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JP
Greg, a very relieved man, what a good effort it was from your players.
GA
We are relieved because the situation has been hyped up a little bit this week and it does affect everybody. We are playing under a severe amount of pressure at the moment, everybody is, and credit to ourselves - that is fair enough. We have worked exceptionally hard this week, the players have worked absolutely brilliantly this week and sometimes you get your rewards for guts and honesty and determination.
Because we lost our way a little bit in the second-half and we bounced back from that, but sheer guts and determination and wanting to succeed and wanting to please people, wanting to please our fans has seen us through today. That is important and the fans have reacted to that, I think they have been outstanding today, there were a few grumbles but they have been outstanding.
Because they want to see their team win and they want to see them playing good football. I think they enjoyed the first-half, there were spells in the second-half where they probably didn't. But through sheer guts and wanting to win them over, the players have done that today and they have got their just rewards, and we are not going to say that we didn't deserve it because we did.
JP
What was different today? What changed for you out there on the pitch?
GA
It is difficult to say, I wish we could bottle it all up as to why we go out and perform like that in the first-half and show the passion and determination. It would be nice to have….., when you have got 8,000 or 9,000 here it is an unbelievable atmosphere and people don't want to come here, we are down to 4,500 now. It was a little bit flat, the whole thing was a bit flat waiting for us to make something happen.
To be fair to the players they have made things happen in the first-half and with a little bit of luck and a little bit of better finishing we could have been out of sight at half-time, that is what we said to the players. It was a really awful goal to concede, a throw-in which we have misjudged, Lenny (Pidgeley) has got his hand to it and we have not defended the second ball, but apart from that we were really pleased.
Their system changed with (Dougie) Freedman going off, we were better with him on the field, we were miles better with him on the field. It caused a problem, the four (Jean-Francois Christophe) sitting in front of the back four and that is why we shuffled around with things. But we managed to nullify that, eventually with getting the full-backs higher and the wide players higher. We have got our goal in the second-half, which wasn't pretty at times the second-half, but I think through guts and bravery.
JP
They were a team who set up very defensively after Freedman had gone off, they did have that man, it was almost 5-4-1 really from Southend. You have struggled to break teams down, what was different today for you?
GA
We just kept going, we got our rewards for our honesty and our endeavour. That is why we shuffled it around a little bit, because we were hoping we could get the diagonal ball in for Scott Dobie with the full-back (Johnny Herd) being only 5'7. We thought that with his pace and his power that if we could get the ball out to Matty (Robson) like we did in the first-half, where you get that supply of crosses in then we fancied him to score from that area.
Joe (Anyinsah) is probably better suited after last week to playing the central role, but it didn't quite work. They were doing nothing, we were doing nothing in fairness, and the four (Christophe) was a problem, it just stopped the game having any flow to it. So we changed it around again and went a little bit higher into the front players earlier and we got our rewards for a nice flick and a super finish from Joe in the areas he likes down the right-hand side of the centre of the pitch. So we are pleased with that.
JP
You made a tactical change in the match and did effect that change in the match that got you the goal. It was flat in there but they weren't really threatening you, do you think you felt you had to push on and get that win today?
GA
Yes, because we needed to do something about it, we are the home team and we are looking for wins aren't we. The situation is where we need some points, a draw today would have been OK but it wouldn't have been what we wanted. We wanted a win and it is up to me and up to our boys to do something about that and ask a few more questions.
They didn't look like winning the game but we didn't look like winning the game in the second-half for a period. Then we got a little bit of momentum and we huffed and puffed in the second-half to be perfectly honest with you, it wasn't a great performance in the second-half. But we probably deserved our win for our first-half efforts and if Freedman hadn't gone off, we were really upset about that because the three in there, it looked like they had stopped trying to win the game and trying to save the game.
You know what can happen on the break, they have got two decent wide players who might have hurt us on the break. We were just pushing forward to try to get that win but we managed to do it and we can breathe a bit of a sigh of relief. We have got it out of the way, the boys are delighted in there, it is a great dressing-room, they are a great set of boys and they are really happy that hopefully they have sent the fans away with a little bit of encouragement.
JP
And one fan commenting as he was leaving on BBC Radio Cumbria, he said we have played enough games where we have played really well and not got the win. Are you happy to be a little bit more ugly today as it was in the end and get the three?
