United boss Greg Abbott (GA) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) following Carlisle's 2-2 League One draw at home to Shrewsbury, Abbott saying the match was hopefully exciting for the supporters:
JP
It’s the very exciting comebacks at the moment show?
GA
Yeah, I mean hopefully it is exciting, it is not the best for my mind and your emotions, but that is what it is. That is where we are at the moment, and there is a little bit of tension, a bit of fractiousness around. But, at least there is some excitement there and there is something for people to talk about, good and bad and indifferent.
JP
In terms of both the comebacks, getting the goals when you did after going behind twice, you must be delighted with those reactions in the match, in particular the first equaliser reacting so soon after they had taken the lead?
GA
Yeah, I mean I am just pleased that the group of players there are giving everything they have got. At times some of the play wasn’t tidy, at times some of the play wasn’t fluent, but somebody has just said in there ‘great point, boys’, and do you know what, he is absolutely right the player that said it. The togetherness the players have shown and they are fighting for these fans, they are fighting for the fans, and the fans want to see fluency and they want to see great football and that.
But, they didn’t see any from Shrewsbury and they didn’t see a great deal from us, the game was tough. The pitch isn’t conducive to great football at the minute, it looks probably better than it is. But, there is a lot of effort going in and sometimes that counts for a lot, and that is why the fans have stuck with us today all the way through. They want to see us beat teams like Shrewsbury because they think we should, but we have got a lot of young players out there learning the game.
I am sticking by them, I am not bothered what anybody says, I am sticking by those kids because they are going to learn from all the mistakes they make and all the good things they do. They are going to get loads of experience and one player who is definitely going to start the game on Monday, he will have learned more today than he has learned probably in his two years at this football club is Mark Gillespie.
JP
Very interesting, in terms of the goals you conceded, what did you think of those, you didn’t really want to focus on the goals after Yeovil for obvious reasons, but today probably something has got to be said about them?
GA
What do you want me to say about them? I have just said that a young player has made a couple of mistakes, but he is playing on Monday and we need to give him every single bit of encouragement we can. Do you know what, because right now that is what he needs, he doesn’t need me or you or anybody ringing in saying he is this or he is that not and he is going to be this and he is not going to be that. Do you know what he is going to be? He is going to be a blooming good goalkeeper and we are sticking by him.
JP
No doubt about that, do you think more broadly around those goals though, do you think other things could have been done or do you think it just comes down to him in the end then?
GA
He has made two errors, Tony Caig is beating himself up in there, absolutely on his knees he is in there, because he is upset that his man has made a couple of mistakes. It is as simple as that, we are not going to dress it up any different, and do you know what, the first person I congratulated was Mark Gillespie because, I tell you what, he made two saves after that when the ball bounced on a horrible surface, really tricky, and he has gathered them.
Like I said, he will learn from that and if we are going to go with young players and we are going to go with a different sort of thing then we have got to stick with it and we can’t be too critical. It is easy for me to go in and say it his fault isn’t it, it isn’t his fault, not his fault one little bit today. Do you know what? That is what it is, that is where we are, that is the group we have got, we have got a mixture of young and old and there are all playing together and they are all trying together.
Do you know what? He was the first person everybody went to because they think the world of him. That is what a team does and that is what a club will do. Do you know what? The fans will probably be alright with him as well because he is a baby in football terms and we want him to go on and be successful. We have been delighted with the progress he has made and I don’t want to highlight him, but if you are asking me about the goals I have got to say he has made a couple of mistakes. There you are, so be it, but he is playing on Monday.
JP
I don’t want to hang him out to dry, let’s not talk about Mark Gillespie anymore, 70 goals though it is now conceded in League One, that is something even if it down to more one player than another today, that is something you have got to work on?
GA
Yeah, well it is, we have been working on it and bar the last couple of games we have got better haven’t we. I mean to be fair early on in the season we gave far too many goals away, I think if you look at the second half of the season it is maybe better, much, much better than it was. But, yeah, over the piece when you look at the whole season and analyse then we have definitely got to be doing something about that, that is for absolute sure.
JP
We talked about this before, the reaction that you got after going behind twice, how do try to get that from the first whistle at the start of the match?
GA
Well, listen, football is full of…………. If we knew how it was going to be then we wouldn’t need people to manage or coach or be part of it and everybody would win loads of money at the fixed odds. It just throws up different scenarios doesn’t it all the time. We have scored first and won comfortably, it would be nice if we could do that, if I could guarantee that then I wouldn’t be in the state I am in now, being a bit feisty with all this.
