United manager Neil McDonald has had many reasons to feel proud of his team this season, particularly as they have quietly got on with the extremely efficient task of maintaining more than a passing interest in the race for the Play Offs over the last few months.
With five wins in a row, just one defeat in eleven outings, and with the goals flowing at one end and stubbornly refusing to be allowed to go in at the other, we here at the club reckon that the Gaffer has got plenty to be happy about - and it appears that the League Managers Association are in full agreement.
A check of the LMA Managers League, in which points are awarded for clean sheets, away wins, goals scored and winning margins, shows that Neil McDonald is sitting just behind Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Roy Keane in the Fourth Quarter performance table for managers across the full spectrum of the professional game.
As the top performing manager outside of the Premiership and the Championship, up to and including games on 16 April, Macca has instilled a belief in the side that has seen them chip away at the gap between mid-table and the Play Off places, and has brought yet another fantastic end to the season for the club.
He told us tonight: "It really is nice for Carlisle United to be right up there with everybody else in tables like that. It would be great to be up there all of the time, to be honest, because it would mean that we were still doing things right. It's great for all of us, not just for me, because the lads are working hard to make sure they don't concede and they are getting in to the right areas to score goals."
"Like I say," he said, "it's nice that you do get a bit of recognition for the work that goes in, and you do feel a bit proud. For a while this season we struggled to get three wins on the trot, and now we have really started to push on and we have a chance of making it six in a row. Everyone here is full of confidence, and they are determined to keep it going. If we do keep it going then it will mean that we are at the top of tables like that, and involved in the games that we all want to be involved in."
To see the full LMA Managers League table, click HERE
