Tom Piatak says Carlisle United are now offering players the chance to be part of a “long-term” transformation of the Blues.

And the club’s owner has also revealed how business colleagues back in America have been helping United on the data side of their revamped recruitment process.

Carlisle have signed six players so far this summer and more are set to follow.

Owner and chairman Piatak says he is happy with the work so far as United aim to put together a squad that can compete for promotion back to League One.

“We're very pleased with where Paul and the recruiting team is and the football operations,” said Piatak.

“I've stated that with the January signings too – I was very happy with them. I was hoping we would survive League One, but we didn't. There were other factors at play there, but when I look at the individual signings in January, I thought they were all solid contributors to the squad.

“What we've done over the close season here, I think, has been very, very significant. We have a solid budget, and I mentioned that we will have a budget to acquire probably talent that we haven't had in the past as Carlisle, and we've gone ahead and done that.

“I think the team that we're assembling is a powerful squad. We still have one or two pieces left of that that I'm hoping that we'll have done this week, but once we have that, I think the group that we've brought together is going to be solid in the dressing room.

“They're good quality characters, and they want to win. I've chatted with some prior to them signing and some after, and they all know promotion is the goal. That's where we're going. 

“They all know the vision, the journey that we're on. This isn't a short-term pledge. We're here for the long term, and they believe it. They see that.

“It's probably been a little bit of a change for Carlisle. We're now offering two-year, three-year contracts because we see where we want to go, and you have to build a backbone and an infrastructure of a team that's going to be with you for the long term versus one year and then everything changes again.

“You can't do it [that way]. We're building that more strategically, and we're thinking through that with the football operations, but I will say right now where we're at with this squad, I'm very comfortable.

“I believe we're going to be extremely competitive. We're going to be strong contenders, and the goal is promotion this year.”

Piatak has previously stressed that United will have all the resources they need to build a squad capable of competing for League Two promotion in 2024/25.

The most eyecatching arrival so far has been that of striker Charlie Wyke.

Asked about the outlay on such a signing, Piatak told the News & Star: “All the players that we've brought in, there's been financial considerations, and that's – I guess you'd say – a value proposition.

Charlie WykeCharlie Wyke (Image: Ben Holmes)

“When you're acquiring an asset, you've got to ask what is the value there? Charlie brings certain attributes here and a winning attitude and a work ethic that I think will certainly help the team, but I think every player has been financially rewarded accordingly and we will continue to do that.

“I want the players to know that they are appreciated here for the talents that they bring, the skills that they bring. We treat each one individually, but again, we've got to bring a collective team together that works together and jumps together.”

Piatak confirmed that plans for data to play a more central part in United’s recruitment were very much now in play – and with colleagues back home also helping in this regard.

“We’ve acquired quite a bit of data between StatsBomb, Transfer Room and one or two of the other technologies that we've brought on.

“Logistics [our business back home] is a very analytical business as well. You're pricing freight all over the country and you have to really analyse the lanes and know it.

“So we have some folks back home that are very, very solid in that in terms of data analytics, business intelligence data analytics. So we've actually had them assist us as well.

“We came back and said, ‘Okay, here's the technology we have, here's our data experts back at our other businesses, help this come together – this is what we're looking for’.

“We did that in conjunction with the recruiting department [at United] on the call, so we developed a database of all the aspects that we need, and then take all those elements and weight them accordingly for each position .

“So if you look at all the right wing-backs, here's all the data that we want to see, here's the weighting, and boom, here's number one, two, three, all the way down.

“That's the process we've kind of brought to this, and it's a process that continues. It's not one where this off-season or close season ends and we forget about it. That data is live and continues, and as more matches are played, it keeps getting added.

“My challenge to the recruiting team was start at number one [target]. And I understand we may not get number one. I understand there are certain reasons why that might not be feasible, but I want to know what that reason is. So work your way down there.

“Let's not sit there and say, ‘Well, we're comfortable working with somebody at this club or [that club]’.

“I think the recruiting team fully understands [this process]. Greg [Abbott, head of recruitment] and Jacob [Blain, recruitment analyst] have completely bought into it.

“They maintain it now. If there are any issues, they know who to reach out to from a business standpoint on the analytics. But they understand it, and I can see both of them and Paul [Simpson] saying, ‘Okay, this makes tremendous sense now’.

“So we're all bought into it as a team, but at the end of the day, the recruiting team recommend and Paul selects, and I couldn't be happier with the squad that we have right now.”

Piatak said he and his family, who bought United last November, are also playing a hands-on role in selling the vision of Carlisle to signings.

“That's the key – it’s vision,” he said.

“We want to make sure that they understand us as owners. We're very family-oriented. Our businesses are kind of ‘hold and grow them, maintain them’.

“We're not in here to go, ‘boom’, and then flip a company or something like that.

“So as we were chatting with the potential signings, that's what we wanted to say – ‘You see the changes happening. I want to tell you a little bit about our other businesses so you can understand that. If you would like to chat with anybody in our other businesses, we would welcome that, but we want to give you a chance to talk to us as owners so you understand where we're headed, what our drive is, what our vision is’.

“[We tell players that] we are competitive by nature. We want to win. We have a vision for this club in conjunction with this community, and we know we can pull it off.

“It's going to take everybody's help, but we know we can pull it off, and you're a key piece of that when you come on board, and we want to make sure you're bought into it as well.

“Those calls have been very, very positive. We've enjoyed having those calls with the players, and I think it's given the players an additional bit of information that might make their decision a little easier.”