United boss Greg Abbott (GA) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Paul Newton (PN) at Thursday lunchtime's press conference for the local media, Abbott in the first part of a lengthy interview initially talking about the end of his summer break :
GA
I don't think football managers actually get a proper holiday where you can switch off from the game. You are constantly trying to keep in touch and in the loop with what is happening. There are a lot of things happening and especially where we are and how we are, we have to make sure that we keep our ears to the ground. So, a bit of a break away from the building but I think your mind never really shuts off from the game, certainly never has the chance to close itself down, you are always thinking what you could be doing, looking at what is happening elsewhere to see if you can benefit off the back of that.
PN
Is it too early to say what kind of condition the players have come back in?
GA
No, not at all, you can tell almost straight away when they walked through the door that you have got a group that is OK, and our group is OK. Again, today it has been a introductory session which has been a reasonable amount of physical exertions, but they are ready to go now, they have come back, the dressing room is really lively which you would expect first day in, I would be disappointed if it wasn't. There is a bit of mickey taking, the new players have got a bit of stick and they are ready to go, so tomorrow we up it and Saturday we up it and we really hit the ground running next week, and it is kick off, looking for that big kick-off in August. But, there is a lot of hard work to be done before then, but the players have been looking in decent shape definitely.
PN
How do you see the next few weeks panning out then? Of course you have got your first friendly next week but in terms of stepping up and building the momentum towards the start of the season?
GA
Yeah, we are just going to do what we did last year because we got off to a great start last year. We beat Brentford at home, we went to Plymouth and were really unlucky not to beat Plymouth away from home. Then after five or six games we were right up at the top end of the division, pre-season went well, we had some really good performances in pre-season, we played some great football in the sunny weather and the good pitches. So, if we could emulate what we did last year it would certainly set us up for another improvement on our league position this year.
PN
We have spoken about two of your new arrivals, Andy Welsh and Jon-Paul McGovern in the past, Stephen O'Halloran you brought in on a one-year deal, obviously given his recent record with injuries he is a risk, but as we have seen with Frankie Simek those risks can sometimes pay off?
GA
Yeah, what we have to do, every signing we make is a bit of a risk signing, every signing we have there is a flaw attached to it, otherwise they might be looking at going in the Championship or in the Premier League. But, even the likes of Craig Curran, his shortage of goals was a bit of a risk but his all-round game has complemented that. James Berrett, Tom Taiwo, never really played any football, there was a risk attached to that. Lubo (Lubomir Michalik) had not played for Leeds United for a long time, Francois (Zoko) hadn't played a full season.
They were all risks but they came off, so you have to look at the pros and cons and think is this one going to come off? He has been fit for a long time now and not missed a day of training since before Christmas. I have done my research and my homework on him as a person, as a player, and his medical side Dolly (Neil Dalton) has done a stringent a medical as we possibly can.
We looked upon it and the deal worked out spot on for everybody, but I can't deny there is an element of risk to that, but there was risk to the others you know. Players that under-perform when we sign them is just as bad as players getting injured when we sign them, so we think it is a good one and I have spoken to him today and I have watched him train today and he has got a really good attitude and a really good determination about him, and he has got obvious pedigree so we think the risk was worth taking.
PN
And obviously providing some good competition for Matty Robson for that left-back place?
GA
For Peter Murphy, for Matty Robson, for Danny Livesey and for Lubo Michalik I might add, he is a centre-half by trade who can play left-back or a left-back by trade that can play centre-half, there is a mixture of where he has played. Before we signed him we were five players for four positions and if we look back to last year when Danny got injured, it left us really short at the back and we did strike gold a little bit with James Chester. But, it is not always that easy and they are not always that good an outcome.
So, if we do have injuries in that area we have got six players now rather than five, and to be fair it was where we were light, and we probably would have looked at maybe the loan system because I was really pleased with the players we have got. The three centre-halves I am delighted with that we already had, Matty has got better and better, Frankie was really consistent and happy there, we knew we were a bit light in terms of depth but we can't have two for one players all over the pitch because the budget wouldn't enable us to do that.
PN
Does that mean that now you have got competition for left-back and the central defensive positions that cover for right-back might not be top of your list at the moment?
GA
No, there is a gameplan for right-back, if anything touch wood, should anything........... Frankie did fantastic for us and it would be an issue, it would be a problem if Frankie got injured, certainly on any term of an injury. But, we have the loan system to go at if Frankie does get injured and we have also got one or two players that can fill in on a temporary basis in that position that we know wouldn't let us down. So, that is sort of the gameplan for that position.
PN
You mentioned Peter Murphy there, any more news on his contract situation?
GA
No, I am going to speak to him before the end of the week, obviously today is first day in and everybody is rushing round getting their new kit and their boots numbered up and all their equipment sorted. So, the training was important that we got that off right and the team meeting is probably the key today, so there is enough to deal with today, and I have just said to him, listen, we will have a chat before the end of the week, and I would hope that would come to some sort of resolve, I am sure it will.
PN
Is there any concern that Peter may not agree to a new deal?
GA
There is always concern, but that is Peter's decision. It is something that hopefully will be resolved by the end of the week, he seemed in good spirits, I had a long chat with him about the summer and the break and how he has been keeping. He didn't seem to give me any indication that he wasn't comfortable at the club and not happy at the club, so I just hope that the situation is resolved, and I am sure it will be.