Football.co.uk sparked things off on Thursday 21 June 2007 with a report that United Boss Neil McDonald intends to use his loan signings sparingly in the coming season.

They report the manager as saying: "We used the loan system very well last season, but I don't want to get stuck in a rut where I'm just using loans all the time.  We will use them sparingly when we can, the most important thing is to sign players permanently.  It gives them an identity that they have signed for the club, they are Carlisle players and they are 100 per cent committed to the club."

This story very quickly spread across the whole news network.