United manager Greg Abbott spoke to us this morning about the early season transfer window activity in and around Brunton Park.

He said: "We feel that there have been some excellent additions to the squad through the summer and at the end of the window yesterday and we think that we're in a really good position as we go into the second month of the season.

"The signings we made in July have really started to settle and I think the fans are seeing first hand what they have brought to the squad. They can only get better and better now and it's exciting for us all to see the impact that they have had."

On the transfer window itself, he said: "I'm not a big fan of it.

"I think clubs at our level should be given a much longer timeframe within which we can do our business, because it can make things difficult and it puts pressure on all concerned."

"The Ian Harte situation is a good example of that," he added.

"We had a player who had agreed to stay with us, and we were all very happy with where we were. However, what we also had was an unwritten agreement that we would allow him to talk to any club from a higher level that made a serious enquiry about him.

"Reading came in for him on Monday and we initially turned their bid down. At the request of Reading, we are not going to disclose any of those details, but we then had to allow Ian to talk to them to see what they had to say.

"After their talks were done it quickly became apparent that Ian was very interested in a move. We did what we could to try to persuade him to stay, and we made it clear to both the player and Reading that we were determined to try to keep him at Carlisle United.

"However, we could not compete with the personal financial package that Reading were offering to Ian and we could not argue the fact that they play at a higher level than us. Ian has made it clear since the day he joined us that he wants to play at the highest level he can, hence the agreement we had to allow him to talk to clubs from the Championship or the Premier League who may have shown an interest.

"Reading returned with an improved offer, and we were facing a situation where we had a player who wanted to make the move, and a club who were pushing very hard to get him. Sometimes you have to accept that you have done what you can, and the focus then has to change to making sure that you get the best deal for the club.

"John Nixon [managing director] then stepped up the talks with Reading and I have to say that I am confident that we got an excellent deal for this football club. We have heard some of the figures that have been stated by fans on our facebook site and I can say, whilst being very mindful of the agreement that we have with Reading, that they are way off the mark. Having lost a player that we wanted to keep, we have actually done the best that we could have hoped to have done in terms of a financial package to complete the move.

"At the same time as that, it then became my job to get out there and tie down a replacement. Fortunately we had a number of avenues already open and we were able to secure the signing of Lubomir Michalik from Leeds United within a matter of hours.

"The other positive thing to come from it is that the board have told me that the money gained from this deal is there for us to reinvest, whether that is with a permanent signing in January or wages for specific loan deals. The arrival of a replacement so quickly and the availability of extra funds has certainly helped to ease what was an initial feeling of real disappointment that we were about to lose one of our players."

And on the relationship with Ian Harte, he explained: "Hartey has been superb since the moment he arrived.

"He brought experience and knowledge to the dressing room and his performances on the pitch were never less than 100%."

"I was at a game last night, and I missed a call from Ian while I was in the stands," he said.

"He left a really long voicemail message thanking me for the opportunity that the club had given him. He actually said that the spell with us has been as important as any other period in his career, because he has been treated properly and he has been playing regular football.

"He also wanted to thank all of the staff because of the way they have dealt with him and he genuinely wished us all the very best of luck for the future. I accept that completely because I don't think anyone can blame a player, particularly at the stage of career that he is at, for wanting to play the game at the highest level possible.

"This opportunity has come for him so I think we should all thank him for what he did for us and wish him all the very best as he moves on to his new challenge.

"As I said earlier, I think we did very well out of the situation once we accepted that the move was going to happen. We got an excellent deal for the club, we moved swiftly to make what we feel is a quality signing to help to cover the position, and we have secured some additional funds for future squad strengthening.

"What we all have to do now is get back to the important business of preparing for another tough League One game at the weekend."