Carlisle United have announced the signing of defender Terell Thomas on a two-year deal from Charlton Athletic according to the club’s official website.
Thomas was everpresent in the Addicks’ defence last season making 40 appearances in the third tier, 31 of those being starts. Although the defensive cohort would struggle on the whole during the season, it did improve towards the back end, where the centre-half enjoyed his most consistent run of starts.
It’s somewhat of a statement of intent by the Cumbrians, with it being a slight surprise to see the defender, who has 12 international caps for Saint Lucia, dropping down to the fourth tier.
Paul Simpson’s side were not the only ones supposedly in for the 28-year-old with it being previously reported by journalist Pete O’Rourke on Twitter (X) that Notts County had been in talks with Thomas.
It comes as no surprise to see Stuart Maynard wanting to improve his defensive ranks this summer following on from the Magpies conceding a league-high 86 goals in the fourth tier last term. That poor defensive record can be blamed for their 14th-placed finish, which was severely underwhelming based off of pre-season expectations.
Improvements are expected at Meadow Lane next season, at least from a defensive point of view, and they have already signed two central defenders in the form of Matty Platt and Jacob Bedeau, both on free transfers.
Signing both of those names could be the reason that they have missed out, or chosen not to pursue Thomas any further. He will however play at Meadow Lane once next season, when County face Carlisle following the latter’s relegation.
Speaking to club media upon the signing of the experienced defender, manager Paul Simpson said:
“I’m delighted to get Terell into the club. We’ve been working on this for a number of weeks.
“I think he’s a fantastic addition to the squad, he’s got good experience of playing in English football, he’s a full international, he’s just come back from competing in a couple of games for Saint Lucia where he captained the team, so he’s got leadership qualities.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing him working with us.”
Writer’s View
Following on from their signing of Jacob Bedeau last week, its not exactly a surprise to see Notts County miss out on the Saint Lucian but he would’ve been another solid addition. Carlisle likewise struggled defensively last term and he’ll be bringing proven quality and experience to what can now be considered a rather ambitious club.
There’s a high likelihood that both the two clubs will be direct rivals next term with both, at the very least, wanting to make the League Two play-offs. A better defensive record will certainly help both sides and improvements in that department are a must if they want to achieve promotion.
Senior Editor
