John Ward - Radio Cumbria Interview

Last updated : 01 October 2008 By Thetashkentterror

John Ward
United boss John Ward spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Derek Lacey on Tuesday morning as he talked about Carlisle's 2-1 defeat away to Walsall at the weekend, Ward also giving the latest news on Peter Murphy's knee injury :


" I have looked at the video and I'm disappointed with it. I think that we were below-par, I have to say that Walsall played well, they had a good day, but we didn't compete strong enough and for long enough I felt at times. We got bumped about as I said after the game, and I am still of that view and that opinion.

" The finale was a bit too little, too late when we had a real go back at them, we are capable of doing that, we don't lie down easily. I suppose that is a good thing about us but at the same time I thought that the 90 minutes was a disappointment. No-one can think their place is safe which is a shame in a way because we have had such a good start, and the squad is a good squad, but that is why it is there and that is why you have got to give selection some thought.

" You give people probably other chances and say that there are opportunities there, I saw the reserve game on Monday night, they won 5-2 and they were a lot better than they were the previous week. There were some good performances in that so people are now knocking on my door, even hypothetically, saying that they are ready to come back if I want them. So there is a week of thought for me as to what to do this coming Saturday.

" It's 50-odd games I have been here and the club were in the top six when I came, so I don't take credit for that, but we managed to stay there and we have pushed it on. Now is the first time that we have slipped out of that which is great credit to a club like ours that we have been able to sustain that. The disappointment is there for everybody though coming out of it, it is not something that we have been used to, and three defeats on the trot is not something that we have been used to. "



" You tend to learn far more about your players and about people around you when times are a bit tougher. There are a bit tougher at the minute, albeit not disastrous, but we will see how people rally round. Certainly I don't think that you get to this stage of a career without rallying round when you have had tough times. I have been there before once or twice, but we'll be fine, we'll be OK.

" It's only a blip until you get it right isn't it, we only know that until we get the next victory. If we get a win on Saturday then we can probably say that, but even then you are not secure in anything, football doesn't let you be secure. So you have just got to keep working hard at the right things, we didn't do enough of those on Saturday. The previous two defeats we have sort of accepted that we played pretty well in them, Scunthorpe and Leeds, but on Saturday at Walsall we didn't.

" So that is why people will be wondering about it, that is why I am wondering about it, saying that we probably need to shake it up a little bit one way or the other. Whether it be in training, whether it be in team selection, but we'll be fine, because the one thing that I have seen about this group of people is that they bounce back.

" Questions were asked as to how we would start the season after last year, and we started it brightly and it is probably not the worst blip in the world to be seventh in your division is it. So we take some comfort in that, that the start has helped us to survive it without being too much of a disaster. If we can get the win on Saturday then there is a good chance that we will be back in the top six where we would like to be. "



" We've spoilt ourselves haven't we in the last 12 months or so, even in the last four years the club has been successful. It has had it's two promotions, it has finished eighth, it has finished fourth, and people, everybody has got used to doing very well. Again though, we should keep the thing in perspective, we shouldn't see being seventh after eight games as a disappointment.

" The recent results have been obviously and the last performance was, but it is now up to us to bounce back this Saturday and put in a performance. If we can equal the one of against Leeds, or even the one against Scunthorpe United, then we have got a chance of winning the game, and that is what we have got to try to do.

" Nothing further with injuries, Peter Murphy is going to see a specialist with his knee, it hasn't quite settled the way that we would like it to. We had hoped to be pushing him on a little bit this week but Neil Dalton is a little bit unsure about that, so we are getting some further advice, but apart from that everyone else is fine after Saturday.

" He (Chris Lumsdon) is coming along great, he has got that buoyancy about him now, he has not needed the operation, the thing is coming back more naturally for him. The timescale is still the same, we can't get him out on the training pitch with the other squad at the moment but he is around the dressing-room. He has livened it up, he is in good spirits so he will pass that on to the rest of the group. "



" Dan (Wordsworth) has extended for another month at Kendal Town, which we are really pleased about. Lee Ashcroft (Kendal manager) was really delighted with what he has done in the month, I don't think that he had lost a game until Saturday, since Dan had joined them. They are in a good position in their league and it is good for Dan to get his football.

" It helps us well at reserve team level in a way that young Tom Aldred is getting his chance coming into that level alongside Josh Gowling on Monday. So it works in a lot of good ways for everybody, and I hope that Dan carries on and does well. As for Kevin Gall, that loan goes through to January, which we did in the initial part, so we will see how that pans out at the end of this transfer window.

" I think over my year the performance at Leeds away in the first leg of the play-offs was an exceptionally good one. I think that the one here when we beat them 3-1 in the league possibly set up the real belief that we could push on. We were meeting a team that had not even dropped a point when they came here, Leeds United under Dennis Wise. We were a goal down with half an hour or so to go and put in a sterling 30 minutes. Everyone said what a wonderful game it was, it was actually a wonderful 30 minutes.

" The belief I think that that engendered in the squad and in the club and the supporters was that we could do certain things. We did it front of a full house, the first one for 30-odd years they tell me, so that was a really special occasion. That will live long, I can remember myself, Greg (Abbott) and Dennis (Booth) all jumping up and down afterwards, and even at my age it was exciting, it was a good thing to happen. "