United boss Greg Abbott (GA) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) and Paul Newton (PN) after Carlisle had been drawn away to Everton in the third round of the FA Cup, Abbott pleased with what should be a good tie financially for the Cumbrians :
JPI believe you are at a surprise party this afternoon?
GA
Well it was a surprise until I mentioned it on the radio yesterday, but my Dad managed not to hear it. We are here in Coventry now and it has been a great day because all my family are here and we haven't been all together in one room for a long, long time.
My Dad is made up, he is 70 now, he has got everybody with him so we have had a terrific afternoon. We have had a nice feed and he has enjoyed himself and then the draw has just come out and we have all had a nice big cheer because we are all delighted.
JP
And when you saw some of the teams coming out, a few of the teams that were drawn out first at home, Brentford, West Ham I suppose, Sheffield United, Tranmere. I bet you were thinking, oh don't let it be us, and then Everton, how happy are you with that one?
GA
I just didn't want Plymouth away on the 2nd of January. We thought we had got away with murder not having to travel to Exeter on the 2nd, then to get Plymouth or somebody like that, Colchester, we would have been devastated. But Everton is a massive club and I have got some friends there as well, Jimmy Lumsden the first-team coach is a really close pal of mine who lives in Wetherby.
So, it will be fantastic, David Moyes a great manager, it is a wonderful football club and massive support so they will draw a big crowd, everybody wants to watch games over the New Year period as well. So, it is going to be a really good afternoon for us.
JP
And in time they will draw out which game they think will get the prime television coverage, there will be a few of them of course spread over the weekend itself, over that New Year's weekend. But there is just a chance isn't there because with Everton's form in the Premier League and Carlisle in League One much improving, there is just a chance you might get one of those big draws.
GA
You never know, the good thing about the game is, Jimmy is a terrific guy, he has helped us a lot and so has David in other ways with stuff that we ask him, and help. But they are a side at the moment that if you are going to get a Premier League side that you think they are a big club and you have got a chance of winning, Everton is probably the one you plump for.
Because they have had a bit of a rough time of it and when things are going against you the last thing you want is a tricky cup tie. Probably on paper this is a tricky cup tie for Everton and it is one where we are sure there will be a vast crowd which is financially fantastic for the club.
But it is also one that you could look at it and think, gee, we have got a good chance of putting a bit of a upset in here. It is a possible banana skin so I just think it is possibly the perfect draw unless you get Manchester United or a Newcastle if you like.
JP
Just seeing that as well Kettering and Leeds getting drawn against Manchester United, one or the other, also Liverpool away at Reading. There are some great draws in this competition, that is what makes it so good, it pits the big against the small and it gives the small a chance to compete doesn't it?
GA
We are at my Dad's do here and everybody is glued to the television. I think that the third round draw is still a massive pull in English football. The FA Cup third round draw is just unique and I think in any other country you wouldn't have the same sort of excitement that it provides here.
I just think that Kettering now will be absolutely kicking themselves that they haven't managed to hold on for another 15 minutes or whatever it was to secure Manchester United away from home.
But now they have got a massive game at Leeds United and that has probably put 10,000 on the crowd at Elland Road for them because the winners go through to Old Trafford. So, it is a brilliant draw for Leeds and Kettering and hopefully Kettering if they don't manage to beat Leeds, they will gain quite a bit financially.
JP
Big reward of course for you and your players, you have had to battle hard, sometimes criticism from your own fans this season. But you seem to be getting everything about going in the direction you want it to at the moment, and a good draw away in the FA Cup now too.
GA
It was wonderful yesterday for us because a week is a long time in football. I have said sometimes a day is a long time in football but certainly a week is. After the Swindon game nobody could imagine how down I was and disappointed with the result and the performance.
And do you know what made yesterday quite extra special was a couple of fans that criticised us came down to the front and said 'we owe you a pint, you are absolutely right, we need to stick in there and stick with it, it is only one blip out of the last seven or eight or nine games.'
That makes you think that without getting involved in answering back and getting involved in dialogue, all I try to do is do my best and we work exceptionally hard. And the club has worked exceptionally hard, everybody at the club, not just me but the people behind the scenes and the people that run the club.
All we want the fans to do is try to buy into it and try to understand the predicament we are in and the resources we have got against other resources. You look at the two clubs yesterday, Norwich and Carlisle and what they have got going for them and the resources they have got.
We have not only competed but we have probably outplayed them in the second-half and I hope I am not unfair in saying that. But sometimes you have got to bang your own drum and I think at the minute we just want people to buy into it and just see where we are going and what we are trying to achieve.
I thought yesterday was a really significant game for us, because I think we are converting people into thinking that we are doing a really decent job. They know there is more to come and they want more and so do we, but at the minute we think we are going in the right direction.
PN
I am just trying to think off the top of my head whether there are any Everton connections within your squad on the coaching side or perhaps on the playing side. But I can't think of one that comes obviously to mind.
GA
I think David Raven has had his dinner at the Goodison café, I think that is about it. But I am trying to think now, you have put me on the spot there, I don't think there is, I don't think there is. But they are wonderful people, it is a fantastic football club, they will look after us and they will look after all the directors.
They will have a great day, we will have a great day, we are going to go there and roll our sleeves up and try to do our best again like we always do whether it be Morecambe, no disrespect to them, or Everton. We still try to approach the game the same way and hopefully the type of people they are, the Liverpool people, they will look after us and it is a special day out for everybody connected to this football club.
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