AN AFTERNOON IN THE COMPANY OF UNITED'S NEW BOSS
News & Star sports editor Mike Gardner met up with United's new manager Ian Atkins last week and spent an evening and an afternoon in his company. He discovered just what it is like to be the manager of a struggling club with hundreds of players and dozens of agents on his trail, desperate to get a chance of league football.
Ian Atkins is sitting in a hotel lounge, struggling to keep his eyes open, supping a bottle of Becks, looking cool in his Adidas trainers and Reebok shirt, a mobile phone flashing on the table in front of him.
"It's been a bloody long day," he says, looking at his watch before demanding: "Come on, Mike, let's get this interview started."
We are alone in the bar of the Lakes Court Hotel, close to Carlisle station, two barmen keeping us company, as the time drifts towards 11.30pm. Elvis is pumping out from the PA, his deep voice penetrating the dim light, as Ian moves closer to the tape recorder, taking another swig of beer.
The previous two hours have been spent in the raucous company of former Workington Reds manager Tony Chilton and Ian's wife Karen, the two footballers joshing and swapping X-certificate anecdotes about their time together at Sunderland with Ally McCoist and Barry Venison.
Now we're alone and a private moment with the man confronting the most challenging job in football is too precious to question the ethics of conducting a formal interview after a few beers. Atkins sits patiently waiting for the first question, still looking exhausted after another long day in the office.
United have employed 12 managers in the last 10 years, ranging in competence from the farcical five-day reign of Keith Mincher last year to the glorious promotion and Wembley appearances associated with Mick Wadsworth.
So why Carlisle?
"I knew I had been shortlisted at Notts County," he says, "but when I was offered the Carlisle job that was it. This is one of the biggest clubs outside the First Division. I had five brilliant years at Northampton but when I walked through the doors at Brunton Park it felt like a football club, what I call a proper football club with proper fans.
"I've been in the game a long time and when I walked down the tunnel and looked across into that fantastic stand... well, it kinda smells like a football club. Carlisle is a bigger club than Notts County. It's that simple and now I want to push this club forward as much as I can and help these promising kids I'm told we have.
"At the end of the
season I want Carlisle United to be in the top three but
logically and using my head, it's a building process.
It's all about winning games and I'm confident that if I
can get the right people around me that we could, well,
possibly surprise a few people.
"I will spend time with players working with them,
encouraging them. Organisation and discipline has always
been a strength of mine, that and getting the best I can
out of any given situation.
"Whatever club I go to I'm optimistic. I always have been. If this was, say, Rochdale or Mansfield, I wouldn't have bothered coming. This is Carlisle United - a club with history who have been top of the old First Division. That excites me."
You have to admire his optimism which seems fairly preposterous considering the club have escaped relegation from the Football League on the final day of the last two seasons, firstly by the size 10 boot of an on-loan goalkeeper in the fifth minute of injury time, and then by the first career goal of a Peterborough substitute.
Atkins is getting warmed up now. He continues talking, quickly, without taking breath, his words pouring out as if from a machine gun, making him difficult to understand, given the lateness of hour and the reduction in clarity produced by his Midlands accent.
"Coming to Carlisle wasn't about money. I just love football and I want to win. Full stop. That's my nature. I like what I've seen since I've been here. There's plenty of people with desire, and without that you're wasting your time. It's the same in any walk of life, whether you're a carpenter or a bricklayer or a footballer. You need desire and I have it. I had it as a player and now I have it as a manager.
"I appreciated everything when I played, especially when I was at Sunderland in the First Division which is now the Premiership. Not everyone can do that. That's why I never let go and although it might sound goody-two-shoes, at the end of the day I looked after myself. That's why I played league football until I was 37."
We are interrupted by a young bar man asking us if we will permit him to turn off some of the lights. We are the lounge's only occupants and there's a hint of impatience in the air as he goes back to the bar and continues cleaning glasses, a blank expression on his face, the time close to midnight.
Ian takes another swig of beer and he's off again, a few more optimistic opinions, that might appease supporters, alarmed at the statistics revealed in The Cumberland News that 13 first team players have left Brunton Park since the final game of the season and Atkins has yet to make his first signing.
"I ain't gonna rush in and get caught up bringing the wrong players to the club," he says. "You know, the kind of player who gets a year's contract and then there's problems after a couple of months. If you rush in, it can be a waste of time and a waste of money. I'd rather wait for the right player to come along. I'm not signing people just for the sake of it, just to fiil a number. I want the right players and if it takes until beyond the start of the season then so be it.
