Four ways Carlisle United can rise again after promotion anti-climax

The tension and true meaning, though, has gone from this campaign and it won’t come back. From the moment the sun came up on Wednesday morning, the play-offs finally out of reach, 2021/22 effectively began for Carlisle United.

With that in mind, here are some ways that term can be better and more sustained than this volatile and exhausting one.

1. Build around the core. This is the best reason for optimism even at this point of anti-climax.

George Tanner is among a core of good young players in the United first-team ranks (photo: Gareth Williams / AH Pix)

You do not need to be a glass-half-full person to see that there is a cluster of decent and aspiring players at Brunton Park.

It gives grounds for evolving the squad rather than overhauling it again. When you look at the likes of Callum Guy, Aaron Hayden, Jack Armer, George Tanner and Joe Riley it is clear to spot the basis for something.

Chris Beech is, in this hour of disappointment, right to highlight that these are, in terms of substantial first-team CVs, still inexperienced players.

At times in this campaign they have starred, at other times dipped. They are, though, of fundamentally good and aspiring character and must surely have learned a great deal from the peaks and troughs of 2020/21.

If United have lacked a battle-hardened edge at certain times, it may be that we eventually reflect on the last few months as the period when this group became savvier first-team men.

What the Blues must of course do next is act skilfully and carefully in the market to help maximise their abilities and potential.

Guy, often enough this season, has shown the qualities of a driving force. He deserves every opportunity to keep growing in a side that can accommodate, as well as totally rely upon, his apparent strengths.

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2. Fill the goals void. United have not been a shy attacking team in approach, but in the second half of the season they have simply not been reliable enough in the opposition box.

Jon Mellish's goals tally from midfield is impressive - but United's strikers have been less prolific (photo: Richard Parkes)

It might seem unreasonable to draw in Bolton as a comparison, but they are close to automatic promotion because of a string of 1-0s at clutch time.

United won’t be able to go out and sign an Eoin Doyle. But they must surely do all they can to seek a finisher with the smarts to see them through a tight game or two.

Carlisle have proceeded through 2020/21 with a variety of attacking attributes but the fact Jon Mellish, a converted defender in midfield, still leaves everyone behind on the scoring front says things have not been as sharp as they could be at the very tip.

Mellish’s purple patch of autumn finishing deserves respect even if his wider game remains ripe for refining. United would be much lower without his inspired run.

They would also be higher had they found true consistency from those who score to pay the bills.

Offrande Zanzala has offered some interesting new possibilities, and Cedwyn Scott's potential is still untested, but United must still try their best, with whatever funds they have, to seek out a No9 capable of leading the scoring charge.

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3. Bridge the gap. This is the question of taking youth players all the way into the first-team and keeping them there: something United have only flirted with in 2020/21.

Will young players like Taylor Charters get more opportunities in 2021/22? (photo: Barbara Abbott)

It looked like it might happen with Taylor Charters, while Josh Dixon must hope for a campaign of true progress next after his heartening return from long-term knee injuries.

Contract-wise, Carlisle have committed to those young Cumbrians, who have shown flashes of fledgling quality that now warrant a few more opportunities for everyone to find out if they are indeed United’s future.

Others waiting in the wings are regarded as highly, if not more so. Lewis Bell, whose season has been flattened by Covid-19, will also hopefully return well and if United do wish to be that team that develops and progresses its home-reared at a steady rate, next season must bring a little more of that to bear.

This term’s first-year pros have not come close to Beech’s team, the virus also sabotaging their non-league loan moves. Carlisle have been more sparing with their awarding of deals to second-year youth teamers 12 months on: a dose of reality after awarding a cluster of deals and then not being able to bring those teenagers on.

United’s budget status has walked them down a road where being able to grow your own is so much more valuable. There is, encouragingly, hope in some of those coming through the Under-18 ranks now (Sam Fishburn and Gabriel Breeze are seen as particular prospects); they will hold onto that hope if there is a realistic way for them to be blended into what the senior men take forward.

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4. Play the game. It’s probably unrealistic to expect United to abandon this season’s tactical stance wholesale, but it cannot just be a layman’s view to think Carlisle have been better in the second half of 2020/21 when they’ve passed more, built more.

United's best performances in recent weeks have come when they have passed more, such as in the win over Bradford (photo: Barbara Abbott)

‘Beech Ball’, the forceful, table-topping style of the first half, was admittedly based on getting the ball forward early and pressing furiously behind it.

With United at a lesser tilt after their January lay-off, though, other teams were better able to absorb and expose it.

Against Bradford - a refreshing 3-1 win - Carlisle did keep the old bag of air closer to the green grass. Their best spells in their small number of other victories since February (and even some draws) were also when they played more constructively.

It would not be an admission of defeat to put a little more faith in this. It would be a declaration of trust in a growing team to expect them to play through lines more, rather than bypass them.

*What do you think Carlisle need to do in order to make 2021/22 a better season? Let us know in the comments.