Greg Abbott On Three Points At Leeds

Last updated : 10 January 2009 By Thetashkentterror

Blues boss Greg Abbott
United manager Greg Abbott spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Derek Lacey after Carlisle's 2-0 away victory at Elland Road this afternoon, Abbott suggesting that everyone is together now at the club and that is showing in recent results :


" It is very pleasing, all the boys, the debrief at the end there, we have got to try to slow them down a little bit, because they are going through the roof in there. All that I am saying to them at the minute though is that we want to make progress and we want to make improvement.

" You look at the performance today and the attitude and the desire and the determination, when we had to defend you have seen a lot of honest players out there. A lot of big performances out there from players and we are getting there now I think. Again, we are not going to get carried away but we have to be enthused by what we have just done today and what we have achieved, and the manner in which we have achieved it, so we are really pleased.

" We talked about where we were when I did take over and we were flat and we were struggling. The energy was let down, the confidence was down, but I always felt that today once we got the first goal we were actually going to win the game. That is a measure of how far we have come and even though they did have their chances, and they had some good chances, and they put us under pressure, we have defended with a determination.

" I think that if you defend like that and you play like that then you get your luck and you get your breaks, and today we earned everything that we got. To be fair, the best chance of the game we missed with little Bridgey (Marc Bridge-Wilkinson), so we could have actually won the game 3-0 which might have been an unfair reflection but a fair one for me. Because I am biased and we had the best chance to wrap the game up and it was done and dusted, and that would have knocked the stuffing out of Leeds, but we are happy.

" We have got to take encouragement haven't we of now we look at what we have got, we can look at the squad and think that there is a belief back. There is energy there and we look like a team again, we are all together. We didn't play fluent football throughout the game but we played some decent stuff at times. What we did though is that we showed that we had a team ethic and a work ethic. I think that at this level of football that if you have that then you are going to find yourselves a decent side. "



" You are not going to be in any problems and you never know what can come if you keep producing performances like that and defend like that. Then you have always got players in this team, I have said it loads of times, that will get us a goal from somewhere. Danny (Graham) has popped up with his goal again, which was a terrific move, and there we are. We have given ourselves a platform to go and win a game because our work and our team-shape I thought was terrific.

" It does bring the best out of them in a game like this but there is no rule to say that they can't play like that next week against MK Dons, who are probably having a more enjoyable time than Leeds are at the minute. You come here and if you are part of the Leeds side and they are struggling, or things go against them, then the crowd sometimes works against you.

" It is not a nice place when you have got 22,000, up to 30,000 people having a right go at you and it is a little bit nervy. So we took advantage of that as well and we are just pleased that we have come and shown a benchmark. Now my job is, and the rest of the staff, who have been terrific as well, is to make sure that we can keep those standards up and progress and not say that it is a flash in the pan.

" We have got to enjoy it though, the players have got to be allowed to enjoy it and the fans have got to be allowed to enjoy it, and as a staff we will probably enjoy it as well. It is a pleasing day for us and it has given us a real encouragement that we can go on and make something of this season, which at one point looked like it was going to be a struggle.

" We just think that we have been working hard, we wanted the game last week. I said to you that the lads were desperate for a game and they have been unleashed in training this week because we have found a bit of grass and they have trained very well. You know what players are like, they want to play football. "



" I said that today my job would be easier in terms of motivation because they have gone out there, they have motivated themselves and they have done themselves proud. Not just the one to eleven but the two substitutes that came on and the rest of the boys that travelled with us. We are a unit now, there is a togetherness and that is the key in what I am trying to do.

" If I had put Joe (Anyinsah) in there then I am upsetting somebody that has been part of what we have been doing in part of the improvement. So Joe knew what was happening, he is delighted to be here, he will show what a good player he is and there is competition there. To be fair though Cleveland (Taylor) has gone off and he has got his assist for the first goal again as he does.

" He has his critics, he has his people that praise him, but I will tell you what he has, he has got a massive heart and he has given us everything that he has got today. He probably just run out of steam a little bit with the work that he was putting in, but there will be competition there with Joe and we are looking forward to that as well.

" Michael (Bridges) has got a tight hamstring and he just pulled up on a ball just in front of us there. You need everybody at full pelt don't you in a game like this. I think that Scott (Dobie) has gone on there and worked his socks off and caused problems for the big two centre-halves (Rui Marques and Lubomir Michalik) who we thought that we could get into. That was part of the gameplan, I think that when we did get round them and did get behind them they found the pace and the strength of the two strikers too much at times.

" It is always worth it, even if we had been beaten today it is worth it, you have got to do it, you can't just not do it. Today though we have got a bit of a joy, we are the happy club. I think that if you work hard and we set our stall out, the staff work hard, the players respond to that, they follow that and behind it you get results like this, then everybody can enjoy it. "