We caught up with new assistant manager Tommy Wright on Thursday afternoon to get his thoughts on his move to Brunton Park.
“This is a great club and I couldn't wait to get up here once I got the call from John," he said. "We know the potential of the club and we’re here to hopefully bring success.
“Obviously we know each other well and I think you need to have trust between the members of the coaching staff. The most successful coaching set-ups have that in place. There are always ups and downs during the season, so it’s important to be able to get on with each other and talk to each other.
"Shez [John Sheridan] has been a close friend, we grew up together at Leeds and we worked together at Oldham and Chesterfield, so there's definitely trust and mutual respect there.
"There is a level of friendship, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be a 'yes man' or anything like that. He trusts my opinion and he knows I’ll give it to him. That's why we’ve been successful together before.
“I always think I need to share my opinion, that's what I'm there for, but, at the end of the day, it will be down to John to make the final decisions. Whether I agree with it or not, I’ll always do my best to help him along with whatever way we go. As I say, we’ve worked together in the past and it’s worked well, so hopefully we can do well together again.
“We’ve had good times together and we've won trophies at different clubs. When John mentioned the job to do here it was always something I was interested in, and he’s actually talked about this club in the past as one which had a lot of potential.
"We've spoken about it when we've been up here with different clubs. It’s always felt like a bit of a sleeping giant which could be very successful if it did get going. Hopefully we can do that here."
Speaking more about the close working relationship he has the boss, he told us: “We bounce off each other well. We do have a few arguments, but we work together as a team.
"Everybody has their own ideas, nobody has all of the answers all of the time, so you have to be able to work with people and come to the best conclusion.
“It's good that Muzza is coming in as well. I’ve worked with him at Oldham before, under Lee Johnson, and he’s a good coach. Shez has also worked with Muzza, so we know he’s a good addition to the staff.
“You do get the feeling that this is a club which is ready to do well. When I’ve been here with other teams it’s never been somewhere you enjoyed coming, and if you could get a result of any kind you were always chuffed going back down the motorway.
"We want to make this place a fortress and get more fans in here, but we know the only way to achieve that is to be successful."
With the return of the squad now just a matter of days away, the assistant manager confirmed that he'll spend the next week putting the final touches to the pre-season programme.
“Pre-season is important for fitness, that goes without saying," he said. "We’ll prepare properly but we’ll all be focused on Exeter away on the first day of the season. The next five weeks will now be about getting ready for the day we play Exeter.
“I'm just looking forward to it all. I do still get excited when I’m coming into a new club. I’m always positive and I wake up on Saturday and Tuesday mornings looking forward to the matches.
"I always think we can win a game, unless we’re playing one of the big boys in the cup or something when you go into a game with hope rather than expectation. This club should be positive in the outlook for the season and, even if we don’t start well, I know we can build and eventually get success.
“I’ve been here and seen how good the fans can be when things are going well. I’ve had a bit of stick here as well, so I hope that stops!
"The fans are positive and back their team, and that's what we need. We need to pull together because the main reason we’re all here is to bring success to Carlisle."
"With my coaching sessions, most modern day coaches will tell you that you always try to get as close as possible to match situations," he explained. "You can’t get that all of the time, but it’s what you aim for.
"Anybody who slacks in training will be told, we’ll be honest and fair, and we’ll be trying to make them better as individuals and as a team.”
“My whole life has been in football so I know what makes people tick," he concluded. "I love it too much to do anything else. I probably couldn’t live without football.
"I had a good career - you always think you could have done better - but I played for some great clubs like Leeds, Leicester, Middlesbrough and Oldham.
"I’ve had some good times as a player and some great times as a coach at Barnsley recently. We won two cup finals at Wembley in the same season, which was fantastic to be involved in.
"That's all well and good, but I’m only looking forward now. I want to bring success to Carlisle and hopefully we can have a good season.
“My job will be to use my playing and coaching experience to help the players who are here now. At the end of the day we’re here to educate them and to try to help them to improve."
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