Greg Abbott On The Crewe Win

Last updated : 05 March 2009 By Thetashkentterror

Blues boss Greg Abbott
United manager Greg Abbott spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips after Carlisle's 2-1 win at Crewe this evening, Abbott understandably pleased with an excellent win away to a relegation rival :


" We are happy because it has been made up by everybody to be a big game, it was a big game. If we don't take anything from this and certainly if Crewe get a result against us then we are in problems and the more pressure mounts on every game you play. Even tonight I thought that we played really, really well. It is nervy, it is still edgy because we haven't quite put them to bed.

" We haven't got the third goal which kills them off and then a late goal from anywhere, because I thought that we completely outplayed Crewe tonight. I thought that we were miles the better side but with only a one goal cushion at any point during the game you are always susceptible to conceding and getting a point out of a game when you know that you should have had the three.

" There is a collectiveness throughout the team, you have seen that tonight, everybody is together, they were all pulling together. I thought that Gareth Taylor has come in and done a terrific job, the ball has gone into him, it has stuck, if he can't win it then he makes life difficult for defenders to clear it. We worked round him very, very well, I thought that Cleveland (Taylor) on the right put in a tremendous shift.

" I thought that the midfield players were terrific, even when we had the three at the start and Kav (Graham Kavanagh) was getting on the ball and he had three or four shots in that spell. Lummy (Chris Lumsdon) has unfortunately got an injury, I just thought that we were together, we were tight, we competed all over the park and I just thought that we deserved to get out of it what we have got. "



" If he (Gareth Taylor) can be a targetman and score goals, there are no rules to say that you can't do both, big Andy (Preece) is sat there and I think that he has done that in the past. He is a good player, he has been around the block a little bit, he knows the game, he is clever and his experience has proved invaluable to us tonight. It was a terrific goal by the way, his first goal was a fantastic goal from Cleveland's ball.

" His all-round game, he tired a little bit in the last five or ten minutes and that is why we changed it around. He has given us a platform to build from though, the ball goes into him and if it doesn't stick then it doesn't come back too far. Defenders don't have a free ride with him, he knows what he is doing, he unsettles people and it gave us a platform to get some good attacking play to our game tonight.

" I think that we have been playing OK, honestly. At Peterborough we did really well and we were really unfortunate not to get anything out of the game. We have been playing well enough without reaching the heights and getting the results that our play probably deserves. We have just got to look for that consistency which is similar for every team in this league.

" We are looking for it though, we are changing things around, we are trying new things and until we get the right formula we keep going. While there is a collectiveness and a determination and there is the spirit that we have got at the club, the spirit is tremendous by the way. All the players are having a go and every single player that was here tonight in the dressing-room is patting everybody on the back.

" It is a team thing and they are a good group of boys and we just want to get that consistency and find the level of performance on a regular basis to start enjoying our football and enjoying our work. Because it is not an enjoyable time when people are casting that suspicion at you and pointing criticisms at you, but they have enjoyed that tonight and they have worked very hard for it. "



" Their goal could have been avoided if we had won the first header but sometimes that happens. He (Marlon Broomes) has got a really good run at the near-post, he has won his first ball and the second balls are the key in the penalty box. As it dropped for (Aaron) McLean last week it has dropped for Clayton (Donaldson).

" You could say where was his marker but reactions favour strikers in that situation, but it's one that we didn't like. I think that it was the only shot that they had on target in the whole of the first-half, and that is the disappointing thing that they have scored from their only attempt.

" Certainly up to that moment Ben (Williams) had had hardly anything to do and that is the disappointing thing of it. It rocked us right back when we thought that we were really comfortable in the game. It is a slight criticism that we have conceded a cheap goal if you like but hopefully as you go up the table they get less and less and the edginess gets less and less and you start really enjoying your football.

" You know the situation that we are in, if we go a goal behind, especially with the run that Crewe have been on, then it put you completely back off track. I just thought that right through the game tonight we were the better side, we looked more likely of scoring and it was one of them. If you can ever feel comfortable in this situation then this tonight was as comfortable as it could be.

" Until the final whistle goes though we are all edgy, we have got our three points now which is a huge sigh of relief. We can now look forward to the game on Saturday at Yeovil again thinking that we can go down there and win that game and put a bit more space between us and the bottom teams. "



" He (Chris Lumsdon) did it in the first couple of minutes, he kicked the bottom of their midfield player's foot and he has got a real sore swelling. Lummy is desperate not to come off but he is really honest, we know what he is as a character and he has held his hand up. He couldn't go on and we have had to shuffle it around a little bit.

" It looks like he (Danny Graham) is going to be around the squad for Saturday. The scan is showing that there is not too much to worry about but he has got stiffness and soreness around the groin area. So he will hopefully be back into contention for a place on Saturday.

" We have been playing alright and sometimes quite well. I was pleased at Peterborough and if we can produce a performance like this tonight again on Saturday then we must surely be competing for points. So that is what we are aiming to do and we have told the boys not to be daft at the moment, let's concentrate on what is ahead. It is an important training session Thursday and Friday and then we got to Yeovil in a real professional manner to try to do a job, and again, get points off a team that is around and about us in the table.

" The supporters are terrific aren't they you know, it is nice as well to give them something to shout about and it is a nice couple of hours journey back to Carlisle with a victory and seeing a good performance. I think that they will be encouraged by the performance there tonight and we need them, we need them more than they can ever imagine.

" To get them on your side and to get them shouting and chanting like they have done tonight and then clapping all the boys off. They are good days aren't they, we have to enjoy these ones as well as the others when they are not quite so good because we didn't get clapped off too many times in the last few games at home. We just have to tell them to be patient, to be encouraged by what we are trying to do, I think that we are definitely going in the right direction, it is going to take time but the signs are that we will be alright long-term. "




Meanwhile before the game Abbott had commented :

" It's you that talks about pressure and it's me that talks about deflecting it from the players. So we are fine, we are going to continue what we are doing, we believe in what we are doing and that is the message that I will say. Let's everybody stick together, let's believe in what we are trying to do, let's give the players the benefit of the doubt. Let's give them every support that they can get from every single exterior angle and I that we will be fine. "