After months with no news from Brunton Park, in the last couple of weeks it’s been hard to keep up. Last week I mentioned four new signings. Since then there have been another four – at the time of writing – with more expected.

Former Manchester United defender/midfielder Joe Riley was released by Bradford after missing last season with a knee injury. Unlike a lot of young players who have been on the books of a big club, he actually played for Man United’s first team a couple of times. That shows his potential and it’s exciting to think Carlisle have signed a player with that ability.

Jack Armer was released by Preston. He can play left-sided centre half or left back. Midfielder Danny Devine is another who’s been released by Bradford. And former England youth goalkeeper Magnus Norman has come to Carlisle after leaving Fulham.

They’re aged from 19 to 23. They’ll all feel this is the time to really get themselves established in first-team football, and Carlisle will give them a chance to do that. Devine and Norman have signed two-year contracts, which is an encouraging sign that Carlisle are looking to build for the longer term.

It’s nice when you’re up town and people are stopping you and saying they’re looking forward to the new season. Nothing has that effect on fans like signing players. But if we’re going to challenge next season, we’ll need a few more to build a squad. We’ll get injuries.

The first pre-season friendly saw a 4-2 defeat at Fleetwood. I was glad to see that Joe Fryer, the goalie who suffered a serious injury when he was playing for us on loan from Middlesbrough two years ago, is back on trial. He did well when he came. He was keeping Adam Collin out of the team. You could see right away it was a really bad injury. I felt for the boy. He deserves another chance.

People might worry that signing so many players at the same time makes it hard for them to gel. I don’t think that will have an impact. A dressing room is like an office. They’ve all been in dressing rooms before. We all used to gel pretty quick. They’re all pulling the same way. Football is a close-knit world. Dressing rooms are notorious for humour. You’ve got to be able to take it as well as dish it out. The camaraderie comes pretty quick.

Nick Anderton has been named as captain for this season. That’s a good choice. He plays like a leader. You need a few in any team who will shout and shake their fist to gee people up. Even match winners need that if they’re having a quiet time.

I don’t know why it took five months after the last ball was kicked in League Two for the decision to be taken to reprieve Stevenage and relegate Macclesfield, after an independent panel decided they should be deducted more points. Macclesfield is a better fixture for Carlisle, but it’s not about that. Nothing surprises me any more about the state of football in the lower leagues. There has to be more done to protect clubs from owners who don’t necessarily have their best interests at heart.