United boss Greg Abbott (GA) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) following Carlisle's 2-1 League One win away to Hartlepool, Abbott first of all pleased with Barrow's 3-1 victory away to Tamworth:
JP
I just want to start by signposting something else that you have just done there, when you heard that Barrow had got their first win of the season you nodded and said good, happy to see local sides doing well then?
GA
Yeah, of course, it is great, Dave (Bayliss) has got a tough.......... We have all got tough jobs, but down there with funds low as well and fighting as hard as you can, delighted for him and I hope Darren (Edmondson) has won at Workington as well and it has been a decent weekend.
JP
Not quite, they lost to Corby, but yeah, the Barrow fans will be happy to hear that coming from you. Let's talk about your team though and your fans, I mean they have really enjoyed that, sunshine afternoon and a great fightback from your team?
GA
Yeah, we sort of did make............ It is not very often I do remark on the result from last year but I thought the fans paid good money, I think it is £25 a ticket to sit behind there which is ridiculous and Hartlepool need to get a grip and look at that big-time because it is not right. But, they have come in numbers again, they have cheered us on, going over there at the end the first person I see is my daughter and she is smiling so I am glad we won, she might have got some stick as well, but she was as happy as me.
She blew me a kiss and I am seeing her tonight so I am absolutely delighted for her and all the fans and the way they travel and they spend their money. At least they are going home happy and not too much to grumble about hopefully.
JP
You will have been blowing one or two kisses maybe tonight?
GA
Yeah, I am not into all that really, that is it, she hit a soft spot there. But, it is the relief isn't it, it is the tension and I think after last year when we got roundly booed off, which to get done 4-0 at your rivals and be out of the game in 20 minutes is a nightmare, and Lee Miller's injury as well. It was just full of negatives last year, but today the spirit in which we fought back and the spirit with which we coped when Steve Howard who I thought was outstanding for them first-half especially, he was causing us problems.
But, we kept in the game and that is the key, last year we were out of the game, this year we went one down and always felt that if it was only one then we would have a fighting chance. We got back in the game with some good play and some energy and some spirit and some determination, and that might be the thing that takes us through this season.
JP
That sort of fightback. What do you think was behind it for you in this game? Where did it come from? What won you this game when you trailed for 30-odd minutes?
GA
I think togetherness you know, I really think togetherness, the fans included. This club will not............ It is going to be difficult, it is going to be a tough season, we have had things happen over the summer there that is holding us back and is causing us a few problems. But, all the time we are sticking together, from the top to the bottom, and I am on about from the top of the board right through to the fans.
We have to stick together, it is the only way, there is no cheap way through this. You look at the teams like us and they have all been up there and fallen away, they all have a good season and fall away. We managed to stick with it and we have had......... It would be nice to be able to go into the transfer market and buy big and buy really, really good quality, two or three really big quality players.
But, we are probably not going to be able to do that so we have got to fight and scrap and stick together and bludgeon our way through the table and bludgeon our way through the season at times, and fight and scrap like we have done today to nick results when sometimes it was against us.
JP
And speaking of bludgeoning, what about the work of your two centre-halves (Mike Edwards and Peter Murphy) today?
GA
Outstanding, and my little centre-forward (Danny Cadamarteri). I thought Steve Howard was a real problem to us today and they coped near enough admirably to keep it to one and not let him create too much more. Then at the other end Danny grew as the game went on and I thought his work-ethic and his goal was fantastic, I even think he should get the other one but the referee (James Adcock) is giving some strange decisions throughout, and he could give that.
Then he has got his other one and then he hits the post. But, we needed Mike and Murph to be at their toughest, we have asked them to be tough, that is what those types of players are. Murph has got a good footballing brain and can play football, sometimes you have to really tough it out against people like Howard and I thought they did that today.
JP
What is the situation with his injury? Do you know a great deal at the moment?
GA
I don't know because he hasn't come in the dressing room. I haven't seen him but he had his handkerchief over his........... I think he has cut his forehead, for his good looks he will be really, really upset. I am not too bothered as long as it all stitches itself up and leaves a nice scar and leaves him a little less good looking than he is.
JP
He is one of those handsome types isn't he?
GA
For a centre-half far too handsome.
JP
In terms of his performance though, the fact that he got that injury winning a header over Howard, I mean it almost showed how full circle it had come because United were on top of Howard by that stage?
GA
Yeah, I mean we have got to be like that haven't we. We have got to stop threats and he is a genuine threat who brings other players into play. We didn't have that, that is why we got on the back-foot first-half because we weren't holding the ball up as well, Jake (Jervis) should look at that type of performance and see how it is done, because that is where he has got to get to. If he wants to make a name in the game that is where you have got to do it, and you have seen the very best doing it.
But, Murph has battled away and we have denied them another goal, they had some opportunities but I think so did we. We had some really good efforts first-half, we had a ball flashing across the goal and just not quite got on the end of it. But, we kept it to one which was important because you can't probably see from here, there is a fair slope, there is a good wind going downhill and I thought we really got some momentum second-half and put them on the back-foot.
JP
I have deliberately left them a little bit later in the interview, but we must talk about the kids, (Dave) Symington and (Mark) Beck came on to great impact again?
