United boss Steven Pressley spoke about the retained and release process shortly after he’d spoken to the players on Monday afternoon.
“It’s a day where you give some players some good news, but you also give others some really disappointing news,” he said. “Some of these lads have served the club particularly well over a period of time, so it’s never easy, but it’s part and parcel of the manager’s job.
“The decisions I’ve made are all based on what I want to do going forward. I’m quite clear on how I want my team to play and we have a certain kind of DNA we want for each position.
“When you’re at a club like Carlisle you can’t tick all of the boxes, because to get all of them ticked you need about 70 million pounds in every position, and we just don’t have that.
“However, there are a couple of key boxes in each position that we want to tick and, because of that, it helps up to make up the reasons why we retain or release certain individuals.”
On the process for what happens next in terms of players who have been offered contracts, he commented: “They’ve been made an offer by David [Holdsworth] and hopefully that will be to terms that they are happy with.
“If not then hopefully there can be ongoing negotiations between the player and David, and that’s a big part of his role. I don’t like to get involved in the financial aspects because it allows me to have purely a football relationship with my players, which I prefer.
“Obviously within this process we want transparency and a clear indication of what they’re thinking at this moment in time. All of that goes into our planning moving forward, so we would obviously like their response sooner rather than later.”
With a lot of work ahead to get ready for the return for pre-season in June, he told us: “There are busy weeks ahead as I try to bring in the correct personnel.
“This is a big part of the job, probably the most crucial part of the job, because whatever anybody leads you to believe the reality is that recruitment within any club is the most vital part.
“Regardless of the tactical and fitness elements I talk about, you still need the right players, so it’s a hugely important five or six weeks leading up to the start of pre-season.”
“I’m looking to get hungry players who want to be at Carlisle and who want to be part of our club and team moving forward,” he added. “We’re very ambitious about that, but we also understand our restrictions.
“It’s about maximising what we have and, in order to do that, you need players who want to improve and who want to get better. That’s why you need to bring in players who are not only good, but who also have the same kind of ambition. That’ll be a key factor for us.”
“I’m very excited about what’s ahead,” he concluded. “This is a great time of year for any manager when you’re rebuilding. It’s a period where you can put all of your plans in place and work hard towards getting the team and personnel who you feel will fit your model.”
We’ll have more from the manager on the official website on Wednesday morning following the release of this week’s retained and released list.
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