How have Carlisle United fared in the past under caretaker manager control?

It is the latest caretaker stint at the top of the Brunton Park club.

Stand-in regimes have brought a variety of outcomes over the years. Here we look back at a few from the last four decades.

GAVIN SKELTON (2019)

Gavin Skelton on the touchline at Port Vale in his last caretaker spell (photo: Barbara Abbott)

This is the second time the Cumbrian has been in the temporary hotseat. After Steven Pressley’s sacking in autumn 2019, the assistant manager stepped up for two games. The Blues scored in the first minute of his first game, at Port Vale, but ended up losing 2-1. After a 0-0 home draw with Cambridge, struggling United turned to Chris Beech.

TOMMY WRIGHT AND PAUL MURRAY (2019)

Paul Murray, right, with Tommy Wright on the touchline against Mansfield (photo: Stuart Walker)

The January departure of John Sheridan to Chesterfield pitched No2 Wright and coach Murray into the dugout. They oversaw a stirring 3-2 home win over in-form Mansfield before high-flying United’s strong winning run ended with a 3-0 loss at Northampton. Pressley was appointed the following week but the Blues’ season tailed off.

PAUL THIRLWELL AND TONY CAIG (2014)

Paul Thirlwell and Tony Caig watch United take on Bury (photo: Stuart Walker)

The captain and coach teamed up to steer the ship after Graham Kavanagh’s sacking early in the 2014/15 campaign. Their first game brought a refreshing 3-1 win at Accrington in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, but the league saw a 4-4 draw with Wimbledon and then defeats to Bury and Shrewsbury, Thirlwell sent off in the latter as Keith Curle was drafted in to avert relegation.

GRAHAM KAVANAGH (2013)

Kavanagh, right: sealed job with win at Stevenage (photo: Barbara Abbott)

As Greg Abbott’s reign came to an end, his assistant Kavanagh took the temporary reigns with initial success. He started by doing something Abbott had never managed, and won three league games on the spin. That earned him the permanent job (a decision which had been reached after win number two, at Stevenage) on a two-year deal. Yet Kavanagh's Cumbrians eventually crashed to League One relegation.

GREG ABBOTT (2007 and 2008)

Greg Abbott pictured during his first caretaker spell in 2007 (photo: David Hollins)

It was a case of second-time lucky for Abbott in the temporary chair. In 2007, Neil McDonald’s shock sacking led the coach to oversee 10 games, winning five and drawing two, and owner Fred Story admitted it had been hard to overlook Abbott when he instead appointed John Ward. A year later, Ward’s tenure unravelled and Abbott, after six caretaker games this time, landed the job for keeps, kept the Blues up on the final day of the 2008/9 campaign and remained in charge until 2013, a spell that included Wembley victory in the 2011 Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

PAUL SIMPSON (2003)

Paul Simpson with temporary No2 John Ward in 2003 (photo: Louise Porter)

Simpson, the squad’s most experienced player, offered to take the team in the chaotic wake of Roddy Collins’ departure. He did so with professionalism and diligence and, though Carlisle endured a further string of defeats, Simpson did enough to convince John Courtenay he was worth the permanent position. Relegation followed – but then Simpson's rejuvenated United bounced back with two promotions.

BILLY BARR (2002)

Billy Barr on the touchline in pre-season at Gretna in 2002 (photo: Jonathan Becker)

Barr took the team for a fruitless spell towards the end of the 2001/2 season after Collins, commenting on the takeover scenario at United, found himself shown the door. Two draws and two defeats concluded the fourth-tier season for 17th-placed Carlisle before Collins returned that summer upon John Courtenay buying the club from Michael Knighton.

MICHAEL KNIGHTON, DAVID WILKES AND JOHN HALPIN (1997)

Knighton, left, Wilkes and Halpin

Less a caretaker regime as a surprisingly-installed trio that remained in place for over a year. When Knighton sacked the popular Mervyn Day, he declined to appoint a successor, insisting coaches Halpin and Wilkes - plus the owner himself as part of an unlikely trio, though the latter insisted he didn't take sessions or pick the team - could do a capable job. United, though, suffered third-tier relegation and needed Nigel Pearson and Jimmy Glass to avert another in 1999.

AIDAN MCCAFFERY (1991)

McCaffery, back row far right, with United players at a junior fun run in 1991

Swiftly installed after Clive Middlemass’s demise, coach McCaffery’s fate was to oversee one of the bleakest periods in United’s recent history. Quickly placed in permanent control, McCaffery saw the hard-up club finish in the lower reaches of Division Four in 1991, and then end bottom of the pile and close to financial ruin a year later. Cue Knighton’s arrival, McCaffery’s removal in September 1992, and changed times at Brunton Park.

MARTIN HARVEY (1980)

Martin Harvey (photo: PA)

Northern Ireland international Harvey stepped up from the coaching ranks when Bob Moncur left for Hearts early in 1980. His short-term tenure was impressive as Carlisle ended the 1979/80 campaign with a string of good results and a sixth-placed finish. In permanent charge come the following term, a bad start cost Harvey and United turned to Bob Stokoe for a second time.