Defender Tom Miller on committing to United
Defender Tom Miller spoke about his delight at having finalised his two-year deal on return from his summer break on Monday morning as he now looks to push on having had an excellent first season with the club.
“I’m very happy to finally be back in and to get it all sorted out,” he said. “It obviously took a little bit longer than we’d hoped but, for my part, I always wanted to be here.
“I was away on holiday for quite a bit, which is what held it up, and being honest I should really have sorted it all before I went. It’s done now and I’m over the moon to be back.”
His five goals in 35 appearances, one of them a goal of the season contender against Hartlepool, caught the eye of a number of other clubs and the versatile right back admitted that it had given him food for thought.
“I did have quite a lot of offers and there was a fair bit of interest from clubs in the same league as we are,” he revealed. “From that point of view I was always going to stay with Carlisle because when you compare clubs from the same level you look at who is showing the most ambition. That’s why I’m here and I’m just buzzing that I’ve got it all sorted.
“If you look at the progress we made last year, and add the signings the gaffer has made through the summer, it shows a great prospect for the season ahead. I think we should be challenging even more than we did last year and, looking back, we should probably have finished higher anyway.
“That’s a huge part of my decision to stay because it’s a club going in the right direction. The quality of the signings we’ve made has been exciting. They’re adding to what we already have here, which is strong anyway, and everyone is going to be on their toes. I’m happy that the manager has seen me as being one of the players who can help us to do the job.”
“The other big factor is that I enjoyed last season,” he continued. “If you’re enjoying your football it helps you to do well. On a personal point my partner and I like the place as well so it’s been an easy decision to make.
“Add to that the fact that the fans were great to me last year and we went through a lot together. I owe it to myself and to them to do a good job here. I’m grateful that I’ve been made to feel so welcome.”
Speaking to the press shortly after the news that Miller was set to put pen-to-paper on his deal Keith Curle talked about more to come from his latest recruit.
“I completely agree with him,” Miller said. “I think he’ll work with me and get the best out of me. I’ll work on the areas I need to improve on with him and I’m sure it will benefit us all.
“I want to stay injury free this season and I’ll be working with Lee Fearn on that. We’ve got the new gym facility and that should help with being able to do the rehab and prehab work you need to do. I think it could be a good year for me if I do manage to stay injury free. The two-year deal means I can crack on and develop myself.
“I got five goals last year, which wasn’t bad, but I want to improve on that as well. It’s an important part of a full back’s game and it adds so much more to you as a player if you’re getting goals or providing assists.”
As for where he sees himself fitting into the group, he said: “I’m happy to play wherever gets me in the team. I prefer being at right back or on the right of a three, but however the manager wants to set up I will still need to earn my place in the team.
“I enjoy a bit of competition for places and I think it’s always healthy to have that. You can get lazy and complacent, so I’m looking forward to the challenge of going up against good players again as we try to get the shirt.
“It’s good that I’ve only missed two days because any more and you start to feel out of it. I wanted to be back and involved so it’s good to see the lads again.”
As for the now much talked about push for promotion, he said: “I want to get promoted. It’s a long season and I’m sure there are a lot of clubs in the division who are saying the same thing.
“We seem to have everything at the moment and we’ve been told that more signings are going to be added to it. Anything less than promotion will be disappointing for us. Hearing the gaffer say he wants to have a go followed by the signings he’s made is sending the message he really is going for it.
“In terms of some of the so-called big teams we’ll be up against I don’t think we have to worry about any of them. If we stick to the way we want to play and worry about ourselves, and keep focused, we shouldn’t have a problem.”
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