Everything Keith Curle said about setting standards, the mood surrounding Hartlepool and what to expect from Carlisle United

Keith Curle’s side are aiming for back-to-back victories for the first time this season when they host Carlisle United at the Suit Direct Stadium.

It promises to be another special occasion against familiar opposition not just for Curle, but for his assistant Colin West and first-team coach Antony Sweeney.

Ahead of the clash with Carlisle, here is everything Keith Curle had to say about what to expect from Saturday’s opponents, the standards he is trying to set at the club and the mood around the Pools camp following their midweek win over Doncaster Rovers:

Curle on mood in the camp

“There’s a feel-good factor because we had a good victory and good performance on Tuesday night in-front of our own supporters.

“I said it after the game but the result, the win, was what the changing room needed, the club needed, the supporters needed and the whole community that gets behind the football club needed that win.

“I wouldn’t say the pressure has come off their shoulders but we’re trying to create a winning environment and to create that winning environment we need to win games.

“I work in a relaxed environment, I create a relaxed environment with the people I surround myself with and work with in that environment.

“But there’s the understanding that when there’s work [to do], we work. I’ve got to say they’ve taken it on board well.

“The one thing I jumped on quickly is some players at some clubs cross the line from being relaxed to being sloppy and as an individual,I don’t expect professional people in our environment to be sloppy. I want them to be relaxed but know where that dividing line is.

“It has been a relaxed environment and the boys have taken on the information but we put sessions on that reinforce the winning mentality that we’re trying to create and that we don’t change just because we’ve won a game. There’s more to come.”

Curle on setting standards

“I set professional standards in an environment that I want to work in.

“Every football club is different but I’ve got to say as a group of players and a collective footballing department, we’ve got some good professionals here. We’ve got some good human beings here. We’ve got people who want to improve and develop which is encouraging.

“I’ve said it before the best thing you can say to a footballer is ‘well done’ and I like giving them but I don’t just give them to people who score the winner or make some great tackles or whatever because sometimes it’s about seeing someone in training doing that little bit extra.

“It’s important that I see that but also when I tell others that ‘there is more to come from you’.

“Creating that working and developing environment that creates good professionals that, not only while they’re here, but they’re picking up messages they can take throughout their career.”

Curle on what to expect from Carlisle

“They’re going to be organised and disciplined. They’ve got a strong and good understanding of how they play and they’ve got some good players and a good coach.

“I like Simmo [Paul Simpson], I think he’s a good human being. He’s a Carlisle lad as well, returning home for him at a time when the football club needed him most as well.

“I saw them play against Mansfield, Simmo is a good coach, he has a good understanding of League Two football and how to get the very best out of his players.”

Curle on facing his former side

“I like winning. I think I’ll be disappointed if I didn’t get a good reception from the Carlisle fans as I believe I had a good connection with the supporters when I was there and we went on some fantastic journeys and had some great times there.

“I remember from my first day I walked into the building, to be stood at Anfield playing Liverpool and taking them to penalties and the unbelievable noise Carlisle supporters made.”

Curle on Carlisle memories

“They had just been relegated when I went there, four points adrift, a changing room that was on its knees and disillusionment in the terraces towards the running of the football club and the ownership of the football club.

“The first chant I heard when I walked down the tunnel was ‘sack the board’ and everything like that - the whole focus was on the director’s box.

“The main objective for us was to get the attention onto the pitch, get the supporters something to shout about and get belief back.

“We had three top-10 finishes, a playoff finish, developed some players, sold some players, attracted some players and changed the dynamics completely.”

Curle on areas that can be improved

“I think the main assessment would be that some players have played their way into the team, some players have played their way out of the team. Some players have surprised me, some players have impressed me and some players I think there is still more to come from them.

“I think that’s the thing with the system we’re playing now. Do I think we will become a one-trick pony or a one dimensional team? No I think we’re multi-faceted that’s respectful of the opposition but also within it, we can change shape and dynamics to try and win games.

“That’s all I do is to try win football games - but I am very respectful of the opposition, not to our detriment though.”