Lee Dykes on new arrival Nicky Adams
Head of Recruitment Lee Dykes spoke to us shortly after it was confirmed that experienced midfielder Nicky Adams had put pen to paper on a two-year deal with the club."Looking back, I think we had a good group of players last year and I believe it was a successful season," he said. "This season we're looking to build again. We're taking some good characters from last year into this season but we've decided to freshen things up a little bit.
"You'll be hard pushed to get a better signing than Nicky Adams this summer and the fans should be very excited. He's got a couple of promotions on his CV, one as recently as last year with Northampton.
"He was in the top five for assists in the league and that was having missed a couple of months through injury. He's an excellent player with an excellent character and I can't wait to see him wear the shirt."
"He's played consistently wherever he's been because he's a little bit like a street player," he continued. "He wants the ball to feet and he's very urgent in and out of possession.
"He's a good lad to have in the changing room and he'll help other players. He's got that little bit of a spark and when teams come to Brunton Park, and we have possession but we need to unlock the door, Nicky is the type who can score and create goals. You could play him at right back and he would create goals!"
On how the management team completed the process of recruiting him, he said: "We spoke to him honestly and told him where we think the club is going to go.
"The first time the manager and I met him it turned out to be a very promising conversation. We saw in his eyes during that conversation that he wants to come to Carlisle United.
"He sees a successful term for us next year and beyond. Players like Nicky Adams will help us be successful and that's the calibre of player we're bringing to this football club."
"We couldn't have even dreamed about getting him here last summer," he admitted. "That's down to the building blocks we've put in place and the progression we've made both as a football club and a football department.
"This summer we're attracting good players and that's very exciting for the fans."
"We were actually in for Nicky in January," he revealed. "He wasn't playing at Northampton because he'd just came back from injury. As it happened, in the final ten games of the season he got back into their team and he pushed them on massively.
"We were actually in for Nicky in January," he revealed. "He wasn't playing at Northampton because he'd just came back from injury. As it happened, in the final ten games of the season he got back into their team and he pushed them on massively.
"Chris Wilder was very successful last year and it turned out to be a good decision from him to keep Nicky in the building."
"There are a few names who will come through the door though the summer who we've already gone for in January," he told us. "That shows the solid, progressive scouting requirements that we try and put in place.
"If we can't get them at a set time we'll go back for them, and I think that hit home with Nicky because he felt wanted. We felt wanted from the player also, and we understand that we can give Nicky everything he needs to go and be progressive and successful."
"There are a few names who will come through the door though the summer who we've already gone for in January," he told us. "That shows the solid, progressive scouting requirements that we try and put in place.
"If we can't get them at a set time we'll go back for them, and I think that hit home with Nicky because he felt wanted. We felt wanted from the player also, and we understand that we can give Nicky everything he needs to go and be progressive and successful."
On the options today's signings bring to the mix, he said: "We've already got good options. We've got some great lads in the building, and we let some great lads go, but that's football. You have to move on quickly and ultimately we felt we needed to move on to be successful.
"Nicky Adams coming through the door will only help us be successful. If you add him into a starting 11 with the likes of Luke Joyce, Jason Kennedy, Jabo Ibehre and Charlie Wyke you're only going to create more chances to score goals."
"Nicky Adams coming through the door will only help us be successful. If you add him into a starting 11 with the likes of Luke Joyce, Jason Kennedy, Jabo Ibehre and Charlie Wyke you're only going to create more chances to score goals."
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