United boss Greg Abbott (GA) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) following Carlisle's 1-0 League One defeat at home to Port Vale, Abbott saying that the game is cruel:
JP
What is your assessment of that today then?
GA
The game is cruel, and we have wanted to do so well for our fans there who I thought were magnificent, they stuck with us right the way through the game, they were absolutely brilliant. 3,800 hardy souls there that wanted to see us win and we tried so hard to do that. But, it is what happens when you are just fighting for a few results and I don’t think our performance deserved that, but sometimes in the game you don’t get what you deserve, and the dressing room is hurting a little bit, so there you are.
JP
They played a very similar game to how you did at Brentford and Colchester, for their part Port Vale did a very good job, but do you feel that you should have been able to beat them all the same?
GA
We think we should beat everybody but we didn’t did we. They worked hard and they got their break right at the end, which is cruel, and that is what happens in the game.
JP
The feeling from the fans though is that this wasn’t a must win game, it was a have to win game, because if you can’t beat Port Vale then who are you going to beat?
GA
We will play worse than that and win, right, simple as that. I mean you can say what you want and you can make your own assessments, but we will play worse than that and win the game. All we can do is work as hard as we did today, we will end up talking about negatives because we gave a goal away in the last minute, but there are too many positives there that will get missed. But, there you are, that is the game.
JP
Well we will talk about these, what were those positives then?
GA
You watched the game. The positives were the attitude of the players, the attitude of the fans to be honest as well, everybody working so hard together to get the result. You know that if Troy Archibald Henville’s shot had gone in 30 seconds earlier we would be talking a different ball game wouldn’t we, that is the game for you. So, it is all doom and gloom at the minute and it is doom and gloom from our part as well, but we could be talking about a 1-0 victory just as easy as we are talking about a 1-0 defeat.
There is not much more to say, I am not going to go hunting out and talking a lot of rubbish, but that is how the game can be sometimes and you have to be brave enough to accept that is football, that is what we are in and that happens. But, Troy could have put us 1-0 up, out of sight, and 30 seconds later we are cursing a home defeat, there you are.
JP
Did it feel to you that as the game went on it was looking like Port Vale were more and more likely to get that when it was looking like it might be a 0-0 for both sides?
GA
Yeah, I mean, listen, as the game went on, you are a team that is not winning and that is what happens because they know they should have had a goal up by half-time because we were so really impressive, the passing of the ball and the movement was good in the first half an hour.
There is always going to be a period in the game when the opposition gets their bit of play but it looked like it was petering out to a 0-0 draw and we could take heart from another clean sheet. It wasn’t what we wanted, we wanted a win, but you would have taken that I suppose in the end, certainly would have taken it now, but that is what happens.
JP
Clearly if Troy’s chance had gone in it would have been different, but what do you say to fans who just say that that is not good enough, we shouldn’t be relying on one chance to beat a side who are short of form themselves at Brunton Park, like Port Vale?
GA
Well, we didn’t just have one chance did we, I don’t know if you saw Lee Miller hit the bar, were you busy? But, did you see Lee hit the bar in the first minute?
JP
I am talking late in the game when it seemed like Port Vale were looking more likely?
GA
Well, you were talking about one chance and it wasn’t one chance was it. It wasn’t one chance in the game, we are talking about an attempt on goal 30 seconds before they score which is an open goal that we have missed. Through the game there were other chances, Lee hits the bar which puts us 1-0 up, they are down on their luck a little bit away from home. It might have been a different scenario but we are talking about football and it doesn’t go to plan does it.
You can talk about all sorts of things after the game but we would all have been elated if Troy’s chance had gone in, but we are not, that is what happens. So, fans will be in a different mindset than they would be because we conceded late on, there it is, I can’t hide that fact because that is what just happened. I have seen it, I am pretty despondent myself with that end product because just for a moment certainly I thought we might have been going away with a 1-0 win, but we haven’t.
JP
So, inspite the defeat then do you feel that you have seen enough to be positive about after that, enough to be positive that things will turn around and things will go in the right direction for United?
GA
Well, you have seen everybody having a right good go at it and they need to find a result, they need to find a 1-0 victory or a result from somewhere to give them that belief that they can go forward. Bit by bit we are getting better, that was a better performance, and they brought three terrific substitutes on, it is a testimony to them.
They have got some pace and power in their team and they are going to have, with a genuine goalscorer in Tom Pope, they are going to have some good periods in games. We have got to make sure that when we have our periods that we get a goal, and it is difficult at the minute because we are not getting enough goals and we are not getting enough points and enough wins.
The first one is the hardest one, once the first one comes we think there is enough in the group and enough determination. You have seen that, you could not say that any one of the players had gone out there with any less determination than they should have. Like I said, the game is cruel and I am not going to make too many excuses, we have just been beaten up by what football is all about.
JP
I know there are reasons, or excuses depending on your perspective, but ultimately it is another defeat, it is another defeat in front of the home crowd and there are fans who just feel enough is enough and it is time for a change at Carlisle United. Do you feel that you are going to get what you need based on this performance today, based on the little bits you have seen in this performance are you still going to be able to get this right and soon?
GA
Well, there are lot of fans out there who were quite happy with the improvement today, the result will upset everybody, that is football.
JP
Are you confident that you are going to be able to get Carlisle United winning games in the short term, because some fans are just demanding that whether it was all of those who were here or not?
GA
But, that is what fans do, the mindset of the fans has changed. I hope you are listening to what I am saying, the mindset of people is different for that last 30 seconds of the game where we should have scored, we didn’t and they did. That is the difference in football and fans and me and players and managers and directors have to deal with that. It is not a nice feeling but it is a fact that the game, based on that last 30 seconds, has changed everybody’s mind. That is life, you have to stick up with that.
JP
A prominent former player has said tonight that it is time for a change at Carlisle United, is this going to turn around quickly because there are so many people who are just wondering what next for the club?
GA
Yeah, well prominent former players generally do that, prominent former players are probably not in the game themselves. So, they can say what they want, that is their opinion and they are entitled to that.
JP
Sheffield United now, is that an absolute, is that another of those games that you simply cannot lose here at Brunton Park?
GA
I don’t know, it depends what you say, we are just going out trying to win a game. Listen, our job is to prepare teams to win games, and at the minute the situation can’t go on much longer with us losing matches, that is just life, that is football. But, I am disappointed because I wanted to win so badly and so did the team for the crowd.
I thought the crowd were fantastic and I am actually going to finish the press conference applauding them because they were absolutely brilliant. Let’s hope we can get back to work, lift the players, lift the group and come back next week and win the game for them.