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JP
How are you doing?
GA
I am alright, I am fine, everybody is worried about me but I am absolutely fine. We have worked hard this week, a few home truths have gone in and a lot of information has gone in and a lot of expectation has gone in.
Responsibility is passed on and we are getting ready for the game now and it is at a stage now where we can't do a lot about it. From the backroom staff it is down to the players and they have got to go out there tomorrow and roll their sleeves up and give a good honest account of themselves and hopefully get a result which is much needed.
JP
In the week you described tomorrow as Judgement Day, how ready are you and the team for that day?
GA
I didn't actually, that was my assistant Dennis Booth and it was at the end of a hour long meeting with the players where we passed on our expectations. Dennis said "come on then lads, it is Judgement Day, it is cometh the hour and cometh the man" sort of thing. He summed up with the fact that people now need to stand up and take responsibility and he said that will be me (Abbott), that will be himself and that will be the rest of the backroom staff and that will be all of the players.
So it is everyone to the fore tomorrow, we need to get some results and we need to get them quickly and we need to show people that we are on the right lines. Because while we are playing OK, we are not getting the results that we think our performances deserve.
JP
You have talked about these big conversations, home truths I think you just mentioned there as well, are you confident of big results on the pitch tomorrow from that?
GA
Confident? Just hopeful. We are never over-confident, we can't do much more than what we have done with the players. We have a group of players that are receptive to what we are doing, we have given the information we think is the right information. Over-confidence is probably an issue that it would be hard to look at but we just hope that the players go out there and play with freedom, play without any fear and go and do what we think they are capable of doing.
That is winning football games, they are a good group of players, they work very, very hard and what we want them to do tomorrow is go out and play. Forget the situation to an extent for 90 minutes and go out there and just go and play the game the way we know they can. I am sure if they do that we can get a right result
JP
And I know that you have been working very hard for that this week, but I am sure you haven't been under-preparing for the weeks before. What measures have you taken to make sure that you get it from the first minute of the game, unlike it is fair to say last weekend?
GA
With football it is just reminders, they have been told nothing different this week than they have been told all the way through their careers. And that is Graham Kavanagh who is 36 and that is Ryan Bowman who is 17 who is in the squad. They just need to keep being reminded of what wins you games and what loses you games.
Obviously the mistakes at one end and sloppy play and a casual approach and attitude, and then at the other end if they play with a passion and a tempo and a desire. They are the sort of things that win you games, so they have probably been told nothing different, but we have reminded them and we have kept on reminding them day in and day out all the way through the week.
Today we have had a session where again it was more aggressive because the stakes are higher and the edge is more. That is what pulled us through against Millwall last season, their edge probably wasn't as big as our edge. We need to start getting results and getting them quickly and that edge and that pressure has got to be all bottled up and exploded tomorrow at 3pm. If it is not then we are going to come unstuck, if it is then we think we will have a great chance.
JP
Without going into detail, unless of course you want to, do you have in mind an eleven for tomorrow or is that still dependent on the injury situation?
GA
We have got an eleven in mind, you know I would have because that is the way I have to be on a Friday. We are at a stage where we can't do much more about it but there are one or two injury concerns, one or two players that might not get through 90 minutes because of the problems they have got.
There is another lad that has gone down with a bit of a sickness and diarrhea bug, which is absolutely what I didn't want but we are going to have wait and see how he is in the morning. So I can't give too much away because I don't want the opposition to know anything about what we are up against tomorrow.
But the eleven we have got and the eleven that are going to go out on that pitch are going to give everything they have got for Carlisle United. That is something that should be taken for granted but tomorrow there is an extra edge to what is going on and they need to go out there and produce and perform.
JP
And how tough is this run and period for you as a bloke rather than just a manager?
GA
It has been tough but I am pretty tough to be honest, the job that I have got has been the toughest job that I have had in football from being an apprentice at Coventry City right to being a manager at Carlisle United. All the other stuff I have had along the way, I have had problems and it has been hard but this is without doubt the toughest part of my football career.
Because you stand alone in terms of responsibility and that is the way I want it because that is what I asked for, that is what I demanded and I have got that and I will stand with all that. It is very tough but it is something that will be absolutely rewarding or absolutely devastating whatever the outcome in a certain time.
But it is something I am dealing with, I have given it my best shot and if my best shot doesn't work out then fine, I have had a right go at it and it is has come unstuck. But I still believe in my own ability as a manager, the players are right behind me and that tells me millions. There is criticism from certain areas but you have to deal with that, that happens, but while you have got your players with you and your staff with you then you have a chance, a fighting chance.