Forward Alex Salmon signs contract
Teenage striker Alex Salmon finalised the formalities with his contract offer this afternoon when he put pen-to-paper on his first professional deal which keeps him at the club until the summer of 2014.
Salmon, 19 in July, was offered terms following the completion of his two-year YTS spell with the club and admitted that he is now more than ready to get on with the job at hand.
“Even though I’ve signed this it still hasn’t really sunk in,” he admitted. “I think that will only happen when I come back.
“It is nice to have it done. It’s what you want to achieve when you first come to the club and it’s a great feeling when it actually happens. I just want to get this break over with and get back to work.”
“I’ve had to put a lot into my two years to try to get to this stage but I know that the really hard work starts now,” he said. “I have to prove that I’m good enough to perform for the first team. Getting my debut, home and away, has been massive for me.
“The atmosphere at Bournemouth was unbelievable and it was good to experience that. Then getting on here at home for the last game of the season was really good. I now have to work hard over the summer to make sure I give myself every chance to be involved again.”
“I’ve had a lot of help from the rest of the squad,” he revealed. “JP McGovern, Lee Miller and Peter Murphy were a real help and I was best mates with Brad [Potts] in the youth team anyway. The other young lads who had already made it through have also been there for me so I haven’t felt out of place.”
As for the time spent with the first team squad at the end of last season, he told us: “Training with the first team is a lot harder because everything is much quicker. It gets easier and easier as you get used to it, though, and I’ve fitted in well with what they do. I’m not as nervous as I used to be when I join in with them and that has definitely helped.”
But what can we expect from a young front-man who has made a habit of finding the back of the net at u18 and reserve level.
“I obviously like scoring goals but that’s not the only thing in my game,” he told us. “I’m not really a target man because I prefer to play off a big striker. I like to play other people in and I enjoy seeing them score as much as I like to get a few for myself.”
“Playing a little bit deeper suits me,” he continued. “I like to get on the half-turn as much as possible and I had the opportunity to play that role in the Cumberland Cup. I thought I did it well, so it’s something I hope I get to try more.”
“I always set a few targets with my dad at the start of each season,” he said. “I think we’ll do the same again, but we tend to keep it to ourselves. My mum, dad and granddad all come to watch me as much as they can and it’s always nice to get that type of support.
“I feel really settled in Carlisle. I didn’t really enjoy living away from home initially but I’ve met my girlfriend [Beth Carruthers] and I love it here now. I met her in December and I’ve been seeing her all the time since then. My record since we met has been better than any other time I’ve played football, so I really do have to thank her for that.”
