A disappointing 2-0 loss away to Northampton Town this Saturday, capped off an equally as underwhelming season for Carlisle United with the conformation of their relegation back down to League Two. So far, the Cumbrians have only managed to accumulate 27 points from 42 games.
With four games still left to be played, Paul Simpson’s side will be wanting to finish with some pride and potentially dislodge some opponents’ promotion challenges in the process. The focus is however most likely already on next season and that could play a part in the manager’s team selection for those final four games.
Carlisle’s club captain Paul Huntington spoke with the club’s media team following their performance this weekend and the confirmation of their return to the fourth tier. The former Preston North End man was evidently saddened by the news and believes the club fell astonishingly short of pre-season expectations. However, he praised his teammates’ final efforts despite knowing that survival had looked impossible for many weeks.
“We’re obviously very disappointed. We came into the season with a lot of hope and we wanted to build on the good things we did last year, but that hasn’t been the case. The season hasn’t been pretty at all, and the dressing room is very flat at the moment.
We’ve known this has been coming for a number of weeks and if we’re being honest, it’s been about pride and giving everything you’ve got for the badge, for each other, for your family and for the fans. I don’t think you can question the effort from the lads, I think it’s been a lack of quality across the season.”
The English defender commented on individual matches that have shown promise, but also the lack of consistency to build on these good performances.
“There have been some games, not many, where we have put in performances that have been acceptable. There haven’t been enough of them, and they haven’t happened often enough. We’ve been far too inconsistent.
We’ve had some better performances of late, against Stevenage and Peterborough, but it hasn’t happened regularly enough.
By the time you get to the end of the season you normally find you end up where you deserve to be.”
Huntington offered further praise for the fans who have backed their club all the way throughout this tenure, despite having to endure poor displays all season, which has ultimately lead to their relegation back down to League Two. The captain also suggested that the players and the staff will continue to try and give back to the fans in these final four fixtures.
“I think we owe it to the fans and to each other to make sure we do these last four games properly. The fans have stuck by us during the whole season.
It’s now about giving our all every day in training which for me is a given. That shouldn’t be a choice, it should be a given, but it’s just about showing day to day that you want to be here and be a part of it.
We’ve got to try and turn next season into another positive. It’s been clear the group this year hasn’t been good enough and we now need to regroup and give the fans something to shout about. We owe it to them as much as each other because of the way they’ve stuck with us.”
Writer’s view
Carlisle players and fans alike will feel that this is a big setback for their long-term aspirations. However, there is still a strong core of players at the club who will be eager to return to League One and prove to the fans that they deserve to be there. Huntington has spoken with true professionalism; it’s clear that he cares greatly about the club and has given his all this season, along with the rest of the team.
With the gap in quality between League One and League Two still appearing rather significant, the Cumbrians will be feeling quietly confident that next season will offer a lot more positives.
