Football Season Guide

Carlisle have made steady progress for two seasons under Greg Abbott’s leadership, and their fans will long remember the 1-0 win over Exeter in last year’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final. Abbott raised plenty of eyebrows last summer when he released a host of first team players, but this time there has been only one significant departure in the form of wideman Kevan Hurst, who was a victim of his manager’s wingless 4-4-2 diamond formation. This summer Abbott has strengthened his team with some good players such as Jon-Paul McGovern and Liam Noble, who impressed while on loan at the club last year, and his squad has a good look about it both in terms of depth and quality. Carlisle will be looking to challenge for the top six this season and they could well be one of the teams to watch. However, other managers had appeared to figure out Abbott’s system in the second half of last season and the likeable boss may well need to have a few different game plans this time around.