It was good for Carlisle to get their first three points of the season at home to Southend last Saturday, winning 2-0. Southend are not in a good way so we had to win it really but any slip-up against a side with their troubles would have left the 1,000 fans who were allowed in with something to think about. Hopefully, that result will light a spark. The fans I’ve spoken to were optimistic and Gime Touré, the lad on the right wing, looks like being the crowd-pleaser; he’s got good skills. Defensively there’s still work to do but at least we didn’t concede.

As for the matchday experience, the fans I talked to said it wasn’t the same but they were just happy to be back in a football ground. There was still a bit of atmosphere. The way they conducted themselves was good. It was a good day for the players, the fans and the club as a whole but it’s getting disrupted again, with the plan to have some fans back in stadiums in October put on hold. Now there might be no fans for six months. Last season was a disaster for lower-league clubs, the way it finished. It’s very disappointing that next Saturday, when we play Barrow for the first time since 1964, no fans will be allowed in.

I fear for football. It’s not just going to be one or two football clubs desperate for Government help, it’s going to be all sports. The situation at the minute is frightening.

It’s important that football keeps going, even without fans, to keep people’s morale up and give them something to look forward to. In the Premier League, though, they seem determined to kill people’s passion for the game. VAR… I thought they might have learned from last season but it’s just as intrusive and annoying.

I know fans who have stopped watching because of it. They say: “It’s not the game I know.” It’s not flowing. Every time there’s a goal, there’s a stoppage to see if someone’s toe was an inch offside or if something that happened a minute before was a foul. It’s taking the excitement away.

Bolton were many people’s favourites to win League Two but they’ve lost their first two matches. It’s often the way that a club struggles in a division they’re expected to walk away with. Look how long it took Leeds to get back to the Premier League. It’s partly that opponents raise their game against the biggest club in the division. And an impressive history doesn’t mean anything on the pitch; it’s all down to the players they’ve got now. In Ian Evatt, Bolton have a good manager who worked wonders at Barrow. He’s used to winning games but now he’s playing catch-up already. It just shows how open this league can be.

Carlisle are at Scunthorpe tomorrow. Scunthorpe have got one point from their first two games. It’s early days, but even after a couple of matches people start to judge a season. Carlisle are in the middle of the pack, the kind of position I hope they’ll be able to push for the play-offs from.