United boss Greg Abbott (GA) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phiilips (JP) at Thursday's open press conference for the local media, Abbott first talking about Josh Gillies and Lee Miller signing deals at Brunton Park:
GA
We have been working hard over the summer, sometimes with no fruition, but today things are finally taking place and we have got a positive it looks like Lee Miller, well it has happened, he has signed a new two-year deal, or one year with a view to the second year triggered off by appearances. Then Josh Gillies has agreed to come for two years as well, so the squad will look healthier and fuller with those two signings and we move on now with optimism.
JP
Is this a message, with Lee Miller in particular, that perseverance and patience, in particular, patience, are key things at this time of year for you as a manager?
GA
Yeah, well I mean I have been very, very impatiently impatient if you know what I mean, if that makes any sense whatsoever. But, I have been in touch with Lee most of the summer, he has got a healthy respect for the way we do things at the club and we have got a healthy respect for him. We have let his agent and other people talk to him and do whatever they do and give him the opportunity to find the right situation for himself.
It is not always now with this Bosman ruling, we talked about it the other night, but he has made his decision now and I think the way we have gone about it as a club has been right. I had advice from other people on how to deal with it, and like I said, I am ferociously determined to be successful next year and Lee will be a big part of that. Hopefully if he can score the same ratio of goals he did even last season in the games he played then we are on to a winner and we should be in a much better frame than we were.
JP
Can you tell us what has convinced him to stick with Carlisle, because clearly there were other options for him and clearly he did consider them very strongly?
GA
It is probably financially not the greatest decision that he has made, or a great situation, but from a football point of view he is well liked, he is well respected and he is hugely popular at this football club. Not only by the club itself, the directors and the people that run the club, but by the players, by the management team and by the supporters of the club.
So, I think he has looked at probably everything, I mean again I am second guessing because I don’t know what his true feelings are, but second guessing I think football-wise he is going to play, he is going to enjoy his football, he is going to put the ball in the back of the net hopefully on a regular basis which is what he is all about.
You can see when Lee is training today that he is absolutely fantastic around the young players, he not only looks after himself and has a selfish about his own performance and his own training, but he takes time for everybody. Whether it be Paul Thirlwell or Danny Livesey, or whether it be David Symington or Josh Gillies who has just come in to the club now. So, I think that is an important part of Lee’s character that the fans don’t always know.
He is terrific around the football club, round the dressing room and on the training ground, and added to that he scored goals on a regular basis for us. It has been a good place for him in terms of scoring goals and they might be the reasons it has persuaded him to stay. If they are the reasons then they are the right reasons, they are football reasons, so that is healthy for us.
JP
You get the impression he could have gone and had a good move, but Carlisle have managed to hang on to their prize asset, it must be great news?
GA
It is encouraging for us as a club isn’t it, we have had a reasonably successful period up to the levelling of last year. It happens, clubs at this size and this level, it happens on a regular basis. You even look at Yeovil who went up last year, they nearly got relegated the year before and four or five years ago they were in the play-offs as well. So, it is a really tough time for teams to keep performing right at the top end with this amount of money available and we have kept doing it.
Last season probably when all the dust dies down it wasn’t as bad as Bury’s was, and Rochdale’s the season before who were close to the play-offs, they went down, they got relegated. We have managed to deal with all the situations thrown at us and we are still in this league and now we live to fight another day. Now we have got to push on and move forward and Lee will be a big part of that we hope.
JP
How much work has him joining again, or him re-signing, saved you, or had you already done it anyway on the off chance he didn’t?
GA
I can give you the names of ten number nines there, but the problem is convincing them to come and being able to afford them to come and are they going to be as successful as Lee. I have got names in abundance but we have got Lee at a good age for a number nine, that 30/31 age is a good age, maybe even 19 or 20 is too young and maybe 34 or 35 is too old.
But, that type of player it is a good age, so you have got to find one with experience, with goals, with a quality that he can influence other people. You don’t know what type of person you are going to bring in, you are always doing your homework and finding out but you are never quite sure until he actually walks through the door. So, I am happy that I have got the devil I know, and the devil I know has been successful with us, so it was to key to what we are trying to do.
JP
Very good news for Mark Beck as well, because it means he can continue learning off a player who he will hope to emulate one day?
GA
Yeah, I mean I think to an extent we have got to try give these young players some protection, because there are high hopes, people are always talking in high vein about how good they are going to be. Now I think that even this season it is only their second full season, they are going to need some protection and I think what we have got now at the club is a fantastic mix of terrific senior professionals, they are absolutely terrific in the way they handle themselves and the younger players.
It will help those players develop and progress at the right amount of time, and if there is a time where any of them, and that will include Mark Gillespie and Brad Potts who have had the most success shall we say in terms of appearances, if they need protection but just coming out of the team at times then we have got the right experience around them to protect them and give them that opportunity to develop and be top, top players.