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" The captain was either Danny (Livesey) or Paul (Thirlwell), they have both been very impressive people for me. Obviously I have not seen all of Paul on the pitch last year but Danny enjoyed having the captaincy and he revelled in it and took it on to a really good level for us. I know the respect though that Paul Thirlwell has in the dressing-room, and he certainly has the same from Danny.
" I am asking them both to work together basically, the armband is important and it's a very proud thing for people to wear. I'm looking for leadership throughout the dressing-room though and certainly those two guys will provide it whether one has got the armband or not. We've said that if Paul is in the team it is him and if not then it will be Danny.
" I think even so that if neither of them are there for any reason then I have got other people in the football club who are now developing into senior players. They don't have to be old players but they are senior people who have got the respect of their team-mates, and we have got a very strong dressing-room in that respect.
" I am satisfied with my squad as well as you can be. We haven't kicked a ball in anger yet and we will get sorted out when we go through the first week with the Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday programme. So we'll get to know about even the strength of our squad at that stage. We are playing some decent football, I'm pleased with it, it's attractive and it's pleasing to the eye but it has also been effective.
" We've looked threatening in terms of goalscoring and that is the be-all and end-all really. I was saying the other day that I won't get much praise if we're attractive and we lose 2-0, so we have got to make sure that we start winning our games. With three out of the first four away from home we know that it is going to be a tough start. "
" I'm talking to players and managers about players, I was at a manager's meeting on Wednesday in the Midlands and there were a number of managers there, and we talked about players and things like that. I'm not racing and chasing though, some couple of weeks ago everyone wanted this and wanted that and we have now got what I think is a settled squad.
" As I have said, the feedback that we are getting from certainly the two home games is that people have enjoyed the football. The squad is difficult to improve because I think it is moving ahead all the time, so we are pretty, I won't say limited a little bit, in the terms of the players that we can attract into Carlisle, or we want to bring in.
" Because we are looking at very good first-team people. So I never close the door, we have brought seven or eight in since I came in October, which is a good return I think in a reasonably short space of time. If there are players available though then I will add to the squad and make it even stronger if I can.
" A few of the players have had that fresh start, and I have said that all along, I came in with no fixed ideas a month ago or so, and it is up to people to show me. The players actually pick the team, I put my name to it and make the selection in that sense but they tell me with how I see them day in and day out. Particularly in the pre-season games, about which way I think I should lean in terms of that match selection.
" Young Gary Madine has come through, Darren Campion, people were very pleased with him in the week including myself. Those guys weren't really considered first-team players but they are now. Danny Carlton had a quiet time last year but he has found himself in goalscoring form which is terrific. Scott Dobie looks a lot stronger with the pre-season behind him with five goals.
So, different levels, different players are all improving and getting better, the pre-season has been difficult for me in terms of getting that first-team selection, it's a really nice little problem to have though. Whatever team I pick then I am not going to be right in everybody's eyes, I never am in that but I am fine with the situation that I have got. "
" It is obviously much better than saying that everybody knows what the team is going to be because those guys aren't quite up to it. I think that we have got 20 or 21 players there who are certainly up to it, and whichever team I do select at Bristol Rovers it will be a pretty strong one.
" He (Ashley-Paul Robinson) has played in the Championship, and he got himself into a bit of bother with Mr Warnock, he is not the first and he won't be the last to have done that will he. So I don't think that we can really hold that against him, actually Neil does think that I am one of his only friends in football, and he has ask to himself why that is, not me, I think that is his situation.
" Ashley-Paul comes up with a little bit of background there but we are prepared to have a look. Everyone has said to me to get hold of him and have a look at him, he again is another guy that is a bit short of match fitness but we have had him for a couple of days. He is certainly not short of confidence though, and we'll probably see him in a shirt on Monday up at Workington.
" So we'll have a little look and make decisions onward after that. He looks a little bit heavy but he is a strong boy certainly and he has got certain ability, and he is not short of a bit of confidence. If we can marry all that together then we may have an interesting player in our midst.
" I have sat with Tyrone (Cameron) today and I have said to him that we would like a longer look at him, so we would extend the period for him to stay at the football club. He is coming with us tomorrow across to Morecambe but he has got the weekend to chat to his parents and discuss it with them. He will play on Monday at Workington as well and then we'll discuss where he feels he is at.
" So I am wanting to keep him but he is one certainly for the future, he is a developing player, he is not at this moment going to threaten David Raven. We'll look at that though in six or twelve months time and see if we can develop that person.
" They are in digs together at the moment which is quite nice for them, I think that they are quite enjoying the company. To get them to do that though, and both at relatively short notice to jump on transport and get up here into Cumbria just tells me and tells you that they want to have a go at it. Sometimes boys in London don't want to do that but these two young fellas have to come to have a go at Carlisle United and we will give them the opportunity.
" The goals will give Danny Carlton confidence and I think that they already have done. I think that we saw him grow with that on Tuesday night against Middlesbrough when he got his goal quite early after coming on. His all-round game was a lot stronger and a lot better after that period. It does that with all strikers, that was my position when I was a younger guy, and you just feel better when you have a found goal or two.
" So Danny will feel again like the others, more confident, I think that by his own admission he missed out a little bit. It was a big jump for him to come out of Morecambe in the first place but he has certainly adapted a lot better this pre-season. He is right there in the frame with everybody else giving me the extra little bit of pressure to try to make my selections, but good for him.
" I've got a good idea of where I want to go with my first eleven for Bristol Rovers, but I think that people would expect me to say that. We've got these two games to come but Greg (Abbott), Dennis (Booth) and I have had good long chats about it this week. You'll read into what you want in terms of my team selections but I am pretty confident in my own mind of what I would like to see.
" I think that the nice thing that I will have, whichever way I go I will have a good strong bench and I think that that is very, very important. You often can tell the strength of your team by what you have got on the bench, that maybe you have got impact players on there that can come and do something. Certainly we have players in pre-season who are making an impact. "