John Ward - Radio Cumbria Interview

Last updated : 15 October 2008 By Thetashkentterror

John Ward
United boss John Ward spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Derek Lacey on Monday morning as he talked about Carlisle's dire run of form at the moment, Ward also chatting about United's current injury woes :


" Things aren't going for us, that is what is happening to us at the minute, it seems to be happening that way and it is something that we have got to live with and deal with. We need to hope and keep working very, very hard that it turns around the other way very quickly. I have been there before when things aren't happening for you, we have been there last year when things were going our way, it hits the post and goes in and this time it hits the post and comes out, those types of things.

" So it is being strong, and not necessarily physically but mentally, because if you get strong mentally then physically that follows on. When you just get battered a little bit though then somehow that saps the energy side of it too. So we have got to work very, very hard to get that belief into this group of players that everything is OK.

" What do you do?, well you get back, as my experience tells you, you get back to what you have been doing. You get back to your basics, get back to your simple football if you like, there is the pass so make it, don't try to do anything difficult. It is dead easy for me to say that Ben (Williams) shouldn't have made that sort of coming out of his box, or Danny (Livesey) shouldn't have gone to ground, or (Marc) Bridge-Wilkinson should have scored.

" That is why it is collective because there are so many little bits and pieces that add to the result of a game of a football. It is really quite a fine line in terms of winning and losing games as you see all over the place. Look at England on Saturday, everyone was really worried about them, we get a couple of goals up, everything is great, and (Ashley) Cole makes a mistake at the back, cor blimey, the world has caved in, then we win 5-1 and everything is great again. It is all in an afternoon, all in half a game really.

" So that is something that you wonder how you deal with, it is difficult to deal with a human error or the human element in a game of football. We have got to try very hard to do that though and convince our group of players here at Carlisle that everything is OK. Keep working at it, we are doing the right things, we have just got to do them that bit better again. "



" I have put talk about my position to one side, what is the point of me getting uptight and worried about of all that. Until somebody tells me any different then I go and do what I have just said, we come back to work, we set what we have got to do, we say that this is what we have got to do. I get my staff around me, who have been extremely supportive, and say that this is how we want to go about the next job of work. The day-by-day business and getting ourselves built up ready for the weekend.

" So I have got to put it away, there is no point me getting involved in it, but other people have got to be responsible for what they think and what they say. That is fine but I have just got to be responsible for what I do and do this job to the best of my ability, and I will continue to do so until somebody tells me that is not going to happen. I will go back to where I have got a family and Grandsons, that is all they know me as and that is a really nice part of it.

" Yes they are concerned, my grown-up family are concerned about what happens in my job, but when we get back to the real world then I am a Grandad, I am a Dad, and we just get on with life as it is. I come back into Carlisle football club, or any football club where you work, and you are very responsible for a lot of things and a huge amount of people in their thousands. As to what you say, what you do and what they see of you, so I am in that world now and I am working very hard to try to get that right.

" We haven't got any results of the scans yet for the injured players, we get those through later today and then we are able to discuss that with the guys and see what we need to do with them. We need to have that done though so that we have the knowledge in terms of dealing with them and seeing how long we are likely to be without them.

" We are not too bad in the striking positions, Danny (Graham) has got eight goals, Gary Madine came on, Danny Carlton will benefit from his little breather coming out of it. So we are OK there, Jennison (Myrie-Williams) can play down the middle if I need to do that, so we are alright there, I'll be putting a phone call into Bristol City as well to see if we can extend the loan. "



" We started him from the beginning at Rochdale and I think that if you were at that game then you saw that he probably tired after an hour. He is a young guy, 20 years of age, who is an impact player and sometimes it is very difficult to impact for 90 minutes. We have seen that with Simon (Hackney), he has had to get stronger on the left-wing and now can handle his 90 minutes.

" So it is important that we probably use him as and when we think it is important. Jennison has done very well, he is a good young player with a big future ahead of him. If we can nurture that and bring that through in the way that we think is right then we will have a good player on our hands, so it is something that we have got to work with.

" I think that maybe for 30 minutes/half a game he has a big impact, but maybe for 90 minutes it is not quite the same when everybody is at the same level. Imagine him coming on when you have been working for an hour and you have got someone like that, you'd be thinking that there is someone there to put you on the back-foot. That is exactly where he is at the minute, he is pushing for a regular first-team place but at the same time he is a good player where he is.

" We have said before that the reserves is an ideal opportunity, and one or two of them have missed that opportunity I have felt. I went to Manchester City and saw them lose 5-2 and I thought that I needed a bit more from one or two of them. Then I saw them last week at home and they did pretty well against a young Blackpool team.

" So there is opportunity all the time, there is opportunity every morning for me when I am watching players train and work and talking to them, looking in their eyes and seeing what is in there. Is there some brightness?, is there a determination?, but there is opportunity for everybody at this particular time because it is a tough one. "