to have 20 minutes on the pitch as well. Tom and Kav have played there terrifically well in the past, there is no danger of that, but I think the conditions were really heavy and the ball wasn't being able to be passed that well in the middle of the park with the state of it.
JP
But Graham Kavanagh has looked immensely effective in that hole sat just off one striker, do you feel he was against two very fit midfielders today is what I am asking?
GA
He wasn't as effective as he has been no, that is fair to say but that is because we would have liked that extra man there, it gives him the freedom to go on and make things happen and link off the big man. We played a different system today because obviously Paul Thirlwell wasn't match-fit and Joe has been looking sharp enough in training.
We went basically to get the ball into the front players as quickly as we could because the conditions weren't brilliant for passing football. So your third man in midfield might not have got a kick with the way that the pitch is. It just wasn't conducive to fluent passing football.
JP
And you said you were disappointed with the goals. Admittedly it wasn't some of the best defending, but do you think in a way because the ball wasn't sticking up top there was a lot more work and they were under a lot more pressure in that back line?
GA
That is very unfair I think.
JP
You do think that is unfair?
GA
Yeah I do yeah, the ball on the second goal has been palmed out, we have mis-cleared it and it ends up in the back of the net and we still want to blame the strikers, I think you have got to be careful.
JP
I am not saying that the strikers are to fault for that though, but because the ball is back there a lot of the time and there on the defensive line a lot of the time mistakes are more likely.
GA
Listen, the front players are pivotal to what you do. You need the ball to go in there, it enables you to play higher up the pitch and if it doesn't stick then you get dragged further and further back and teams get at you. That is something that we are aware of and it is something we have got to improve on.
JP
It is key to make sure that people don't forget it is still only 4 defeats in 16 matches, so it still a good run of form. What do you need to do now to try to make sure you go back up to the levels you were on after this long break?
GA
Well we need to improve don't we in the areas we have talked about. We got away from conceding silly goals didn't we, we had a big platform to play from upfront and we need to get more of that. We have got to play higher up the pitch and maybe that is a problem that we have to address.
But we have to give these players, you have had two players in there that played upfront that haven't played a game of 90 minutes for a long, long time. So I think it is too quick to be waving the whipping stick at them, we have got to give them a fair go at it. If we think we need to do something about it, we have said along, we will do.
JP
And is anything in the pipelines at this stage, as it were, for bringing anyone else in?
GA
We will do something about it if we need to.
JP
Just finally, not the ideal way to try to get back to winning ways after a defeat away from home is a trip to Elland Road?
GA
That is fine, you will probably find Leeds United winning at Manchester United, only scraping a draw against Wycombe, that is football. I think we will benefit from the game, we certainly needed the game and we look forward to Tuesday now in a different vein, a different game.
Our performance today wasn't as good as it was against Everton, so there is all that, football will never be as you predict it, it will always be unpredictable. So we go there, we shake ourselves up, we dust ourselves down and we will give a good account of ourselves on Tuesday night.
JP
It was also one of your best performances of the season and they have been beaten 2-0 at Exeter today have Leeds United, so maybe it does give you that opportunity.
GA
Well it is a different game, it is a different thing completely. We will go there and it will be a different type of football match because the pitch will be a lot better, I think they will have dried out a little bit, but it is a better pitch anyway. Again, the whole type of game will be different and it just might suit us a little bit better than today.
JP
Just finally, any injuries picked up out of the game today as far as you know?
GA
No I don't think so, there will be some heavy tired legs from there which is a really sapping pitch, but apart from that I think everybody is fine.