But, I am upbeat again tonight, I am really up, I am charged up here, my head is still spinning round with what we have done right and what we have done wrong, and if I have to apologise for that then I have to apologise, that is the way I am.
JP
No, don’t apologise for that, and don’t apologise either for Mathieu Manset, you have taken a bit of a gamble with him, you have given him a chance and there really looks like there could be something there?
GA
Yeah, he likes us here and he likes what he is doing. He is one of those players that we think getting him fitter and giving him more pitch time then he can only get better. I mean if that is what he is like at he says 80%, I am saying 70% fit then we have got a bit of a handful there. He has made the second goal, that is for certain and he probably says he made the first, he still thinks he scored the goal last week. So, great, bonus, a little bit of a bonus for us isn’t he with where we are, but he has come in and like I said, he enjoys the club, he is enjoying working with the people.
I think other people at the club have looked after him, the people above me have looked after him to try to make it all right for him. We don’t like to treat anybody different to the others but they have made this happen for him and they are helping him out the best they can. Foreign boy with his girlfriend in a foreign country with a few problems behind him, but he is a bit happier than he was six weeks ago.
JP
Is it something where you now look to get him tied up, because there is clearly a bit of quality there isn’t there. I know that the media and the fans have urged you to do this, and let’s talk about your Italian left-back (Alessio Bugno) even this season, but is there a concern that somebody will come and take him away from you because of the quality he is showing even in these cameo appearances?
GA
I don’t think he has been that good that anybody is going to want him. There is nobody interested in him surely already after two average performances for 20 minutes. He can’t even get through 90, how can you sign a player that can only do 25 minutes?
JP
OK, how good have those minutes been though in terms of what they contributed to you in getting the results in these games?
GA
I think we are going to offer him a nine-year contract, we have got to make a bit of fun about it haven’t we, we have got to laugh sometimes, we have got to laugh otherwise……………. No, listen, everything is on my mind about going forward, moving the thing forward, and that is one of them. That is one of things that is on your mind, you are conscious that sometimes we do work for other clubs don’t we because other clubs can afford to buy them when we have resurrected them. Ian Harte was another one, and there are other players we have had, and I can name dozens.
JP
And that is it isn’t, because the fans already want him to start, you will be feeling that pressure I am sure already, and I am sure you will be for Monday from fans wanting him to, he looks like he has got something, that is the fear isn’t it, that is the fear that somebody does come in and just poach him away from you with all your hard work?
GA
So, is it going to be my fault if he doesn’t sign? I don’t think it is my fault. I would have him signed and sealed and delivered soon, but listen, it is something we will work on. It is part of the job, it is not as easy as it appears from stood ten steps behind me. It is not that easy right running football clubs and managing football clubs and picking teams and assembling squads, it is just not quite that easy. I wish it was, I wish it was, and then I wouldn’t be like a raving lunatic for most of the week would I.
But, we work hard at trying to assemble and we are rebuilding again, we know we are because we have built fantastic teams here over the past five or six years and the best players have been taken by other clubs and then I am left with another rebuilding job. It is not easy you know because I think if you picked a team out of the six years I have been then we could probably win the league comfortably if you picked the best out of that group.
I mean that with the best players out of those six years, but we haven’t been able to hang on to them for one reason or another. So, you have got to keep trying to find others to bring them in, at the minute we are on that finding job again because at the minute we look like we need a little bit more quality in the group.
JP
Speaking of quality, talk through the reaction you got from Jordan Mustoe today after he perhaps had his hardest game for Carlisle last week?
GA
Worst and best I think, he struggled a bit last week and then he has been terrific. You can tell after the first five minutes with players, but he was very good today and he is up against a really good player (Matt Richards) who we said could win them the game, and I don’t think he had a shot did he in the game from open play, possibly in open play.
So, good and it will give him the confidence because has come to learn, he has come to make his mistakes, but I wish people wouldn’t make them all for me at important times and force us to lose games. But, that is life you can’t have everything, but he is here to make mistakes and get better and develop and he is certainly doing that.
JP
And that showed real character didn’t it, that level of performance as you say after perhaps his worst one at Carlisle last time?
