Nobody could argue that the Blues have got or are getting maximum value from all those recruited at high expense, nor that this does not present certain issues. All the same, to put it forward as the cover-all reason for shortcomings teeters very close to free pass territory.
It ignores the uncomfortable fact that, heading into this season in the fifth tier, Carlisle still had greater advantages than most, whatever their baggage. If an amount of their budget (and, who knows, maybe morale) was being drained on failed signings of the previous 12 months, it still did not inhibit the Blues when it came to doing things that most of their peers could not.
They began the summer, after all, by beating a number of EFL clubs to the signature of one of the National League’s hottest properties, someone who, according to a former team-mate, could have a Jamie Vardy-like effect on whomever got him. The capture of Regan Linney was not that of a club severely hobbled by misguided past largesse.
Carlisle were also able to build elements of a new spine, plus further limbs and organs. They brought in two centre-backs of good repute. Two right-sided attacking players also came in; one with good performing experience at this level and above, another recently on League Two books and with well-regarded potential.
United also signed a central midfielder, added another on the eve of the season, also brought in a young left-back from Manchester United and then supplemented their squad, in the autumn, with the National League’s 2023/24 player of the year; a creative talent in whom most of the division would surely have been interested. Another midfielder also joined on loan from a higher level, as more recently did a new left-back.
Signing players in significant number and profile was not, then, much of a problem, and whatever one thinks about the hit rate of those recruits, it is undeniable that at least a couple of them, and probably more, were not in the realistic reach of most of their peers.
With York on Wednesday, the how impressed as much as the who (Image: Ben Holmes)
That includes some in the promotion race itself. If Rome was not constructed in a day, it was also not regarded as incomplete for all time, with everyone constantly blaming the contract awarded in 801BC to regularly injured chariot fighter Iordanus Ionus for the absence of a few essential buildings.
No doubt some of those wages on the payroll have exerted limitations. But have Carlisle still seriously been left weaker, financially, than, say Rochdale, Boreham Wood and Scunthorpe United, who are either above or right up close to United in the top seven?
This is not to understate the potential consequences of an imbalanced squad, the drag effect of carrying unwanted or possibly disengaged players. Such a situation always requires a certain managing, some realistic patience, a fervent wish for tomorrow to come so that some could be offloaded.
Yet United have had more freedom, still, than many and it is legitimate to ask, in the wake of a night like Wednesday, when York City took Carlisle to school, about the assembly of the talent they have brought in, the blending and using of it.
York have spent in a major way, it is accepted. Yet even this needs context. Sure, summer acquisitions such as Hiram Boateng – oh, for an enforcer like that in blue right now – will not have come cheaply. Josh Stones, who scored their first goal, certainly did not. Yet their most deadly weapon, Ollie Pearce, joined from Worthing, their goalkeeper (Harrison Male) was signed from Dorking Wanderers, their captain (Callum Howe) from Solihull Moors and their left-sided supplier (Ben Brookes) from Maidstone United. There are loan players, and others with a reasonable EFL past. In some cases wages are no doubt considerable. Yet more impressive, with the Minstermen three days ago, was the how rather than the who.
There was a moment in the first half when Stuart Maynard’s side leapt upon a misplaced Carlisle pass, and suddenly black shirts swept forward in unison, options to the left, right and middle. It happened together and at pace. The attack did not lead to a goal but one still watched it and felt: shouldn’t United, all things considered, be capable of that? At this level?
At Boreham Wood, the Blues were similarly outplayed. One should never take for granted the value of momentum – Boreham Wood and Scunthorpe were both in the sixth tier last season, and are now very dangerous customers at the higher level – but are we saying Carlisle are accepted as inferior to such sides just because one or two players are hanging around on excessive earnings?
Carlisle, despite their contract baggage, were still able to sign certain players out of reach to many at their level (Image: Richard Parkes)
It feels too easy a get-out. Getting promoted directly after relegation is never a doddle but how many sides come down with United’s resources? Recovery can be phased, but things can also turn quickly, given the right work.
It’s unlikely Paul Simpson was overjoyed with what he inherited in 2003, for instance. Carlisle were also then tied to financial restrictions. Yet in short order, the manager built a spine and a side capable not just of bouncing back from relegation but being promoted twice and setting the stage for eight years in League One.
These days the idea of squad evolution over time, over several consecutive periods of trading, is what many seem to wish for but the job is always, on some level, more immediate than that. Carlisle, in the meantime, must grow in other important and discernible ways, in style, in reliable vision. Whether they are doing so now is the pointed question at hand.
Seeing them simply as passive victims of their own past is too much fig leaf. As an example, Elliot Embleton’s contract runs through to the summer of 2028. If we’re still blaming that then, why hire coaching, management and recruitment staff at all?