United boss Greg Abbott (GA) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) following Carlisle's 4-1 League One defeat away to Leyton Orient, Abbott saying that key incidents went against the Blues:
JP
What do you say after a game like that?
GA
Well, we are just full of disappointment, in the last two games I think we have put in an unbelievable amount of effort and energy and work, and when you do that you get probably the little bits of luck and decisions in the game going your way. Today I think we found it hard to reproduce that, and we have got the key incidents, the key decisions against us at really poor times in the game.
It has put in a position almost where we can’t recover from that and you end up getting beat in a game where we felt beforehand that we had got a chance of getting something, we really thought we would get something out of the game.
JP
What do you think went against you then?
GA
Some key decisions, the fact that we have hit Orient on a day where they are in really good form. We have got a lot of inexperience in the side, there is an inconsistency to that, there always will be. We have got other players that collectively as a group we have not worked as hard as we have probably needed to for whatever reason, whether it is tiredness, whether it is fatigue, whatever it is.
It is very, very difficult to finger point, might be the situation of the season is getting to some of the players. There are all sorts of issues there that contribute to us not being at our best. As a manager you are running around scratching your head, and then the key incidents of the game go against you and it makes life awfully difficult.
JP
The second goal, people were describing that as schoolboy defending for the second goal right before half-time, that went a long way to killing you off?
GA
Yeah, like I said, key things happen in the game that kill you. There are not many teams that will come here and give two goals away and come back from it, so there is a really key moment where it is an aimless throw-in that has bounced inbetween two players and gets put in the back of our net when we have had a ridiculous amount of time to clear the ball.
They are killer blows and as a manager what do you do, that has not been happening with us. Goals change games, we thought last week up until we scored Brentford were very dangerous and very potent, we score first and we run out in the end deserving to win the game. We concede a second like that and we run out deserving to lose the game today, so that is where football takes you and that is what goals are.
We had one at the other end that hits the inside of the post and gets cleared off the line, if that goes in maybe things are different. I am talking key incidents, key decisions in games, if you don’t get them for you then they cost you, and that is what has done us here today.
JP
But, these are things and your problems if you like, the fans aren’t happy and they are not bothered about those, it is just another defeat for the fans, it is another four goals conceded, there are some really unhappy people again, how many times can we just say it is just this or it is just that when it keeps happening?
GA
Yeah, there are some unhappy people in the dressing room as well, more unhappy now after we have had our post-match debate. So, there you are, we are all unhappy.
JP
But, the fans are really unhappy, I mean they are the ones who keep clubs running, they have just had enough I think is sort of the feeling we are getting now?
GA
I have had enough, I have had enough of that type of defending as well. I am loathe to do anything about that, we have Danny Livesey who gets an injury and has to go off, and we have put Peter (Murphy) on, the personnel there is more than capable of dealing with that situation. I can’t tell you why we didn’t clear the ball, I can’t answer that question why we didn’t clear that ball.
It is one of those things that happens and it hurts, it really hurts when the ball ends up in the back of your net and then you are 2-0 down away from home against a side on a good run. You are stood where I am stood and I am pretty powerless, I am only similar to you and the fans at that particular point, once we go out there we have to perform probably a little bit better than that.
It is a case in point for us having to regroup and drag the performances out to the end of the year and maybe look at something else happening further on going forward. But, at the minute with the personnel we have got, one 18-year old and two 19-year olds on the pitch at the end and that is what happens. There is a lot of inconsistency there and probably right now we are not good enough to field three like that at the minute, but we have not much more choice at the minute, that is where we are at the minute.
JP
I know last weekend you asked the fans to stick with you through what you described as a season of mediocrity and the club would grow next year, but why should the fans stick with you when they are seeing one win in eight like this?
GA
Because, they are Carlisle United supporters, that is why, everybody sticks together, there is no easy way out of it. You have to go with the rough and the smooth and over the last 120 years I would imagine Carlisle has had some really rough times, over the last sort of five or six years we have had some really, really decent times. They are the reasons you stick together, there is no easy way out of it. You can down tools and say pack that in, pack that in, or make this change or make that change.
Everybody sticks together, Carlisle fans will stick together. You saw them at the end of the game last week and it was a completely different opinion, so that is just how football works. It is a long, long time in football is one week, we were good people last week, this week we are there to be criticised, and that is the fans’ entitlement. But, they will stick with the club because they really care about their club and they are proper football supporters.
JP
But, I think the suggestion we are getting tonight is that it is one step forward last weekend and everyone gets a bit excited, and then it is three back again this weekend?
GA
Well, it will be if we concede goals like that, they are quite right with that. With the players available there is maybe going to be some inconsistencies, we have got to be realistic about the team and the squad that we have got available, and where we are and what we need to do about it. There is a lot of hard work to be done to get this club back into the promising position it has been in over the last four or five years, that is for sure.
JP
I think I have pushed you a lot and you have been honest, but I must ask you the one last question, there are a lot of fans asking you to leave, are you confident you can keep doing this and has it crossed your mind that if you keep struggling you would walk away from Carlisle United?
GA
I never walk away from anything in my life, never walked away from a challenge and I wouldn’t walk away when we were going to Wembley twice and those sorts of situations. A performance like that isn’t good enough, isn’t acceptable for me or for the players, we all have to take that on the chin.
Everybody connected takes it on the chin, I am standing responsible but if you want to heap all the blame on one person then just have a look at the whole situation of the club of where we are and the whole situation. Then think the club is in the situation where it is difficult, times are really difficult, like I said, three young players playing and key players not playing. We need to battle our way through this period and if we can we will regroup and we will be better going forward.
JP
I am being shouted at in my ear. I must ask you one more, have you been offered a new contract and are you going to be staying here beyond this season?
GA
Like I say, those questions, this is all about the performance today and reviewing that. It is not for me, it is completely the wrong time to be talking about new deals for me or anybody else, players or anybody alike. We have got a serious situation in terms of getting points and getting better performances on a consistent basis.
JP
It is a huge issue for some fans though, they want to know what the situation is, nobody from the club seems to be saying anything either after a game, I appreciate it is not the best time for you or during the week either?
GA
In due course those situations will all be resolved, that is players and management staff alike.