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" It's not a huge surprise, more so with Karl (Hawley). I think we're a little bit disappointed that Peter (Murphy) has decided to say no, we always thought we had a chance with him. We thought probably on the whole that Karl was going to move on. It's disappointing that they have both said no considering the season that we have had and for them not to see where the club is trying to get to.
" We move on, we certainly won't be too down too long, and we're certainly working behind the scenes to make sure that we get as good as, or even better, players than what those two players have done over the last three seasons for the club. I think in all honesty Karl probably made his mind up many months ago. He refused to talk, we can go into it in fine detail but at the end of the day he said no and we wish him all the best wherever he ends up.
" The deals were a substantial increase, I think the club and myself have sat down and offered both of them fantastic deals and we're bitterly disappointed that they have turned them down. I'm not quite sure where they will end up, to be fair and being honest I haven't heard any whispers from clubs about where they are going to go so it will be interesting to see where they end up.
" We need to bring a fair few players in now, we need a couple of centre-forwards, one more centre-half and possibly another two defenders. We're working hard behind the scenes, we're making lots of phone calls, we've spoken to a lot of people and the feedback has been quite good. Players nowadays want to leave their options open, they want to see what sort of offers they are going to have. We'll keep working behind the scenes to try to secure people early or in pre-season, so fingers crossed.
" We're taking to people in the background and we're very, very hopeful that we can get the people that we have targetted. It has to remain private who we are after, we certainly don't want to put egg on our chin by saying we have been talking to someone and then he goes somewhere else or says no. I try to keep that private and if it comes good then we'll tell everybody and it's been a huge success.
" We're in talks with him (Danny Graham), that's progressing along quite nicely. John Nixon and Fred Story themselves are in negotiations with his advisors and they are going along quite nicely. Fingers crossed for that one, if that was the first one then that would be fantastic because we all know what Danny Graham can do. He came and played eleven games and scored seven goals, he got better as the games went on and he'd be a fantastic signing for us if we could get him in the summer. "
" If you set yourself time limits on signings, well I've said all the way through the season that it has been very, very difficult to recruit. I think we'll just keep working away behind the scenes, and so be it if it takes one week to get one or it takes another couple of weeks, there is certainly no panic. There are lots of players who have been released and are available. So we're going through a list on a regular basis over the last two or three days, and even the last two or three months, to try to give ourselves the best chance to get them as quick as we can.
" If we don't then pre-season doesn't start until the 2nd of July so we still have plenty of time to recruit players to make the squad much, much stronger. It was always the case that we had contingency plans incase Karl or Peter didn't sign. Everybody knows that we need centre-forwards so we've been hot on trying to build a profile on certain players. Even if Peter hadn't signed we would have probably brought another centre-half in anyway to increase the competition.
" In midfield we've brought Jeff (Smith) in who can play in a four on the left-hand side or in a three in the middle. We've got Simon Hackney who will be a great bonus for us all, he is going to be fit for next year. We've had the emergence of Luke Joyce who has come on in leaps and bounds, so we're still pretty strong in midfield. If we can add that one more to stiffen competition up then it will be fantastic.
" I've got an idea of who I am going to ask to be team captain, I have to ask that person first of all. We have some big characters even though we've lost a couple in the last week or so who looked after the changing-room and made sure that the standards were good. We have good people in the changing-room though anyway and whoever I choose, or whoever it may be, then the next person comes along and they take over. I've got no qualms that the next skipper of Carlisle United will be a fantastic one and he will lead his men to try to better what we have just finished off with.
" I think you have a talker as a captain, you certainly have a do-er who shows by example. You don't have to shout and bawl when you are a captain, you listen, you try to influence, you try to point in the right direction. So it's just trying to find that fine mixture between the three. As a cricket captain I'm not quite sure because I don't really watch cricket, but it's certainly different. The manager on the sideline looks for certain players, not just one, even though we've only got one we've had three or four different captains on the pitch this season. I think that's shown in how they have worked hard for each other, they demand high standards off each other and that's why we have finished eighth in the league.
" I can't control what everybody else is saying about Newcastle, I'm the Carlisle United manager and I'm very, very proud to be the Carlisle United manager. We've organised pre-season and I'm looking forward to it, I'm looking forward to a little bit of a break and trying to recruit players coming into the club. That's my main concern and I'm looking forward to next season to try to better what we have done, and, as I say, I'm very, very proud to be the Carlisle manager.
" I'm going to enjoy a good break, I think everybody at the football club has worked extremely hard and they deserve a couple of weeks off. Then it's ready and raring to go for the new season, waiting for the new fixtures to come out and everybody on a high waiting for the games to come along again. "