Greg Abbott - Radio Cumbria Interview

Last updated : 15 July 2010 By Thetashkentterror

Blues boss Greg Abbott
United boss Greg Abbott spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips at Monday afternoon's press conference for the local media, Abbott, ahead of tomorrow evening's pre-season friendly at Workington, first talking about Friday's 4-1 win at Kendal for the Blues :


" I enjoyed the one on Friday night and I enjoyed the attitude of the players. We have enjoyed the work they have done, we are pretty pleased with the way they are approaching the thing. It is a tough time is pre-season, we have got another difficult, well not difficult but a tough day in terms of physical work.

" But they are eating it up, there are no moans and groans which you generally do get when players get tired, that is when they start grumbling, but they have been absolutely excellent.

" Tomorrow night is another chance to improve on their fitness and get what they like doing best, which is the football side of things. We are looking forward to it and looking to pitch in the new players and see how they do, and the trialists and see if we can get excited about them.

" Hopefully we can get through the game without any injuries and another 45 minutes for some at least under their belt. The trialists are here to play, that is what they are here for and the best time to judge the players is in the games, so they will certainly be getting plenty of pitch time tomorrow.

" I never put myself under any pressure to make quick decisions on anybody, the only thing you get with a quick decision is probably the wrong decision. So, we give players time, and if we think that they are doing alright then we will keep them a little bit longer. I have to make sure that when I make these decisions that I make them correctly.

" I think the entirety and the quality of the whole lot at Kendal was a big positive. The squad to a man performed decent, there were some better than others, there were some fitter than others, but that is always the case at this stage of the season. "



" But I thought that the attitude and the way that they approached the game on a difficult pitch in terms of just the length of the grass and it being the very fact that is was their first friendly was a positive. And with having so many trialists in and some new signings, I thought that the whole two halves put together was encouraging.

" I want to see their fitness improve at Workington, I want to see as we go through towards the Brentford game, I want to see the quality and the way that the unity of the side and the cohesion of the side needs to improve and get better.

" It will do as players get fitter and they understand each other better and the players get accustomed to their new clubs and stuff like that. So that will come but certainly I think we are ahead of where we might have expected to be in terms of the general fitness and general quality, I thought it was quite good.

" Don't read anything into Graham Kavanagh and Paul Thirlwell playing in the emergency centre-half roles. They have just done us a good job because we need a cover centre-half for Danny Livesey, and come Brentford neither of them will be playing in the back four, I can assure you. But I did actually think they did very well, but they did because they are both very good players.

" They are not going to be playing centre-half though, in a situation where you have got injuries in a game then there might be an emergency role for one of them. But it is not something I am looking to do, they just did it because they can both do it and it helped us out on the night. But we will be hopeful that we can do something about that situation, certainly before the Brentford game.

" The work is just ongoing to improve things and we are doing alright on that score at the moment. The quicker you get players in the better, get them round the squad as quick as you can then it is always better. But I am not going to rush in anything, we still know where we need to improve, we are still looking at various players and various positions and we will continue to do that. "



" I thought the signings were fine, I thought James (Berrett) was really comfortable in the middle of the park. The two full-backs (Sean McDaid and Frankie Simek) did what they had to do, they were nice and neat and tidy, they will get better. Craig Curran is going to be a handful, we think Craig can strike up a good partnership with Gary (Madine) or Jason (Price) or whoever it may be.

" But the energy and the fitness levels are good, their attitudes are all good, they will get better as they have more pitch time. A couple have been out of football at this sort of match level for a period of time, so we were pleased with what they showed and we think there will be a lot more to come.

" Workington are a league above, they are a little bit of a level higher. But I thought Kendal approached the game really well, I am not really interested in opposition to be honest in terms of friendlies at the moment. I am more interested about us and how we approach the game, and how our fitness levels are and how our quality is with our football.

" We are just looking at ourselves at the moment, the time when you worry about your opponents is just about the Brentford team. That is the first time that we will think that that is the opposition and this is what they are all about. But at the moment we are just concerned about ourselves.

" I think all clubs in the area should be helping each other, we are asking for favours from clubs above us and we are looking to help teams that are around us and below us. I think a lot of Darren (Edmondson), I think he is a smashing lad, he is a good football person.

" We have helped each other in the past and it is the same with Dave (Bayliss) and Shez (Darren Sheridan) at Barrow, we just want to help each other and that goes for Middlesbrough, Sunderland and Newcastle that are above us. We are hopeful that we can all work together, and if they can help us and we can help them then it is a good thing for everybody. "