Greg Abbott On The Grays Game

Last updated : 08 November 2008 By Thetashkentterror

Greg Abbott
United caretaker manager Greg Abbott spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Derek Lacey after Carlisle's disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Grays in the FA Cup, Abbott suggesting that the players need to show the passion, commitment, desire and honesty that he is going to show :


" If we play much more like that for any period of time then there will be problems at the club won't there, whatever happens in this position. That is not good enough by a million miles though, and as you can tell by my voice I certainly let the players know. We talk about responsibility, I ultimately now hold responsibility, I will take that, I have no problems with that.

" I have reminded the players though that they have got to take some share of that as well, because I thought that we were lethargic, pedestrian, not at the races, whatever you want to call it. You want to defend your players all the time, you want to be in charge of that, and I will defend them, but we have got to set better standards haven't we than that.

" I will take full responsibility but I have to pass on part of that to the players. It doesn't matter who is sitting in the hot seat at this football club if players go out with that attitude. I suppose people might say that is down to me to change that, and I will certainly try to change that. Because, I did say to them that it doesn't matter who is stood here, your careers will be on the line, if you continue to play at that level of football careers are going to go backwards, sidewards and downwards.

" They are not going to happen, it is a reality check for the some of the players to think that if they don't work and they don't find a performance or a level. We have just played a Conference side who were better than us in the first-half, I admit that they were better than us in the first-half. I don't want to deflect, I want to be brutally honest with everything and ultimately this seat takes the blame and takes full whack. "



" I am disappointed with my players today, they know that and I have told them so. I have told them that we have got to lift the standard and life the bar massively. That starts on Monday, infact I told them that it starts tonight, to think about what they have done and then through tomorrow. Then they come in on Monday and we have got to prepare and train with a much, much greater edge and determination than we did.

" I am not up here for the fans that are listening in to say that I am making this excuse or making that excuse. There is a big fear factor in some of the players, there is a real big fear factor, how you eliminate that is, my way is hard work and graft, being honest and standing up to your individual task.

" If we can do that then, because nobody will give us anything, nobody will say that it isn't fair on Carlisle that they have lost ten or eleven games on the bounce, so we will just give them three points just to get them rolling. That just doesn't happen, it is up to us to dig deep to find that performance, and it will only come by honesty and hard work, there is no special formula in this game.

" Contracts for next year is a longer term thing, I am just looking at the players today and putting it into perspective looking at today's performance. Nobody has knocked on my door and asked for a new improved deal with loads and loads more money, because at the minute I think that they would be slightly embarrassed.

" You want to pay them though, you want to give them extra money, you want to give them rises, you want to sign players, you want to keep the continuity going. I think at the moment though we are going to be looking at who is going to be good enough to take this club forward. I have got to be honest, and the players have got to be honest, and we have got to do that and take stock. "



" It might be at the moment, if you look at the form this moment, maybe we have to change it around a little bit. I have got to give my players a chance to prove themselves, but time isn't of the essence at the moment is it, for them or myself, we have got to make changes and we have got to turn things around very, very quickly.

" The injured players haven't been part of this run, most of them, so their confidence won't have been dented. They will be itching, they are good professionals, they are honest characters and they will be wanting to do well in the reserve game on Monday night, to say to me, I am fit, select me, I am ready to help you out.

" To be honest that is what we need at the minute, we need some players to be brave, know the game and come out and say that they are going to help us. Then all of a sudden we have got them with a new buoyancy, they are like new signings if you like. I think that it is really what we need at the moment to lift the fear factor that we have got and the confidence factor within the side at the moment.

" It is a big challenge, obviously it is a much tougher task than I had the last time I did this role. It is something that I have got to take full hands on and deal with though, I don't want to be just going through the motions and getting beat in the next three or four games and not even having a chance to do what I really want to do. I need some support though, I need some help, and I need the players to show the passion, commitment, desire and honesty that I am going to show. "



" I am not feared though, I am not feared, I might be out of work in a fortnight, I might be on the dole in a fortnight. I am not feared about that because I believe in my ability to be able to do this job and do it well. You need support and help from the players though and today, in the first-half especially, I think that they were lacking slightly.

" He (Ben Williams) has made a couple of terrific saves hasn't he. In adversity he gets his chance and he has performed admirably, ultimately he saved us from a defeat possibly. It is really disappointing to have to say that your goalkeeper is probably your best player in a game at home in a cup tie against a non-league side.

" At half-time I blew the roof with them, but at full-time I couldn't go again and do the same thing because it gets slightly boring and slightly loses its effect. I said what I had to say at half-time, the positive is that we did show a little bit of spirit. We rolled our sleeves up for 20 minutes, we did push them back, they looked like they were running out of steam a little bit, we got the ball in the box.

" All those other times it wasn't as tidy as we would have liked and it wasn't the fluid sort of football that we would like. Sometimes you have to go back to basics though and put it in the areas where you are likely to score. Gary (Madine) has done terrific for us, he has got on the end of a cross, but a lot of other crosses went in not always with fantastic quality. I didn't see many people that were willing to get a broken nose though and stick one in the back of the net today.

" I reminded the players that we have done a lot of talking, there have been a lot of words exchanged and words are cheap. Ultimately you have got to get out on the park and you have got to make things happen, I can talk the talk and there are great talkers in the game aren't there. What you have got to do though is get responses and the response today for the first-half wasn't good enough, I am not going to hide from that. We have got to work and work and work and get the balls out and do different bits and pieces that will help us and confidence will come back. "



" We have got to get things to happen naturally though, I think that we were forcing everything and everything was waiting for something to happen. All over the pitch we were waiting for things to happen rather than just doing it, get the ball and wrap it into there, get it back, wrap into the frontmen. Everything was a struggle today, hard to work that one out but I will be trying, don't you worry, I will be trying, I am any less enthusiastic?, no not at all.

" I am alright, I will be fine, I love the game, I care for this club and I want the right sort of football and the right sort of results for the players and the fans to go home and enjoy their pint tonight and their lunchtime pint tomorrow. We will be trying though, I assure you that we will be trying. I am deflated at the performance but I am certainly not deflated with anything else. It is a tough job and a tough industry though, there are only 92 managers you know, which just shows you how hard it is.

" There is pressure every week at the minute, the next win is vital. Every game you go that win gets a little bit harder and next week's performance, result or outcome against Brighton will be tough. We all know that, we all understand that, I knew that when I was taking the thing on. We work as hard as we can though, there is no formula, you could get Fabio Capello to come in and he wouldn't turn this around in five minutes, I can tell you that, he would find it difficult.

" Do I want him to do it though?, no I don't, I want to do it and I want to have a go at it and I want to be given the opportunity over a period. There is no way that it is going to be turned around overnight, I can tell you that now, but if it takes two to three weeks then that would be fantastic. It might take two or three months but we need to get some points and we need to get some points quickly. We will be working as hard as we can to try to do that next week. "