Neil McDonald - Radio Cumbria Interview

Last updated : 24 July 2007 By Thetashkentterror

Blues manager Neil McDonald
United boss Neil McDonald spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria on Tuesday evening as he talked about how pre-season preparations are going for the Blues, McDonald also chatting about the need to bolster the playing side with some new signings :


" I'm watching Dunfermline v Bristol Rovers, it's my first chance to have a look at them so as we're up here in this area we're going to take a few games in while we are here as well. That's why we have to come to watch, I don't really know much about them.

" We've concentrated very much on our league and the teams that we are playing and we'll deal with that this season. So it's a great chance to come and have a look and see what they are about, what shape they play and what sort of players they have got. We have an understanding on certain members of the team because of the homework that we have been doing but it's just nice to see them in the flesh.

" I think the Newcastle game was very good, I was happy with the football that we played and I was happy with the shape considering the players that we were playing against. They found it quite hard to break us down and it was always nice to score against them. The game was played in a fantastic spirit, we tried to play football, obviously they knocked it about and used their pace and stuff like that. We kept our shape, and that's all we want from pre-season, everybody getting through without getting injured. It's just unfortunate that one of their top players has got injured.

" Whether or not it was a blessing in disguise that Newcastle scored, it was still a fantastic performance but I was slightly disappointed that we just couldn't hold on. It was an excellent strike, we were standing watching from the sidelines and as soon as the ball came to him we all shouted goal. He has got that in the locker and if you give them a little bit of space then nine times out of ten they will stick it in the back of the net, which they did.

" He (Marc Bridge-Wilkinson) is good at dead ball situations but he's good also in general play. When you have got the delivery and somebody willing to get their head on the ball like Danny (Livesey) was then that is a good combination. I think that he comes up with the rest of the team and it's not just him who has to get his head on the ball. Because we practice very, very hard to try to stick it in an area and we expect whoever is in the box and making the runs to get their head on it. "



" We were very fortunate that the first ball into the box Danny got his head to it and it was a fantastic header into the top corner. There is a lot of competition for places at the moment, whether or not somebody started or somebody came on the tempo that we played at was very, very good. We passed it really well and we gave Newcastle problems which is excellent because I'm hoping that we don't play as many good teams as Newcastle next season.

" There were three things that we wanted to do. We wanted to compete against Newcastle because they have got some fantastic players. We wanted to try to express ourselves when we had the ball and I think we did that and it was obviously another fitness hit which they all came through fantastically well. With no injuries either which is excellent, and at this stage of the pre-season I'm very, very happy.

" We're doing two sessions of training a day, yes of course it's bonding when you are away but it's a different environment. The place that we have come to is fantastic, it's such a relaxed area, the facilities are really good that we are using and it just gives me time to, not so much take it easy, but do a little bit of fitness work without everybody watching. It's good sometimes just to have a different environment so that you can get on with the work that you are doing.

" I think we need two players to be fair and if we get them then that is fantastic because I think we will have loads of competition for places. That's what we need at the football club to try to take us on from where we finished last year. We sent him (Dan Kirkup) out on loan last season to toughen him up a touch when he went to Southport.

" He's come back quite good in pre-season like everybody else, the two games he has played he has done well so that is encouraging. Let's see how it develops over the few games that we have got left in pre-season and see if he can force his way into the team. "