United media officer and first team kitman Andy Hall (AH) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) this afternoon ahead of Carlisle's season opening game at home to Notts County, Hall saying that he has got a buzz with the 2011-12 campaign almost upon us :
JP
The new season is back, they are out there warming up ahead of the first game, how excited has everyone been in the build-up to this one?
AH
It is amazing isn't it that we still get like little kids at Christmas don't we, we still get that buzz and we genuinely have got that buzz for today because it feels like a really strong squad this time round. We know that the manager (Greg Abbott) has still got to keep looking all the way through the next couple of months to see how we are doing and to see if he wants to strengthen. But, right now there is just a feeling that we are in a really good position to kick on.
JP
We know only three sort of big signings coming in this summer in terms of (Andy) Welsh, (Jon-Paul) McGovern and (Stephen) O'Halloran, two of them not in the starting line-up either. I was quite surprised to see when you look back to the last game of last season just two changes actually from that team, but perhaps that rather than a negative perhaps suggests that Greg Abbott is just wanting to make little changes now to make the tweaks to get everything right?
AH
I would add Liam Noble to that as well and say that there are four of them because he will feel very aggrieved that he is on the bench. There is O'Halloran, there is Noble and there is Andy Welsh who are all three good players in their own right who haven't made it into that starting eleven. As you rightly say that is down to the fact that the manager might feel like he knows what he wants to go with, he might be saying to those boys who did so well for him last season, let's see if you can kick on and go with it again with that addition of a little bit of nous and steel from J-P McGovern. But, do you know what, who knows what Greg had to think about because this must have been one of the most difficult team selections for a very long time.
JP
What is it like to see Karl Hawley back here again? Of course United had good fortune against Notts County last season, a 1-0 win here and a 1-0 win down there with a little bit of magic from Francois Zoko?
AH
Not really a surprise to see Karl is starting today, he has got a good runout in pre-season, looks like Martin Allen likes him, he fits into the way that Martin Allen likes to play as well, and he is a great player, we know that. He got his move away from here on the back of the performances that he gave alongside Michael Bridges and Derek Holmes at the time. Very similar to what they will be doing with Notts County I think, so I expect it to be a good season for Karl.
JP
Yeah, I do as well actually, I thought he was really good at times when we saw him last season but his face didn't quite fit at times with Notts County. Moreover, what about Carlisle United? Exciting times, people talking about the sort of progression Greg Abbott, labelling this the best squad he has had during his time at Brunton Park, all of this just raises expectation though and almost puts pressure on the manager himself?
AH
Well, we look back at last season and we are sat in mid-table with a Johnstone's Paint Trophy final appearance again, and you are thinking to yourself that if we had just got rid of a couple of those silly performances, not necessarily the ones against Peterborough where actually you can't do much about it, it happens and you are on the backfoot. But, the ones against the likes of Yeovil up here and Dagenham away and things like that, you do them properly and you get those right and all of a sudden you are 7th or 8th. Then if you do a couple more and work a little bit harder and get that consistency then who knows? So, if we can get that consistency, get those results, we have definitely got the players to take us on.
JP
And a very interesting line coming out of last night's Fan's Forum which was of course here at Brunton Park, the Carlisle Fan's Forum on BBC Radio Cumbria Sport, shenanigans that sometimes happen in between football clubs and we know they happen away, but we also found out last night they happen here, so the big question Huddersfield notoriously last year didn't, do Notts County get hot water after the game?
AH
They do and we didn't do it deliberately, we have to stress it, it was a boiler that broke down but it did look to Huddersfield as if we had staged the whole thing, that is why Mr (Derek) Fazackerley was so angry. Those of us around the dressing room at the time didn't pick up on the anger until it was too late, so I have to stress that it wasn't deliberate and we would never................ I have been kitman now for three seasons now or whatever it is and I can't remember any team deliberately doing anything to make life more difficult, and we certainly wouldn't do it here, I think the Football League wouldn't be too happy.
JP
He is not the biggest man in the world but I am led to believe it was Ian Harte who stepped up and escorted Mr Fazackerley out of the dressing room, who would do that now then? Who would be the man to step up and do that job now that Ian has gone?
AH
Oh, I am thinking Tom Taiwo.
JP
Probably would be, if I was Derek Fazackerley or whoever I would rather it not be Lubo Michalik personally.
AH
There are a couple of big lads in there you know, you look at Craig Curran and you wouldn't argue with him on a dark night, J-P McGovern, wow! So, yeah, there are some lads who can handle themselves.
JP
You are going into this game and it is great to get it underway the new season, there are some people saying that it doesn't seem that long, for me it does feel like it has been quite a long summer, I have really missed the football, I have missed watching League One and I am delighted it is back, and it is going to be very exciting, and everyone I am sure at the club has been working hard to try to get three points on this opening day?
AH
Yeah, everything has been about this first game of the season, everything we have done since June 30th when the lads came back together. The training programme that was staged by Greg was as professional as ever and it seems to have worked. The only thing that seemed to go wrong for us was that Gateshead day which was a complete and utter farce, but other than that it has been almost picture book perfect, which is a relief for me because obviously I get to do a lot of the administration in the background for it all. So, yeah, we have done it all right but that won't matter if we do it wrong here today, so that is the key.
JP
And did you know that Notts County have won once on the opening day of the season in ten years? Please don't change that.
AH
Oh, I wish you hadn't said that.