United media officer and first team kitman Andy Hall (AH) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) before Carlisle's League One match at home to Charlton, Hall giving the latest updates on the off the field situation at Brunton Park this week :
JP
Administration was a point that came up quite a bit in discussion with fans on last night's show on BBC Radio Cumbria from 6pm, can you tell us anything on that at this stage?
AH
I can, it is quite strange for us as a club to be discussing administration at this stage. If we look back to in particular the period from March to June last year, I think we were probably closer and more under threat. Had it not been for the existing owner/directors investing quite substantially, and certainly in the case of the club chairman investing a substantial figure, at that point we would probably have been more in danger of heading towards at it that stage than we are now.
I have had a lengthy chat with the existing owners today, this morning, about this very subject and they are telling me in quite forthright terms that the club is in a better position than it has been for a while as far as the financial situation is concerned. We have just posted that £30,000 profit, we have to caveat that with the fact that there won't always be a Danny Graham situation, we won't always have the run in the Carling Cup that we have had.
So although we are looking ahead at the end of year figures, and probably we have to be honest and say that if something else along those lines doesn't happen, that we will be posting another loss. It will definitely not be anywhere near the £1.2 million loss that we posted at the end of last year's financial year.
JP
So essentially with the things the way they are going, maybe even an FA Cup run as well for the club, when you look at that £1.2 million loss, when you look at the fact that the club are in debt, when you look at the revelations of this week which we will talk about in a minute. Essentially the line from the club is that things aren't quite that bad so far this season.
AH
No, they are definitely better than they have been. Again, I will reiterate, if we go back to that period March to June last year, it was a tough, tough period for us. We had forecast crowd figures of 7,200, as it was back then we dropped to the average of 6,200. So obviously again we have budgeted for that, but if we look at this year it is dropping away again.
So we have got to balance the crowd that is coming through the gates against the figures we will get. So that will eat into anything else that does happen with Danny Graham's appearances, let's say Joe Garner moves on, let's say other players, the likes of Keiren Westwood move on. Those will be all positives for the club, but you can't budget for those because they may not happen.
But certainly as it stands we have posted the £30,000 profit at the moment and we are in a healthy position, but that won't always happen quarter by quarter. We do have to bear in mind that we probably will post a loss at the end of this financial year, but it will be significantly less than the £1.2 million that we posted this year.
JP
What exactly has been happening in the words of the club in the last few days?
AH
It surprised everybody, the build up, the start of the week certainly Monday to Wednesday, you are looking at a big game, a very big opponent who are coming to the club. Even though they are only a League One side as we are, but Charlton Athletic, haven't played them for a good while, they have got some good players and for us and for everybody who plays Charlton this season it is a big game.
Obviously Thursday and Friday those events came from absolutely nowhere, again having spoken to the owner/directors this morning. For them it was a little bit of a shock, they were aware that David Allen was perhaps thinking about taking a back seat. But the way that it happened Thursday and Friday took everybody by surprise and obviously we now have to look at that and we have to deal with the questions that arise from that.
JP
One of the things that came up in the statement, and it was an astonishing statement from David Allen, was this lack of direction and letting the club down and maybe a new start needed. What has been the board's decision on how they move forward from things like that?
AH
Well the crux of that was the £1.2 million loss, we had to look at that, that was for any club of our size a serious situation. So immediately what you have to do there is you have to cost save, not necessarily cost cut because that is the wrong message, you have to cost save. You have to look at areas within the business where you can make savings without significantly affecting that business.
That is definitely what the board of directors as a whole did, they sat down, they looked at areas like the scouting network which has been refined. But I tell you what, you talk to Greg Abbott, and I know you have about the scouting network, and he couldn't be happier with it at the moment. It is areas like, certainly it has affected me in the kit area, it is a small cost saving there but again you have looked at an area at the club where you can have a look at the framework and you can restructure it.
We have looked at areas where the managing director himself re-roled, took a step back, he actually took a loss in salary for that, even though he has still been coming in and working almost in the managing directorship as it was on a normal day-to-day basis. So there are areas like that, the squad size where we had players, I think Greg might have mentioned this where there are players who have sat in the stands last season and have not actually kicked a ball, but they have been on significant wages.
You have to look at that, you have to look at how you are going to structure your squad, use your squad and where you can make savings in that. But at no point has that affected Greg, and hopefully the fans will see this, in going out and getting players who can improve the squad. We are looking at the likes of (Vincent) Pericard, (Kevan) Hurst, (Matty) Robson, we can list them all all day. So hopefully by doing those cost saving measures the club has addressed what was really a big issue, a £1.2 million loss.
JP
Never miss Tom Taiwo off one of those lists by the way.
AH
Absolutely.
JP
Just talking commercially finally, one of the things that was questioned by the departing chief executive was whether the club had enough of a commercial vision for the future. Are Carlisle United doing enough at a time when they are struggling for gates and when the fans are at the moment not coming, to try to tap into the large area around Carlisle where there aren't other football teams?
We are hearing reports today that two Glasgow Rangers supporters came down to watch the club last week because they were so cheesed off with the situation at Ibrox and all the financial problems there. They have bought season tickets and they are coming here, these fans are out there, are the club doing enough to get them through the gates?
AH
That is probably one of the criticisms that we have to take on board. We do have to look at how we are engaging with the fans. Certainly on a personal note with David Allen leaving the club, I found working with him has been fantastic, along with Dick Young he set up a working group that specifically looked at initiatives. Things like the Halloween thing today, it is only a small thing but in some ways it is a significant thing because we are looking at the fans of the future.
The idea behind that with Dick Young and David was to get a group of people who work at the club to work together to come up with ideas, whether it is ticketing, marketing, commercial. Things with the kids, engaging with the fans, whatever it was and it has only been in place, I think we have had three meetings so far.
So on a personal note it is disappointing to see David go because he was one of the people behind that. But that will certainly continue and it will continue so that those of us who are here can continue to look at areas where we have got it wrong. We have to hold our hands up and say we have got this wrong in a lot of areas, there are a lot of things we do ticket-wise that fans have grumbled at, we always take it on board.
One thing I will say is any decision, and I have seen this first hand, any decision made by anybody at that club is done with the best interests of the club at heart. There are certainly no underlying agendas, there is nothing like that, whatever decision, if something is blocked, if something is said no, if we say yes, if we go further with something, it is always with the best interests of Carlisle United at heart.
JP
Some very positive points there, just finally we must touch on what is a huge game we hope. Charlton Athletic, it is a privilege at times to watch this level of football, it is here today and fingers crossed it can be a great spectacle for those who turn up.
AH
You were just going through the names in the Charlton squad, and if you were somebody who just watched both teams without supporting one of them, you would think 'wow', look at the side that Charlton Athletic are going to put out today. But I tell you what, there are some good players in amongst Carlisle United as well and the positive result from last week has given us something to build on. That is definitely the message for the boys today, let's build on it and let's take it forward.