GA
It is a good point, that is him being a fan there and that is a nice fan, that is a good fan. But in the first-half we could have been 3-0 or 4-0 up, we had some really good attacking play. The substitution of Freedman messed the game up, it killed the game as a spectacle really, we had to try to do something to get around that.
The wind didn't help us because we couldn't drop the balls into the front and they were too high and the service got a little bit poor and the game got a bit ragged. But if we have won ugly, we have won ugly, so we can't be too embarrassed about that because we have lost playing well at times and we have had to make excuses for that. But the key is results at the moment for us, and we have got a result and that is what everybody should be pleased about.
JP
I don't think it is a criticism for one minute from the fan.
GA
No, I didn't mean it as a criticism, I am just saying that we have had some pretty performances where we have got nothing out of them. So we are sort of not going to be embarrassed about an ugly win if that is what we want to call it. But let's have another 17 or 18 ugly wins this season and we will all be happy.
JP
Something that certainly wasn't ugly was Vincent Pericard's home debut, set up one, scored the other, both lovely bits of work from him, happy?
GA
I hope he is.
JP
No, are you happy with him?
GA
I am happy with him, I was happy with him last week. He came and he should have only played 60 minutes last week. But he was that determined to do well, it is a real testament of his character as well. He has come from big clubs and big things and he wants to help us out, and the big fella is a really good lad to work with.
He is great round the dressing-room, the lads have taken to him already because there is no edge to him, there is no ego. We call him all sorts on the training field to get him working harder and moving about and he takes it, he is great. He is enjoying himself, he has got a smile on his face and it is about Vince resurrecting his own career with the injury problems he has had. Today he has got his goal and he has set one up and I think he will be happy.
JP
A bit of a bust up at the end there, can you tell us what happened?
GA
No, listen I am not Arsene Wenger and am going to say I didn't see it. I didn't really, I was more interested in our players coming off and congratulating them to see what was going on. I haven't got a clue what went on to be honest, I have not even asked and I am not really bothered to be honest.
JP
And for all the pressure the fans have talked about, we the media have talked about as is our job. When you were coming off with the players after the warm-up, you got a very warm reception I thought, did that help the players and yourself?
GA
Listen, listen, I am a normal human being who doesn't like criticism and doesn't like people having a go at me all the time. I take it because I am tough but when you see an appreciation like that and you know why they are doing it, it is very, very nice indeed, and do you know what, it made me feel ten foot tall. Both my boys are here as well today and I am happy with them as well.
JP
I bet you are, looking ahead to next week, a very tough game, one of the best sides in the division. Maybe even one of the better sides in the division above as well in Charlton.
GA
But they have been held away at Gillingham today so we can't be saying that they have got to come up here and we have got to lose because we don't have to lose. The rules say we can win this game if we want to because that is what you are allowed to. So we are going to really give them a hit, and to be honest they will come out here probably expecting to get something out of the game and open up a little bit more. It might give us a little bit easier chances to get into their back four and into areas where we did today in the first-half.
JP
Do you almost prefer it when you get teams like Charlton who look to play a lot of football coming here to Brunton Park, rather than setting up to defend the game?
GA
Well we find it hard, we did find it hard in the second-half didn't we. It will be a good game next week because we generally do alright. Maybe a little bit of the pressure is off us in terms of expectations because you will find that the crowd will turn right on our side next week because they are expecting us to perform against a really good side who are top of our league I think.
JP
Any injuries from the game today?
GA
I don't think so no, I think when we win there generally isn't. Matty Robson is limping off with a little bit of a cut but he is not the bravest at times. Those wide players do get hurt more often than anybody else, that was a joke by the way.
JP
And what about the walking wounded ahead of next week, anyone who might make it back?
GA
I don't think so just as we stand right now, but we will have to wait and see. But I would have to say that I thought Richard Keogh was terrific at right-back, I thought he was absolutely outstanding in terms of everything he gave us. We had a lot more balance there and Ian (Harte) stepped in and probably had one of his better games as well at centre-half, so everybody has sort of gone away reasonably happy.
JP
He has become a real crowd favourite hasn't he Keogh.
GA
That is because his heart is on his sleeve and he is honest. This league is all about honesty, and people that go across that white line and give everything they have got, people will accept mistakes and they will accept under-par performances as long as they know they are giving of everything. And let me tell everybody in this city, we gave everything this week, every single player and the back-room staff have given everything and we have got a reward today. Long may it continue and much more of it needed.