Greg Abbott On The Brighton Win

Last updated : 16 November 2008 By Thetashkentterror

Greg Abbott
United caretaker manager Greg Abbott spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Derek Lacey after Carlisle's 3-1 home win over Brighton, Abbott talking about a first victory in 13 league cup and games for the Blues :


" I hope that the supporters are as delighted as I am. I am about passion, I am about energy, I am about enthusiasm and I think that my players showed it. I said that they would give you a relation of what I am like and what I want at this football club. They deserve all the credit and all the praise because they have been getting the knocks, they have been getting the criticisms.

" Although we scored three fantastic goals, what about the others that we could have had and what about the attacking play, and what about the desire and the determination within the team. I have just reminded them there that that is a start, that is a start for us, that is a benchmark and I told them to enjoy the feeling, enjoy that feeling. If we work as hard as we have been doing in training day in and day out then there will be more of those feelings.

" The players are ecstatic and I want to heap the praise onto them, because they have gone out there and when confidence was a little bit low the belief has been there. You see the attacking play and the football come flying back with that first goal and I am a really, really pleased man because I really think that the players have gone out there and just given it everything that they have got.

" He (Michael Liddle) is a player that we have been watching all season, we have watched him probably six times now and we were thinking about whether to bring him in or not. He is a young player, he is inexperienced, that was his debut by the way and to be fair I don't think that he has put a foot wrong in the whole of the 90 minutes. He is a testimony to Sunderland and to the people that have developed him. "



" Hopefully we can have him now and we can get him into our team and he can improve his game. Let's just hope for big things from him but he along with everybody else, are we picking individuals out today? I am not so sure that we should do because collectively what a good team effort for the whole lot of the boys.

" I have told them about their nights out tonight, that is going to go, the discipline will be there. They can go out and have a quiet drink with their girlfriends and have a bite to eat or something, but they get their rest tonight and they get their rest tomorrow. We come back on Monday, we work hard on Monday, we travel down on Monday, I want to play now, I wish that I could just step out fine for the starting whistle and go for the Grays game now.

" Because that was enjoyable, I did say that I went to send Carlisle fans home with smiles on their faces, and if there is anybody that is not smiling too much after that then I would be surprised. Because I think that everybody has gone with a real enthusiasm away from this ground because they have seen a terrific performance.

" I thought that we looked as capable of scoring a goal in the second-half as we did in the first, seriously I did. I think that Ben (Alnwick) has defended his goal well, we looked a lot more solid, the two big centre-halves (Danny Livesey and Richard Keogh) have defended a lot better than they have been doing. To be honest their crosses that came in didn't seem to really cause us that many problems I would have to say. I don't remember our goalkeeper having to make too many terrific saves. "



" Everybody here is part of it, unless they don't want to be part of it then they are a part of it. If they don't want to be part of it then they will sulk and go away and they won't train right on Monday and then they won't be a part of it. It is as simple as that, if they want to be a part of it then I will work with every single player because we are going to have injuries, suspensions, loss of form.

" We will have runs of games where we don't win games and I will have to change things around. Hopefully those boys that weren't playing today will be ready, but I think that we have got it right in terms of the team selection because of the performance that we have got and the result that we have ended up with.

" There was enough to say in the dressing-room afterwards, I said enough, I said a lot at half-time. I was actually critical at half-time and I told them to remember Peterborough, remember the times we have been up, remember the times when we have taken our foot off the gas. We are not a team that can sit back on leads, we are not a team that can sit and defend. We have to go forward, we have got youth, we have got energy and we have got enthusiasm. To be fair we looked more like getting a third goal then they looked like getting back into the game.

" I was really disappointed with the goal that they got, because it just put us under a bit of pressure and probably took the gloss off the last 15 minutes. Look at Simon (Hackney) flying down that left-wing, how long is it since we have seen the wee man do that and cause absolute havoc. Cleveland (Taylor) as well, what an energetic performance he has put in. We will get this thing together, fans, myself, the board, the players, we will get this going together. "



" I beg to defy anybody that says we that we played a defensive formation today. We had two wingers that caused havoc to the full-backs, we probably had more crosses and more shots on goal than the whole of the last ten games put together. We were a real threat going forward today and the system, we have worked on a system, and I am not going to give anything away because I don't want to tell too many people, but especially the opposition.

" We have worked on a system where we can get players forward, we can get bodies around Danny Graham, we get the ball wide, we get it wide early and then we are going to get crosses into the box. I am not bothered if full-backs get into the box as long as somebody is in the box, then when the full-back goes somebody drops into his position, which I thought that Paul Thirlwell did absolutely magnificently today.

" Let's hope for more of this, it is hard work and let's praise the players. They have had a bit of stick, they have had a tough last few months. Let's enjoy this one nice and steadily and let's hope that we can have a nice trip down to Grays, win that game and then let's think that we are firmly on our way now.

" I really appreciate the support that we get from you and all the punters here, they have been absolutely phenomenal. You know that I want to send the fans home happy, it can't always be like that, it won't always be as exciting, hopefully it will be as positive but I can assure everybody that we will be doing our damnest to make sure that it is as good.

" He (Michael Liddle) can't play in the FA Cup on Tuesday because he wasn't registered for the first round. So he can play in the second round if we get through but he is not eligible because he wasn't registered pre the first game. So he is allowed to play in the FA Cup but unfortunately red tape says that he can't play on Tuesday night. Sunderland have given him permission to play though if we do progress through to the next round. "