|
JP
What sort of emotions did you go through? What a night it was for your team, what a dramatic way to take you to Wembley for the first time as a manager, but also the club and the fans?
GA
I think that probably sums us up, the performance, the excitement, the drama of being up and then down and nearly being out. But we have got character, we have got honesty, we have got a lot of commitment. We have taken on a really big club with a lot of resources and we have taken them to the wire in two games.
I think for the honesty and the committed way that everybody is at the club at the moment, we probably got our just rewards in the end. It wasn't easy and we didn't do it the way that we probably should have done, the way I would like to do it, the way the fans would probably like to do it - or maybe they did like it like it was. Certainly we said people need to go away from here with excitement and I think they have had that tonight in abundance.
JP
9,430 were here, a good smattering from Leeds but still over 8,000 Carlisle fans who you can expect a decent gathering back from I would have thought after that on Saturday?
GA
Well let's hope so, let's hope we are turning heads, let's hope we are making friends. We can only do what we can do, we know where we are, we know where we want to be and there is still improvement there. But I don't think this is the right time to be talking about things that have gone wrong, it is time to be talking about things that are going right. We are at Wembley and everybody deserves a massive pat on the back for that.
JP
Tell us what that is going to feel like? Can you even get your head around it at the moment?
GA
No, I didn't know where I was for two minutes after the game. You digest it and look at it and think that we have achieved something, it is an achievement and the club is going to be better off for it. We are all pleased with everything and it is my job now probably to bring everybody down and somebody has got to bring me down as well.
But we will see if that can happen, I am not so sure it can for 24 hours but we have got a big game to look forward to again on Saturday. Let's hope we can keep this momentum going and this energy that this will bring to the club.
JP
It is a great day for the fans, it is a great day for everyone, but it has guaranteed an extra £300,000 or so we reckon in terms of the gate receipts you can expect from Wembley. That is huge for a club like Carlisle.
GA
Listen, we have won the football match and the money side of it will take care of itself. There are only bonuses to come from what we have done in terms of finance. So let's hope that the club can benefit from that and we can strengthen again and improve what we have got going. It is a nice evening, it is a nice day for the football club and everybody should be on a high.
JP
What emotions did you go through in that penalty shooutout?
GA
Through the second-half probably every one you can. But this is where we choose to be, this is our industry and it is not straightforward, it is not black and white, it is not go to the office and work from 9 to 5. It throws up that and I am hoping my heart is in good shape because it didn't feel like it in the second-half and in the penalties. But the players are courageous and they are brave and they are honest and we have achieved tonight, and that is fantastic for everybody.
JP
Ahead of a tough game against MK Dons, from a purely footballing rather than a emotional point of view, what are the main positives coming out of tonight?
GA
I think just the energy that we have got, the fact that we took the game to Leeds, we haven't sat back. We have a gameplan, we have a style of play, it enables our midfield players to get forward. Both have scored a goal, Kevan (Hurst) on from the right and Adam (Clayton) from the middle.
But with a little bit more care we might have had another, with a little bit more care we might not have given the couple of goals away. But listen, we have taken a really good club, a big club, right to the wire over two legs. We have competed with them and we have come out just on top and that is fantastic for us.
JP
Will you digest any big disappointment out of tonight's game or is it just the fact that it is a cup tie and you have won it across the two legs and that is all that matters?
GA
You know the main thing in a cup game is to get through, we have got through so we have to look at that. I will look at the other things, I am not stupid enough to think that we haven't made mistakes but I think tonight in a cup tie we have got through, and over two legs that is the main thing.
JP
Adam Clayton had another starring role in there, what a composed finish for the goal, he just seems to grow game in and game out.
GA
He is a good player, we are pleased to have him and he has done great again tonight. He has got a lot of energy, he has got a lot of quality. He is as loud as anybody in the dressing-room at the moment so that is terrific for him.
JP
What does this result, what does getting through to the final do now to the morale of the squad? You have been a player and you are a manager now, what can this do for Carlisle United?
GA
Confidence and energy and excitement and we have got a real big game to look forward to. So it keeps everybody on their toes, if we don't win tonight or we go out of the competition we have got a league programme to look forward to and two or three poor results puts you looking at maybe another relegation scrap.
So if we can grind out two or three good results we have got a top half table finish to look forward to and maybe better, and a cup final to go on top of that. So it does enormous things for the football club.
JP
While everyone, fans, players alike are celebrating tonight, of course you will quickly have to get our head around getting everyone back down to earth for Saturday. How tough will that be for you?
GA
Well I am going to go and have a pint now anyway, so I will think about that later.