United boss Greg Abbott (GA) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) after Carlisle's 1-0 FA Cup Third Round defeat away to Torquay, Abbott understandably saying that everyone is disappointed with the result :
Blues boss Greg Abbott
JP
What have you made of that today?
GA
Erm, it is a big disappointment isn't it. There is a disappointed dressing room, there is a disappointed following of crowd that came with us and there is a disappointed management staff and there is a disappointed group of players. So, we have to deal with that now and the next win gets even harder to get, because the morale in there is low. Confidence looks a little bit low, so there is a bit of picking up to do.
JP
Why didn't you win today?
GA
If I knew that I am not sure I would be stood here mulling on a defeat. I thought we got off to a decent start to be honest, Francois (Zoko) probably should have scored in the first minute, he didn't. As soon as things start to go against you when you are losing it sort of spreads wholesale.
There were too many players today that didn't perform anywhere near their full capabilities. We have talked about that without singling people out, they know themselves that they haven't done as well as they can because a month ago we were looking at big things from the season, and a month later things have got a whole lot more difficult.
That is probably when you need your big players to come out and stand their corner and help everybody along. But, certainly today there were too many players way off the levels they have been showing, and hence that means you are always going to be on the back-foot in terms of winning the game.
JP
Why do you think that was? Why have those players' levels dropped significantly at this stage?
GA
Erm, sometimes just a little bit of confidence, results have gone against us a little bit in the last month. The type of squad we have got, the age group maybe of the squad and the type of character - it affects them, and today we looked affected, as soon as Torquay got their goal we looked affected.
Certainly in the first-half we probably gave as good as we got, in the second-half I thought that in spells we were short when you would expect us to be pressing and trying to find an equaliser. Which we did in spells but not in a persistent way and in a manner that looked like we were going to get something in the end.
JP
In terms of the goal, you couldn't do a great deal, it is just bad luck, a slip at the wrong time (from Tom Cruise) allowing them in. There were a lot of fans concerned that the back line would be a problem today but it wasn't so much that, it was more an inability to break down Torquay wasn't it?
GA
Yeah, once we conceded the goal, which was early, we started rushing things and we lost our quality. The back four actually didn't do a great deal wrong really, Paul Thirlwell was as good as any player we had probably today. It wasn't anything to do with Paul Thirlwell so you can't use that as an excuse, the captain has stood firm really in and amongst others that were not.
But, we couldn't find that quality and we had all our attacking players on the pitch at some point during the game, and there are no more options that possibly I could have used that could have given me any more ideas on how to score a goal. A couple of players had their poorest games for a while, and we didn't get the quality into Gary Madine that we thought would hurt Torquay to get a goal, and that is why you lose games.
JP
How much of a blow to the club is it not to have made it through and not to have got to the Fourth Round? What are the repercussions of this defeat?
GA
I don't know, it has cost us a financial draw and it has cost us a financial gain for this round, so it never healthy to lose any game. But, the FA Cup is a springboard to find some revenue and we haven't done it today. So, I would say that the club as a whole will suffer, how badly that is I don't know.
JP
Can you understand how disappointed the fans will be tonight?
GA
Of course I can understand.
JP
What would you like to say to them then?
GA
Well, disappointed for the fans, to be fair the criticism has got to be balanced, it has got to be level, but they are entitled to be upset. If you think I have gone in the dressing room and just washed away a defeat then you are wrong. But, once they cross the white line players have responsibilities. We can look at all sorts, I am at the helm of this and I take full responsibility for results and performances, so I ultimately take responsibility.
But, when they cross the white line players have a responsibility to perform to the levels we know they are capable of and I don't think enough of them did today. So, for that the fans can be upset, with them at first and then they can be upset because it is me that picks the team and puts the players out there and tries to instil confidence and belief in them, and it hasn't happened today. So, probably we are all entitled to a little bit of criticism, I am OK with that.
JP
I would be the first and I did in commentary to say that some of the fans were giving the players a hard time after the match, as is their want after a game like that. But, one fan has rung in tonight to say why did only Peter Murphy go down to the fans and acknowledge them at the end of the game?
GA
I am not sure, you will have to ask them. The players I think did stand in the middle of the pitch and applaud, but by the time they were applauding I think most of the fans had gone away. But, if they hadn't done they should do. But, they have taken disappointment badly as well and they have taken defeat badly as well and to that fan who expects them to go down and applaud then just understand their disappointment. But, I would apologise for that if they haven't done that, they need to do that.
JP
A big period of time for you now to try to get in some players and try to get your squad and the confidence levels and the bodies in and the confidence in as well?
GA
Yeah, it is a big week. At the minute people will be saying that we are not this and we are not the other. But, a month ago they were saying we were this, we were this and we were the other. I wasn't too bothered about the praise, I am bothered about the criticism but I know that there is a group of players there, a core of players there that are better than they have shown today by a million, million miles and the players know that.
But, every defeat you take confidence gets knocked, pressure builds and things get harder to come by. But, they are going to have to face that because we have got ourselves into a little bit of a pickle and we have got to get out of it quickly.
JP
How do you go about getting back the confidence now? It is almost as important for you as getting in the new faces isn't it?
GA
Listen, any manager whatever level he is from the Premier League down to the Conference would tell you that it is only hard work. We are talking about coming in on Monday ready to work, ready to train harder, ready to play harder, ready to be better prepared for the game on Saturday, because we have got to beat Bristol Rovers now, it is as simple as that.