If new Carlisle United owners embrace c-word, love can flow

This is not to assume the scrutiny and preferences of all the fans taking part but, given the yearning for change and the positive PR so far associated with Carlisle United’s American suitors, the smart money is on ‘Yes’ carrying the day on whatever is proposed.

Trust members did, after all, overwhelmingly vote through investment proposals from the Andrew Lapping-headed group in 2015 which involved the dilution of their shareholding. That situation was also “advanced” but not, it's fair to say, as far down the line as the current takeover discussions.

Everything about this deal appears on a bigger and further level and, provided the Piataks don’t attend the Halston in Knighton masks, or threaten to turn Brunton Park into apartments, or propose the replacement of Paul Simpson with a three-headed hydra incorporating Keith Mincher, David Holdsworth and Roddy Collins, getting folk onside should be well within their gift.

If not a formality then the door is certainly open. United clearly believe the Florida family are right for the club, as do CUOSC, who have already trailed the Americans' “infectious enthusiasm” and claim the Piataks are “on the same wavelength” when it comes to the club’s importance in the community.

What we have here, then, is one of the most pivotal times in United’s history. Sometimes that sort of sentence is hyperbole but not here, given the need for and prospect of fundamental transformation at Carlisle – and the clear presence of people who appear willing and seemingly able to carry it out.

Along this way there have been no missteps by the Piataks, from their appearances at United matches to their confidential negotiations, courting of the trust and then, last week, a statement which pushed several good buttons without opening themselves up to critique on particular plans and fine details.

The latter, one imagines, will come to a reasonable degree of disclosure tomorrow and, as much as it’s possible to discern, there has been more reason for hope on this so far than for scepticism.

What really needs to come now – what has to be reinforced and interrogated at the Halston – are aspects CUOSC have touched upon. One is a word they did not use specifically but which remained the thrust of it, and which has had changeable currency around United the past decade and a half.

Custodians. This is what the Piataks need to be, as much as transforming figures. They must prove trusted owners as well as new, well-heeled ones who are now being greeted with American flags and chants of “USA, USA” by supporters.

Carlisle United's current owners described themselves as custodians upon taking over in 2008 - a much-debated word since (Image: Stuart Walker)

The c-word was used by Carlisle’s current owners upon assuming control in 2008. Sometimes the perception has been a strength – local businessman, committed and steadfast – while at others it has been a millstone.

The debate is endless, veering from the decades-long respect for and loyalty of Andrew Jenkins to the struggles and debacles such as other takeover scenarios (Yahya Kirdi) and the stewarding of United which has led to a so-far unresolved and growing debt pile to Purepay Retail Limited.

Where custodianship begins and ends is one for permanent discussion. One thing we can say, though, is that we know when it’s there by looking at places where it isn’t.

The focus really has to go beyond mere wealth at times like this. In 2017, Reading were bought by the Chinese brother and sister Dai Yongge and Dai Xiu Li. John Madejski, the former Royals owner, professed the future to “look very bright for Reading” while, in 2020, Yongge and his family’s wealth was pegged at $2bn.

Enough, you’d think, to keep the payroll turning at Reading. Latest news: Yongge was this week charged with misconduct by the EFL after failing to comply with a disciplinary commission which ordered him to deposit an amount equal to 125 per cent of the club’s forecast monthly wage bill in a designated account by September 12.

This followed deductions of one point followed by a further three for Reading over failing to pay players, and comes amid a supporter protest entitled ‘Sell before we Dai’.

So Yongge’s trumpeted ambitions upon takeover, of creating “world class facilities” and suchlike, have not quite brought milk and honey to Berkshire, where the club sit 21st in League One after relegation.

Reading's current owner was said to have wealth of $2bn in 2020 - but the Royals have since been sanctioned over failing to pay players (Image: PA)

There are many more examples of owners who proved bad custodians after the bright initial sell. It also tends to be the case that, contrary to some perceptions, fans are inclined to love owners, at least at the outset.

Here at Carlisle, Knighton was the messiah until painful reality removed the sheen. There can have been little way of knowing how that decade would pan out at the beginning and, to some degree – allied with faith in the much-debated EFL owners’ and directors’ test – you do have to put your trust in someone and something in the end.

It is upon those receiving such trust to handle it gently, carefully, sincerely. The Piataks will look to underline the commitment behind their recent words tomorrow and they, as much as the rest of us, must know that it is not at the outset that they will be judged good owners, but years into the thing, when English football’s turbulent landscape has long presented itself to them, challenged and rewarded them at varying intervals.

What has to happen along the way is what they and CUOSC have mentioned: relating to community, the “unique bond” between club and fans, the “connection” the Piataks wish to reinforce.

That can and needs to occur whatever the footballing weather. The notion of it is grasped and acted upon by good and responsible owners and tends to be cast to the breeze by bad ones.

Chances are, the Piataks will tick the same boxes in public that they’ve evidently ticked in private. The welcome in response ought to be genuine, excited and fair. Promote the c-word, above all, and it can also last.