"It's a long season - 46 games. The public and supporters know this is a helluva bigjob. If I had a larger budget, there's a lot of players I could have got and I know where I could he taking the club. We'll have to rely on some of the younger ones and try and get some experience in to develop them."
Atkins suddenly looks incredibly tired, as if the enormity of the job had suddenly occurred to him. He picks up his mobile phone and stands up, stretching his arms, indicating the interview is over.
"Give me a ring tomorrow," he says, gesturing for me to follow him out of the lounge and towards the lift. "You can come down to the ground and we'll finish it there," he continues, managing a friendly wave before the door closes behind and the lift hums away, carrying him to his hotel room where sleep will envelop him five seconds after his head hits the pillow.
3PM, FRIDAY. BRUNTON PARK: There's plenty going on in the reception room. Safety workers walk through carrying large step ladders with a sense of purpose and players drift in and out through the glass doors, athletic young men with suntanned, muscular legs.
The interview has been delayed. A receptionist apologises, muttering something about 'urgent calls,' and all the while the telephone is ringing in the background, perhaps every two or three minutes, each caller wanting Ian Atkins - 'he's on the other line,' they are told, 'ring back later.'
After 45 minutes I am directed to Atkins' office, an assistant pointing to a corridor behind a blue door, which has a large sign on the reverse side, 'No soiled footwear beyond this point.'
The walls are whitewashed blue and winte, various doors lead off to each side, Kit Room, Director's Seating, and finally Video Room.
"That's the gaffer's office," I am told by a young player, who looks 12 but is probably 16, smiling and eager to please, with the innocent look of a choirboy.
A discarded copy of The Sun newspaper lies on the floor underneath a small desk next to Atkins, who is supping a large bottle of water. The office is small, about the size of a living room. An estate agent might describe it as functional but the room lacks charm and has the ambience of a dentist's waiting room.
Behind the manager is a large white board of players' names separated into different positions, the uncertainty of professional football highlighted by the presence of people such as David Brightwell and Graham Anthony, who were dumped at the end of last season.
There's another board, painted green, depicting a football field, with blue and red magnets indicating different positions, spread randomly. Opposite are two long shelves full of videos from United's previous season, the games crudely handwritten on the side, but they are unlikely to make pleasant viewing for Atkins - just nine wins in 46 matches, the magnitude of his task captured for ever on video tape, just 42 goals scored, 75 conceded, 25 defeats, 91st in the Football League.
"I'm just checking my shares, Mike," he laughs, pointing to a television screen, where a Teletext page reels off tiny numbers. He still looks tired but before we begin the interview the telephone rings. "I'm in a meeting," he tells the caller. "Ring back later."
The first question is about his playing career which was formidable, close to 600 Football League games, 100 goals, captain of Shrewsbury at 19 and an appearance for England 'B'. His position - well everywhere.
"I was at Coventry as a schoolboy," he says. "I was right back then but when I moved to Shrewsbury I played in midfield, then striker. I started on £5.38 a week. I'm good on figures. I was always known as a good organiser who was reliable and could compete. If it was there to be won I took the ball and if the opponent went with it then so be it. I made sure everyone was OK, perhaps to the detriment of my own career. I was known as being solid, hard and a grafter but if the ball was on my right foot it rarely strayed from the target I wanted to hit."
Three minutes into the interview and the telephone rings again.
"Hello, pal. No problem. Yes, please. You'll get a reasonable chunk of the game. Brilliant. See you tomorrow."
He puts the receiver down and it rings again immediately.
"Yeah, go on, pal. At the moment I can't do anything but give it another couple of weeks and I might be interested. Look, I have got an interest but if he goes elsewhere it is up to him. Yeah. I'll be in a better position in a week. Yeah, give us a shout then."
Atkins looks at me and points to the telephone. "It's frightening, isn't it?" he says, by way of apology for the frequency of interruptions. "Yes, I had eight great years at Shrewsbury," he goes on. "We went from the Fourth Division to the Second. I was striker then and I managed to score 25 goals one season. Then I went to Sunderland and I ended up the skipper. I'd come from a backwater club like Shrewsbury, and all of a sudden, I'm captain of all these great international players.
"I led by example
and that example was, well, I suppose I had limited
ability but I played to my strengths. I was never the
quickest and I had to use my brain to get out of trouble.
