Keith Curle on his coaching staff
Manager Keith Curle confirmed this week that the discussions with coaching staff about their contracts are reaching the final stages following a period of productive talks with the club.
“We’ve had the final discussions and the contracts have been agreed in principle,” he explained. “I make no apologies on behalf of the football club for how long it’s taken because it has to be right.
“These people are professionals and things have to be made black and white for the protection and understanding of everyone.”
“On a personal level I know we have good staff at this football club and they want to do their jobs for the betterment of Carlisle United,” he continued. “They care about what they do and they want to be successful. Do they want to be in the second division next season? No, they don’t.
“They have a hunger about them, which I like, and they are all opinionated. Not one of my members of staff is a ‘yes man’. I value their opinions and I make the decisions based on the information they give me. I’ve got to say, we do have some arguments ... but it’s nice that I always win!”
Speaking about the terms of the deal which will keep Colin West, Lee Dykes and Simon Tracey with the club into the 2016/17 season, and beyond, he said: “Their contracts will run alongside mine because I brought them in as my staff.
“Within that they have their own personalities and they do things their way. There are things that will change slightly in terms of roles and responsibilities because I’m aware that, even though we do see games, I don’t think we see enough of them.
“When games are being played I want to make sure we’ve got eyes on it. We’ve got to see thousands and thousands of players this year to make sure we have gained more knowledge, not only to be used by us but for the club going forward.
“We’re handily positioned now with me based in Manchester and Carlisle, Colin West down south, Lee Dykes in Hull and Simon Tracey in Yorkshire. Within that we don’t always need to have three or four people coaching. There’ll be occasions when we can send staff off to watch key games or players while the rest of us coach and train with the squad.”
“The role we’ve developed for Lee Dykes this season has diluted the recruitment work he was doing,” he explained. “That’s why we need to go back to getting as many games covered as possible.
“Lee has a good contact book, as do the rest of us, and he can tap into those contacts whenever he needs to. That’s good to have in your armoury but you simply can’t beat seeing things for yourself."
United PlayerHD subscribers can see an interview with Keith Curle now. Click HERE to go to the PlayerHD platform. Follow the same link for more information on United PlayerHD, and to subscribe.
Click HERE to see a clip from this interview on our YouTube channel. Follow the same link for more FREE content right from the heart of the club.