As the clock ticks down towards the January transfer window, Carlisle United manager Keith Millen has revealed his thoughts on how he plans to approach it.
The bottom line for him is that “anyone who does come in will help us and improve us.”
He said: “I haven’t set a number on how many players I’d like to bring in. We’ve got a decent sized squad already with good players.
“I’m always apprehensive about talking about bringing players in because it can be seen as disrespectful to the players we’ve already got.
“I’m trying to make the ones that are here better, and if there are players out there who will make us better, I will bring them in. The better we are, the easier my job is, and we’ll become a better team which we’ll all benefit from.
“You need competition for places, if there’s anyone in the team who doesn’t have competition, then that’s not good. They need to be different to what we’ve got and they need to come in and improve what we’re trying to do.
“I don’t need to bring players in for numbers, we’ve got good numbers and some good young players coming through, I don’t want to block their pathway up. I’ll make sure that anyone who does come in will help us and improve us.”
But what about backing from the board – are there funds available to bring in the right kind of player?
He said: “The discussions since I came into the club have all said that there will be funds available in January. The board have been great in that respect. They understand, and I’ve explained to them how I see things.
“We’ve gone through the squad and talked about what’s good and what needs to improve, so there’s an understanding of what we need to do in January to try and help the players we’ve got here.
“The cup runs are great, we’re still in one, and the money we get from that is a bonus, but it doesn’t affect what I can use in January.
“I will try and get as good a player or players as I can to make this club better, but if they aren’t there then I won’t bring players in for the sake of it.
“We’ve got a good squad, but if there are players available that will make us better, then of course I’m going to try and get them to the club.”
“The more I can promote this club and the positives about it, the easier it’s going to be to entice them here.
“It’s not easy because of where we are in the country. I’m learning that, but if they can understand what we’re trying to do in training, if they see we’re improving players, they need to be knowing they’re coming into a club with a positive, good environment.
“I can only control certain parts of that, but the budget is there to bring in better players. The cup runs have no bearing on that, which is great, because it means I know where I stand.
“The board know what my thinking is. We have regular communications and they’re very positive. We’ve got plenty of time and games before then, so we’ll concentrate on those first.”