"I'm fortunate because I had three or four years up
front, then three or four in midfield then I played at
the back. I've played in every outfield position so
that's a great help as a coach or manager.
"It was brilliant at Sunderland and I consider Carlisle as being a smaller version of that great club because of the fever pitch of the crowd. They are knowledgeable and understand football, they like players who give everything and that's why they took to me."
So Atkins thinks he was nothing more than a 'reliable grafter' who became a supervising factor at Sunderland but people who know about such matters say he was much, much more. They say he was the 80s equivalent of Chelsea's Dennis Wise, only with more skill and without the Rolex watch and the £30,000 a week pay packet.
Perhaps he understates his playiiig abilities, partly out of modesty and partly out of recognition of the secondary purpose it served - to prepare him for management.
"You might say I was boring but every time Match Of The Day was on television I taped it to study all the opposition, so I could learn all their tricks. People like Paul Walsh, Tony Cottee and Ian Rush had certain things they did and I would always remember that I've got a great football memory. I never forget anything."
The telephone rings again, another agent giving Atkins the hard sell. But he's having none of it, his tone impatient as if he was trying to get rid of a double glazing salesman.
"To be truthful, the majority of agents aren't very good at their jobs," Atkins says, after putting down the receiver again. "All they are interested in is making money for themselves, I don't think Third Division players need them. If you're confident in your own ability, why do you need an agent?
"I know within 20 minutes if I like a player or not. I say to the agent 'Do me a favour, don't waste my time or your time.' I know a lot of players and I know they like playing for me. Agents know if they come to me they won't get a fee. In one instance, an agent got the player to another club and stitched me up and I went ballistic. I know they are making a living but there have to be ethics."
After Sunderland, Atkins went to Everton, then Ipswich, then Birmingham and at 32 his inevitable move into management came after a call from Colchester United's chairman. The club had just been relegated from the Football League and the requirements of the job were difficulties he was to become familiar with throughout his management career - no money and a mediocre team of ageing players.
"I've always taken an interest in coaching," Atkins says. "I had all my badges, and to be honest, when I was offered the Colchester job I could have gone to other clubs, including Wolves.
"I knew Colchester were a poor side and it would be a difficult job but I thought I could learn the ropes, like Brian Little at Darlington and Martin O'Neill at Wycombe. I made mistakes but I got away with them. It took six months to get it going because we were awful then we started playing too tight because everyone was so desperate to get back into the Football League. The following season we did it."
That was nine years ago and he's held many posts since, including spells at Doncaster, Cambridge and Northampton before ending up one point from achieving a footballing miracle of biblical proportions at Chester last season.
Now he's at Carlisle and for the first time in many years he is so optimistic about the future, his wife and family (he has a 15-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son) are moving to be with him. Estate agents and schools have been consulted and that's all down to his faith in the players he has inherited at Brunton Park and the 'feelgood factor' he has experienced since arriving just two weeks ago.
Atkins' enthusiasm is infectious. He dismisses the awful statistics of the last two seasons with a wave of his hand, and then he's off again, and you're with him every step of the way every word, every sentence, nodding in agreement.
"I've been impressed with what I've seen at Carlisle," he says. "Players like Richard Prokas, Tony Hopper and Stuart Whitehead are honest lads and that means everything to me. In three years I would like to think Carlisle United will be in the Second Division as a strong club. When the finances get better, we'll get better players.
"They'll always get integrity and honesty and the players will be the same. It's no secret that money is tight at the moment but we are looking at bringing players in. I can't do any more. I can guarantee my players will graft and grind, every one. Obviously you want more than that but that's dictated by money."
The telephone rings again, and this time Atkins is pleased. A player he wants is making a verbal commitment to Carlisle United and he can barely contain his enthusiasm.
"Hello. How are you pal? What does he want you to do? You'll be all right here, no problem. You'll be perfect for us. Give us a ring when you come back. Cheers pal."
He puts down the receiver and smiles broadly, pointing to the tape recorder, to indicate that the identity of the caller must remain secret, for some unspecified reason.
The interview has taken around 30 minutes and the telephone has rung at least a dozen times, and the pressure and commitment of a football manager, at least this football manager, is incredible and daunting - 20 calls an hour, 200 calls a day, 1,000 calls a week. The telephone rings again, one last time, as I get up to leave.
"You'll get honesty from me," he says, ignoring the telephone. "I'll give everything for this club, but I ain't Paul Daniels. I'll get the best with what I've got to work with. I'll guarantee that."
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