GA
Yeah, I mean I think that is the perfect situation for them at the minute, is to have 25 minutes, 30 minutes, and then little bits more and get their confidence from what they know they can do. But, I thought Becky challenged or won near enough every header, causing problems for winning clean headers when he came on, held the ball up well. I thought David tortured the left side of the Hartlepool defence and it is his free-kick that leads to the goal. We have given them three-year contracts because we think they are going to develop into good players and they have earnt their corn again for us today.
JP
Is Beck maybe now playing himself into contention with that performance for Saturday? Because, you need that focal point and he definitely provided it?
GA
Yeah, maybe, maybe, I mean he has certainly given us plenty to think about. I think we need an experienced one there, a Steve Howard type, trying to find one is very, very difficult. But, he might not be ready to go in and take the mantel every game, 90 minutes, but he is certainly knocking around and he is certainly going to get more football and he is certainly going in the right direction, we are absolutely delighted with him.
JP
And would it profit Jake Jervis to watch the way he played when he came on even though he is an older player Jervis, but just watch what he gave you Beck, because that is what you kind of needed from Jake?
GA
Yeah, well he is slightly different Jake, he is a bit more mobile. But, if he is not going to win his headers and not going to do the physical stuff then he has got to run the channels, he has got to hold the ball up by his movement and mobility. We didn't quite get that from him today, and that is why we made the change and I think it worked, hopefully it has shown people we have got a different substitute and a different talent to use, and he has helped us get back into the game and go on and win it.
JP
Two key moments in the game, Jervis's miss when he rounded the keeper (Scott Flinders) and then their striker Howard hitting the bar, I mean the game coud have been different on both of those?
GA
Yeah, well that is the talking points, that is why you have got a nice job, you have got those things to summise. We think Jake should score, Howard's is a really decent effort which I have actually got a great view of it and know it is missing, I could tell it was going to hit the bar flush on, I was delighted to see it come back and then clear the danger.
Then I think within minutes we go up the other end and score do we and then there is a sending-off and then we look like we are going to go on and win the game. We actually looked like, even against ten men it is difficult, but we were going to go on and win the game, and fortunately we have done.
JP
They played very well Hartlepool, I mean they are a club a bit like Carlisle, of lesser means than some in the division and they really scrapped it out with you, how much would it mean now for you kicking on to have come back, fought this out, but won as well?
GA
Well, it has just showed us that we are going to have to do like Hartlepool. You look at the game today and there are no superstars but it was a really entertaining game, and it is because you have got two sets of players giving absolute honesty. Neale (Cooper) has set his side up really well, they have got a focal point in Howard, they have got a work ethic in the rest of them, they break forward off Howard and that is how they play.
We have got our way of playing but what you have got is two teams that unless they are absolutely at maximums and work their socks off in everything they do will not get results. Both teams are going to have to do that through the season and play to maximums and earn their corn. It must have been a good spectacle and viewing to the neutral, not that there were many here, they were either for us and battering us or against us.
JP
In terms of Adam Collin a lot of fans have always said that he needs a bit of competition in goal to help get the best out of him, well he has certainly got it now?
GA
Yeah, Mark (Gillespie) has come in and done great, like I said, I do see what everybody else sees and we have to try to pick and choose the right time to make big decisions. It is a big decision to throw Mark in at 20-year old but I think today and the other night has done him the world of good and it is game on now for that number one spot.
JP
Yeah, a very interesting competition between the two of those and I must ask since I have not heard you on it since the bad news came through about Lee Miller. I know you will be looking at various options of how you can change it, but just on him what a blow that is?
GA
Ah, it is horrendous because Lee is a really powerful player for us and a really influential player. We have got to now not use him as an excuse, but we have got to try to find a way of winning games without him. But, it is sort of like good news because we thought it was going to go to the end of February and it looks like it is only going to go to the end of December.
So, we have to try to make sure that we cope without him and keep the season more than alive, and if we are alive and kicking and we are in the right parts of the division when he gets back he will be a big, big, big addition to our staff, and we need him back playing as quickly as possible.
JP
And you could be going back over the A66 or A69, whichever way you are going here tonight, talking about trying to find a way to solve problems, now all of a sudden you have got a lot of good problems in terms of selections for next weekend?
GA
I would like some more really, really quality good problems but they cost a few quid, but I am still going to go and try to find some money to spend it. We do need some more but you are right, they have been a bonus, listen, those young players have been an absolute bonus.
Again, I keep saying about the policy at the club and the way we are, if they are good enough they will play, I don't care, I have just said don't you worry about being a senior player dropped or a senior player playing or a young player playing or a young player being dropped. We are going to make some tough decisions on who we think can really effect and impact on the game out there, and today we have needed everybody and together, together being the key, we have got a result.
JP
I must pick up on what you were saying there, I was going to finish, the loan window opening now shortly isn't it so does that mean you are looking to move as quickly as possible?
GA
Well, it is not about speed, it is about the right one, if it was there tonight then I would do it tonight. Give us a few hours off tonight if you don't mind, I will pick up on it tomorrow, I won't have Sunday off, I will be back Monday morning and afternoon on Monday. We will try to find the right one for the fans and we will try to find the right one for the team and hopefully we can bring somebody in that is going to drive us on.
JP
Nice cold beer again?
GA
Absolutely.