MANAGER: It's people who want to do the right things

The reconnection with the wider fan base has been a huge part of the last year with the appointment of Paul Simpson as Carlisle boss last February the catalyst to a much better feeling around the club.

Speaking about the wave of good will and support he’s received throughout his second spell at the club, the gaffer said: “It mostly comes because the players are winning games for us.

“That’s the be all and end all in football clubs, it’s winning games, and that’s why you’ve got to get the right players in the building and the right environment for them.

“We’ve got to get them wanting to do the right things. When I came in last season there were a lot of things that seemed broken, but not broken beyond repair, they were things that could be changed with a little adjustment.

“That’s what’s happened, there’s no rocket science to what I do, and I don’t profess to be a really clever coach, it’s just about people buying into what you want to do and wanting to do the right things.

“I think we’ve got a hell of a lot of people in this football club who want to do the right things. We’ve certainly got a group of players who want to do the right things and who are making all the right noises. We’ve got to hope that over the next ten weeks, if that’s what it is, that they carry on doing the right things.”

“Like I say, positivity around any club is because the players have gone out and done the business and we’ve won games of football. If I’d come back in, I would still have been the same person, but if the players hadn’t won, I wouldn’t have got the same reception and feeling towards me that I’m getting at the moment.

“I want to make sure the players keep going, keep doing it. Not for me, but to make sure they do it for themselves. It certainly makes my life better when they’re performing and winning games. It’s more about them going out, doing it, getting the rewards because of the way they’re working and playing. 

“And the way the fans have come to back us, I think it shows they’re all out there. We have an incredible fanbase. For whatever’s gone on, whatever the reasons, they’d lost faith in the club, lost the affinity they’ve got with the club.

“That’s come back now, that’s shown in the numbers we get at home, that we have travelling away, the numbers we’re generating in the club shop with sales, the amount of people in the hospitality rooms.

“Credit to the club as well, they’ve tidied up - the 74/75 Lounge, Murphy’s Bar, the Glass Bar, Foxy’s - all these places, we’re providing a really good service for them and people are enjoying coming along for it.

“We have to keep doing it. I’m fully aware if we don’t carry on winning games of football it will start to wane a bit, so we have to make sure we do everything we possibly can to win games of football.

“To do that you’ve got to keep evolving and improving the squad. If we can keep doing that then hopefully all the rest of the things will keep snowballing.”

And the fans will be making the longest trip of the season in their numbers once again this weekend, with over 350 having already bought their tickets.

“They’re incredible,” he said. “The amount of miles they do, the supporters who make these journeys deserve a medal for it.

“It started at Orient last year, we had an incredible turnout there. I didn’t know what I was going to get from the players, I certainly didn’t know what I was going to get from the supporters, but when I came out at the start of that game at Orient and looked over and saw the numbers, it gives you that feeling if we all work together, we’ve got a chance of achieving something.

“That’s what I’ve tried to say from day one of coming in, and hopefully we can carry on doing that.”

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