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JP
What did you make of it today? A game of two halves very much so, but a game that Carlisle United can come out of very chuffed with their display?
PT
Yeah, very pleased, the gaffer (Greg Abbott) was in there, obviously no-one likes losing games but it is that point in the season where results don't matter. It is about fitness levels and it is about trying things out and we felt we did that today.
We started the first-half compact in the middle of the pitch, we felt that we did it well and probably had the better chances in the game and could have come in 1-0 up. In the second-half we made it a bit more expansive with the 4-4-2 and opened the game right up, and they showed three bits of class in the game really, which you would expect from Premier League players.
JP
It is not a formation that we really saw last season, the more diamond approach that you have gone for, it sort of uses four basically central midfield players. You anchoring at the back in front of the back line, (Tom) Taiwo and (James) Berrett in front of you and then (Marc) Bridge-Wilkinson playing behind the strikers. But it really did work and the fans at half-time who were talking to BBC Radio Cumbria were quite excited by the way that one looks.
PT
Yeah, it did work well, we actually played the system at Norwich on the last day of the season and obviously it was a good way to end the season. We played ever so well on the day and it is something the gaffer has used and thought about in the past. I think it is just that in today's football no one system works religiously.
I think it is just trying some things out and maybe having the formula for different games. It worked quite while but some days it will work and some days it won't, it just depends sometimes on the team you are playing and what you are up against.
JP
You were very much a part of that first-half team that did ever so well against Newcastle, what did it feel like playing against some of the more stellar names? Premier League players as you have done in your career but with Carlisle United and competing so well against them, is that just good for your confidence?
PT
Yeah, it is exactly that, it is good, it is pleasing. We knew the formation we were going to play, we thought that if we could stifle them in the middle of the pitch and stop them from getting control of the game and giving us the run-around then we would create chances.
We knew they would come and try to pop the ball about, and we thought if we could nick round the middle of the pitch in their half we could then break on them at pace, and I think we did that at times in the first-half.
JP
I am sure you watched the game, I don't know if you had your shower at half-time or after the match, I am sure you watched much of the second-half. What did you think was the difference between the two sides there?
PT
I think we just let the game open up, we were always going to change the system at half-time for the gaffer to look at different things. We matched them up with a 4-4-2 and made it a lot more open and expansive game and played them like for like really.
Whilst we still did well they had obviously three moments in the game where they scored three goals. When a Premier League side gets in front against you it is very difficult to get them back. But the lads did ever so well, we have had a really good work-out there and that is the main thing at this stage of the season.
JP
I know it is still quite early in pre-season, still quite a lot of time, you are off to Ashby-de-la-Zouch next week for a bit of time away. You are going to get away from everything there, is that an important part of pre-season just to have a bit of very focused time with your team-mates to make sure, I know that you do know everyone, but just to have a bit more time together, like you are going to be for the season?
PT
Yeah, it is, some of them you don't want to be around 24-7 but you have got to get away. Every team does it and they say out of sight, out of mind. It is just a change of scenery and we can get down and work on specifics that the gaffer wants to work on.
We will have our double sessions, no doubt it will be continuing. But it is good, we will get some training done and I am sure will be focusing on things we have done well and things we maybe haven't done so well today. But everything is looking towards improving the team and making us better come the Brentford game.
JP
And you are straying now quite a bit into double figures in terms of the pre-seasons you have gone through, how are you finding this one with Carlisle?
PT
It is alright, I wouldn't say I am enjoying it. You don't enjoy the running but I think once you get the first week or ten days out of the way then the balls are out and everything is sort of football orientated in terms of the fitness. So, it is good, it is good, I am certainly not complaining, I still love doing it, it is a great job.
JP
And what have you made of the players that have come into the club, the likes of Berrett had another assured game today, also (Frankie) Simek, (Craig) Curran upfront, (Jason) Price as well. All the signings that have come in, is there a feeling around the dressing room that the quality is improving here as you go into another season?
PT
Yeah, definitely, I mean the lads that have come in have settled in ever so well. We have been doing a lot of shape so everybody knows when they are called upon exactly what needs to be done. That is the kind of ethos that the gaffer and Kav (Graham Kavanagh) are putting across, whoever plays and whoever steps into the team knows exactly what their job is and we will be continuing to work on that next week.
JP
Just a word for the trialists, have you ever had to trial in your career or have you always had moves whenever you have moved?
PT
Fortunately I have always had moves. But it is a tough situation, especially in games when in the second-half it is very stop-start, substitutions, substitutions, it can be difficult. But I can only say that the lads that have come in have just fitted in with the lads great and they have done ever so well. Obviously what will be will be with where their futures are concerned, but if they are here great and if not then we wish them all the best.
JP
You must have a lot of sympathy for their position though, because you have got to do enough to impress, but if you try too hard you never quite play well enough do you?
PT
Yeah, exactly that, it is very difficult, very difficult. But they have all got their heads down and given it 100% and it is a lot to do that actually these days as well as much as what you do on the pitch. They have certainly given the attitude in the right manner in the time they have been here.
JP
Just finally, looking ahead to the remainder of your pre-season, how excited is everyone about that opening match against Brentford, and another season where the fans as ever will expect progress and maybe a top half finish this time around?
PT
I am sure the fans are optimistic, as we are. I think they turned up in their numbers today and I think they will have enjoyed the game. The lads have really enjoyed it, the staff have enjoyed it and we just want to maintain our standards in terms of effort, fitness and working hard. Next week we will be looking at more technical aspects and striving in two or three weeks towards that Brentford game, and hopefully we will be firing on all cylinders come that.
JP
And last question, on yourself, do you like that playing more in front of the back four sort of role that you play in the diamond, as opposed to being one of a central two in a midfield or a central three? Do you like being able to sit back and see what is in front of you?
PT
I honestly don't mind, even when I am playing in a four I am more the defensive one and sort of just hang back there anyway. But it is very much horses for courses, it will be entirely the gaffer's decision, sometimes we might want to compact the midfield, sometimes we will want to get the ball wide and have wide players. But as long we all know what our job is that needs to be done when called upon, then it will make us a better team in the long run.