United boss Greg Abbott (GA) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Paul Newton (PN) on Friday as he spends time in the Caribbean coaching the St Lucia national team, Abbott describing his two week stay as an adventure :
GA
It is an adventure more than a coaching mission, but the whole country in terms of its football is in its infancy, but the ambition is massive. They want a bit of support and they want a bit of help and they want some guidance, and the people over here, a few of them have got massive knowledge, a lot of them have got a little knowledge. But, there is a lot of raw potential and absolutely loads to go at and loads of things to develop. But, the talent is definitely here, it is just putting it all together and getting the resources to back it up with the facilities and the coaching and stuff like that, but it is like a mini-adventure.
PN
What kind of things have you been doing so far?
GA
Well, I have been coaching the national team, Tuesday, Thursday, meeting them tonight for a presentation and then I am going to go through our Wembley stuff and how we did it against other clubs with bigger resources. They are one of the countries with minimum resources so we are going to try to tie that in and get a message accross. Then tomorrow we have got a friendly, Tuesday again coaching with the national team, Wednesday is a friendly in Martinique, which is a beautiful island, 24 miles from here which we go on a boat to, which is great.
Then carry on the coaching, Thursday and Friday and Saturday morning and then we are done really. But, there is a whole lot more than just coaching, they are asking me to put a presentation at the end of the two weeks and to tell them the findings of the good and the bad so that they can put things right and work towards getting the whole country better, so it is really exciting.
PN
I know it is still relatively early days but any players who have already caught your eye over there you might be interested in taking a closer look at when the pre-season gets underway?
GA
Well, this is the win-win situation, without building the whole thing up the players are raw but they are very much athletes, they are very quick, they are very strong, they are very hungry and there is some natural talent here. There are already two that I would be thinking that bring them over to England, not for a trial but to see how they compare with the players we have got. But, the good thing is the national team and the Olympic team, which is an under-23 side, even the national team, every player bar one is under 24.
So, they are at the right age to develop and get better, but there are certainly a couple of players there that I got excited about and told Ces (Podd) straight away, and he already knew that, and I picked out the right ones. But, there are certainly a couple that you would think that this is the business side of it where we might be able to strike up an agreement and a link with the St Lucian people and bring them over and see how they just compare with our players. But, there is certainly room for that side of things to develop.
PN
And having had a taste of this now, is this something you would like to continue longer term once you get back to England?
GA
Without a doubt, it is something that has hit me on a personal note, the boys over here have been fantastic with me, they have been so respectful, so responsive and they have been great. The rapport between us has been terrific, Ces has said that they have taken to me straight away, they like what I am doing, they like the fact that I am from a club in England, so I have got that behind me straight away with the respect thing.
You just get to like people, if they look after you you feel that you want to help, so it doesn't conflict with what we are doing, it can only help what we are doing at Carlisle because the only times I would probably be able to come would be in the break in the holidays. I am working with players off my phone non-stop and I am coaching here as well as developing that. So, it is something that I know the club will back when I go back and tell the chairman (Andrew Jenkins) and John Nixon what is going on. They will support it because there is not a big cost implication, it is only a win-win thing out here at the minute and I think it is something on a personal note I would like to develop.
PN
And I know that even though you are out there, there is still quite a lot of work going on behind the scenes with regard to your own club and your transfer targets, how are things progressing on that front?
GA
Well, not bad, to be honest we have made some quite big inroads into two or three players. Even before I left, even while the season was on I met a couple of agents about players who are going to be out of contract and had some really positive meetings. I have since met, in the week before I came out here, I have met three players personally face to face and the meetings went very, very well. They have obviously got other clubs to speak to but by Friday of this week the agents and the players are going to come back with some indications.
I have already had indications with two players that they would like to come and then it will be down to the financial package, but the type of players they are and the other clubs interested gives us a fighting chance. So, I am really positive on that front, and it is something that Dennis (Booth) is at home and making a lot of phone calls, I am out here making a lot of phone calls and the meetings will recommence as soon as I get back. But, we have had some really positive reports back from the agents, so I am hopeful that when I get back we can maybe wrap these up.
PN
And you have already gone on record as saying you need that reliable goalscorer next season, in a way is that the hardest position to fill? Is that the hardest kind of player to sign given the fact they are in so much demand?
GA
It is, because the ones that are proven cost an awful lot of money, and I don't think we can afford to take any more risks on goalscorers. Because, we have got Paddy Madden who is a risk type player who is a potential one, the same with Rory (Loy), we have got Francois (Zoko) in and we have got Craig (Curran) in. I think if we get one he has got to be one that has got a track record with goals unless we are absolutely sure he is going to score. So, these types of players are what everybody else is looking for and they will be very expensive. So, we are going to look and if one comes available then we try for it, but it is going to be the most difficult place to fill that for sure.
PN
And how much are you keeping an eye on the Danny Graham situation at the moment? I know you are over there, you might not be aware that Queens Park Rangers have had a £2.5 million bid turned down for Danny this week, and with a 15% sell-on clause on Danny that is potentially quite a substantial windfall that could be coming into your transfer kitty. How much could that help what you are trying to do in the summer?
GA
Yeah, firstly, do you think I am not aware of that? Listen, don't worry, there is nothing I am missing here, I know all about that situation, of course it does, if the situation there that he went for......... Maybe there might be a few other clubs get involved now QPR have shown their hand and the fee might end up being bigger than that and we get more money, and a little bit, or some of it, gets distributed down the line and that does affect the type of player we can go after.
There is one goalscorer, proven, already that is right at the top of my list but will be expensive because a lot of people are after him. If Danny Graham gets sold to another club it would certainly make that one affordable I think and it is certainly where I would think I would recommend to John and to the chairman that we invest that money. Because, he is proven, he is at our level and he has scored goals at our level and I just believe that the money if Danny did go would help us make that deal happen. At the minute it is probably a long shot because there will be a lot of other clubs interested, but certainly Danny's situation would change that if it did happen.