Keith Curle on the transfer window and injuries
Manager Keith Curle spoke more about the January transfer window and about the contract situations with the loan players as another busy spell approaches.
“An improved offer has been made to Kyle [Dempsey] and I think he’s taken that to his agent,” he said. “We’re waiting to hear back from him at the moment. There’s been some difficulty in communicating because his representative is based in Brighton.
“Ideally, when negotiating a contract, you want to do it face to face rather than via email or text. Doing it that way takes the personal side out of it.
“Kyle knows we want him here and I think this has obviously been a distraction for him. Lots of people have made mistakes by moving too early or by going to the wrong football club. I think he needs to continue his development as a Carlisle player and keep his performance levels up to a maximum.”
“The situations with Connor Brown, Tom Anderson and Derek Asamoah will be looked at after the Newport game,” he confirmed. “We have a plan B if we need to bring it into action. That’s why we’ve employed Lee Dykes, our head of recruitment. We’ve had four or five people at games recently to create dossiers on players who are potential targets for positions I think will enhance the football team.
“I don’t think the changes will be wholesale in January. We’ve got eight or nine players available for transfer and our first job will be to do a bit of wheeling and dealing to try to create room for movement. Some of those players haven’t played much since I came in and they need game time to help them to continue their careers and their own development.”
“If I had a wish list I'd get four of the players on it and I’d be happy with them until the end of the season,” he told us. “We could cope with just one of them, we could make do with two and I would be over the moon with three.
“Phone calls are starting to come in already. I had a call on Monday afternoon to ask about one or two. Anything I do will be to try to improve the team as and where I feel it’s necessary.
“We’ve made a few enquiries ourselves and one of them relates to a player who is out on loan at the moment. Somebody might be interested in taking one of our players, and it would allow us to do a swap, where we continue to pay our player’s wages and they continue to pay his.”
“One of the things I’m hoping to do is to bring in a centre back who is able to perform on a consistent basis,” he said. “If Troy [Archibald-Henville] has to miss a game, and that person comes in and does well, he will keep his place in the team. It will then be up to Troy to get that place back.
“We're governed by what Troy [Archibald-Henville] tells us in regards to his knee. When he's able to compete he competes, and we have to leave it at that. We try and give Troy everything we can to get him out on the pitch as often as he can. The final decision has to be with Troy as and when he is playing to a level where he merits his place in the team. Troy does everything he can to get himself out on the pitch but, if his knee isn't right, then it will only make it worse if he did go out and play.”
“In an ideal situation we would want Troy to be available every week but I was never going to walk into this football club in an ideal situation, because we were four points adrift,” he added. “I'm not saying we were four points adrift because of Troy, but the inability of players to consistently perform at the highest level is one of the reasons. That is aimed at all of the players for a number of different reasons.”
On the players available for loan, he said: “When I told the players they were going on the transfer list I made it clear it wasn't me closing the door on them.
“That was me giving them a kick up the backside because they weren't doing enough, and they needed to do more to get in my team. Antony Sweeney is a good professional, he's stepped up to the plate and he’s been performing, which is a credit to him.
“He will remain on the transfer list because at the moment I'm probably in a position where there are only four or five players who I wouldn't like to leave. If I was able to do some wheeling and dealing, and I thought I could bring in players who would bring us something a little bit different, I would listen to offers for a number of players in key positions.
“Some of the other players in that dressing room need to take a leaf out of Anthony Sweeney's book. The door is always open and to get through it you need to show hard work and desire, which is all you're asking from all of your players.”
And on the Brad Potts toe injury, he said: “Brad has been having injections to play which shows the level of commitment and desire. We think he'll be ok for Newport. He doesn't like the needles and having the injections. It's something he hasn't been used to, which can have an effect. It's not natural but he was prepared to go through it because he knew we needed him to play.”
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