Archived News from April 2005
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ADAM MURRAY RADIO INTERVIEW
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Adam Murray appeared on a radio show in Carlisle tonight. Here is the transcript of what he said.
Thanks to Ian Baker for the transcript. ----------- Q: Was it a difficult decision to leave Mansfield? AM: I enjoyed my time at Mansfield; yes, it was a big decision of mine to leave Mansfield. It wasn't easy, but . . . the club weren't playing football I wanted to play or watch. I was being put under pressure to perform on a weekly basis and when I came off the pitch thinking 'yeah, done well today', but I'd get pelters for it. I'll look back at Mansfield with a smile. The good times far outweighed the bad ones. I took a look on one of their websites that night and their fans were gutted about losing me. I thought about posting them an email to outline my reasons for leaving, but I decided against it. Does dropping into the conference not bother you? The club has had difficulties attracting players because of that. I turned down a couple of league sides to come to Carlisle, so dropping out of the league wasn't a concern. Carlisle had tried to buy me earlier in the season and they were the first side to make an approach to sign me when I became available and that played a big part in my decision making process. Like I said, moving into the conference isn't a worry. I view it as a challenge to get back into the league this season. Some would view this as some kind of hurdle What are your first impressions of CUFC? My first impressions are good. We've won both games and kept clean sheets in both games. I gather that if we beat Farnborough tomorrow we have equalled the club record for straight wins and we'll break the record for successive clean sheets. The training is very good, Simmo has some good connections in the game and he's put them to good use. We do a lot of stretching and swimming in the run up to games, instead of long-running and playing five-a-side all the time. Even though I've only been here a while, I do feel a bit fitter. My calves were a bit sore on Tuesday morning so I came in and spent a bit of time in the hot-tub to ease the muscles. I couldn't believe it when I saw that when I was shown around! Everything is in place or being put into place for the club to kick on. The facilities far outstrip what they have at Mansfield, the plans for the new training ground look very impressive and although the pitch here isn't the greatest, a brand new one is being laid in time for next season, once the academy is complete then the off-field facilities here will rival the best. Do you see Carlisle as a stepping stone, and how do we compare to your other clubs? Like all players, I've got ambitions. Mine are to play in the Premiership and for England. I feel that I'm young enough to make a go of it and I've got confidence in my abilities as a footballer to go out and do it. I never saw my future at Burton or Kidderminster as long-term things, at the time I only saw them as stepping stones to something better. The first time at Mansfield when they won promotion with Stu Watkiss, I felt good about playing there. We had a good side, but the club stood still over the summer and came straight back down. At Carlisle, there is a similar atmosphere to the promoted Mansfield side. But I don't think we'll make the same mistakes. Everybody is prepared to do what is needed to help the club out. I was impressed with what Fred Story and Simmo said to me when I came here and they sold the club to me. We've got some good old pros in the dressing room, Tom [Cowan] and Kev [Gray] who keep our feet on the ground after a game and dish out the telling offs. I've not been told off by Kev yet, I've seen him have a go at the lads and I don't want one of those! I'd hate to play against him because he looks hard as nails and he's got the stare. Do you know any of the players at CUFC? I've known Karl [Hawley] for years, he's an old mate of mine from when we played boys football together. We've always kept in touch. When my agent told me about Carlisle's interest in October, I spoke to him and he said they'd just played against Barnet in front of almost 10,000 fans. I had to check the paper to see if he was having me on! Did you work with Paul Simpson at Derby? I first met Simmo at Derby County. I was in the academy and he was starting his coaching with us and he singled me out for special praise then. He was a calm guy who never got angry with you if you made a mistake and that's stuck with me. He won't seek confrontation with you and it's a nice change. What did you think of the fans so far? I thought the suppport on Monday night was first class. They never stopped cheering and shouting for us and we won it right at the end. They didn't once get on our backs, which again is different to what I'm used to. I didn't have the greatest first half, in fact, I thought I was really poor. I was walking off the pitch expecting some harsh words about my performance, but the supporters rose and gave us an ovation off and a bloke was stood at the tunnel and he shouted 'keep your head up, Adam', and I didn't get too downhearted. I wouldn't have got support like that last month. Do you feel you're better playing centrally? Moving inside helped me on Monday. That's my position and I know where and when to make forward runs and when to sit off. Playing out wide, I was a bit cautious not to lose shape. I was up against Howell, the player who a lot had been said in our team talk before the game, but he didn't get anything from me or Dave [Beherall] behind me that night, so I felt I didn't let anybody down. Obviously, I don't expect to walk into the middle of the team at such a stage of the season. The two Chris' [Lumsdon and Billy] are both really good players who are bang in form right now. Do you think we can win promotion this season? I think we can go up, yes. Simmo tells me that this side is stronger than what we had this time last year when they were on play off form. I played here last Easter with Kidderminster and we got absolutely hammered. Our keeper played a blinder to keep the score down, so if this side is better than I've no reason to believe we won't win promotion this season. Would you like to play against Mansfield next season and prove a point to Carlton Palmer? If I get to play against Mansfield again, then it'll be nice. I won't put pressure on myself by making predictions, but it would be nice to catch up with some friends I made down there. Dutch, Rhys and Bowser were the first people on the phone when it was announced I'd signed for Carlisle to wish me luck. The end. |
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