GA
I don’t think character or lack of character is something I am going to label at my dressing room, they are a terrific group and that is my enjoyment. Things are tough at the moment, there is no question about it, but the dressing room is my solace, I like going in there, sorry, I am just saying they are good for me and I hope I am good for them.
JP
What is the situation with Matt Robson, that was a bit of a spanner in the works early on?
GA
Well, playing with the two strikers they thrive on service and we had to put Jon-Paul McGovern on the left because he is a good footballer, a clever footballer, he can handle the left bit probably better than David. You have got David again learning the game, impact over 90 minutes probably not where it should be or where we need it to be to get the service into the strikers. But, we are going to have stick with it aren’t we, that is where we are.
So, Matty was a blow, what has happened to him I really don’t know in terms of where it is going forwards because I have come straight in here to speak to you. But, he is a big player for us because he puts people on the back foot, he gets his delivery in and compliments J-P well, J-P is clever and neat and tidy and Matty is explosive and powerful and gets down the wing. So, we lost him and we lost a bit of shape to what we are doing, but that is part of where we are.
JP
We are hearing it is a recurrence of a back problem with him, is that something that might be a threat for him for Monday or coming off as early as he did might that give him a chance?
GA
I honestly can’t answer your question because I haven’t seen him. I am not trying to deflect, I would think he is very doubtful to be honest, to come off on a Friday I would think would put him in severe………. Mind you, we have got a man here (Danny Livesey) who had a grade seven calf strain and he managed about ten days out and he ran around alright today didn’t he.
JP
And that was a real bonus wasn’t it, getting him back in there and in with Sean O’Hanlon they looked fearsome again?
GA
At times it was a real bonus for them. It was good, like I say, we want everybody fit and the big fella has defended like he does, he has put his body on the line again and Sean has as well. They will be upset that they have conceded two goals because they will take their fair share, they will probably take a bit of that to help Mark out as well because that is the way they are, they are good guys. But, it is good to see them back and good to have more or less everybody back. Matty’s injury was a blow today.
JP
Something I must touch on because the fans were clearly touching on it in the match, some of Lee Miller’s battling with defending is great to watch, some of it is starting to frustrate the fans, it seems almost like he is going down too easily and the referee is starting to just wag his finger and ignore him. Is that something you can work on with him or is that something he needs to recognise?
GA
Yeah, no, it is both, we told him at half-time that the referee is not falling for it, some give a foul every time. This referee for me is the right way, he let the centre-halves have their way and good old fashioned nine v five battles and today it wasn’t a day for falling down. Whether we are saying it is down to him, sometimes he is up against it and sometimes he gets them and sometimes he doesn’t.
But, he has got to recognise where the referee is, if they give free-kicks then alright, that’s great, but if they are not then you have got to be a bit stronger at times. Lee has got to work that out himself, but today the referee wasn’t having any of it. It was a good old fashioned League One battle and I would prefer it like that.
JP
It got to the point though with some of the fans where they were even groans when you took Mark Beck rather than him off, yet he comes away with two goals, I guess that is why you get the big bucks to be the manager?
GA
Er, big bucks, Carlisle United?
JP
Well, the bucks.
GA
Bucks.
JP
Some bucks.
GA
Bucks. He scored two goals and he did it again last week didn’t he. So, listen, there is always going to be moans and groans about everything, all decisions. I walked across the car park once and I could have picked nine different centre-forwards, I am never going to please everybody. I am stood there trying to make decisions that help the team and get them right. We drew 2-2 and my number nine has scored twice, so not too much aggro in that. I thought Mark was a little bit below again today, especially first-half, he is learning, they are learning.
Week in and week out it is going to be tough for these kids and we are in and out and he is having a good run. I mean the progress he has made this season is fantastic, and that is what I just want to marry up with everybody. Don’t think we are hauling him off for any reason, sometimes a change is just for a change but there is no select reason that it is him or him. It is not a major issue, the centre-forward that has stayed on has scored twice so I don’t think we should even be talking about it.
JP
Just finally, one of those games whatever the context this season that fans look forward to, a trip to one of the big grounds in Bramall Lane and Sheffield United, an Easter treat for everyone?
GA
Yeah, I mean it might be a bit easier because they will be expected to come out and go at us and obviously be the favourites. But, you have seen our players, they have brought us some good performances and good results at times this season. Nothing to be frightened of, let’s go and enjoy it and work as hard as we have today, and we might find we cause them some problems.