The obvious reason we should be calm about Carlisle United's summer

The reason for the feeling of calm which ought to apply to all our readings of the Blues’ short summer so far? The same reason their recent past has been so brilliant.

The reason they are here in the first place, wondering what their squad will be like for League One and when, exactly, it will come together.

The reason they are contemplating England’s third tier, not whichever rung of non-league you might fear.

The eleven-letter reason who, last season confirmed beyond any lingering doubt, is one of the greatest managers in their history.

Yep, it’s Paul Simpson – no prizes for guessing – and anyone tempted to fret about a lack of instant signings or (in a couple of cases) prompt contract renewals in this close-season needs to look no further in order to check their emotions.

There have – and we can surely remember them – been summers when it's been different, when the messaging has not tallied with the reality, when the pursuit of players has been either over or under-done: a splurge here, a failed lunge there, an overconfident promise here, a reticence there, a barren period which has been genuinely concerning.

Not here. Not now. Not with Simmo. He’s got this. We might not know the exact detail of how he has got it. But we can be sure he’s got it.

We can be sure, because he’s got and had pretty much everything else on a positive front since February 2022.

This, then, puts us at ease just at the point when the news cycle is slow and those transfer gossip bots and their acolytes look to feast on our desperation.

Each offering by @EFLTransfers23_ and suchlike shoves another morsel into our hungry mouths. Alternatively, each bit of ‘news’ can give us a certain fatigue, leaving us pining for the colder days of autumn when the twaddle-merchants go into hibernation for a while.

There is, though, a third way of looking upon such things. It is not exclusive to Carlisle but it’s certainly reinforced in this era. It is to meet it with a shrug, and an acceptance that much of it is not worth any of our attention-span.

Paul Simpson, as well as commanding great respect in the game, has a new sheen of success thanks to May's play-off victory (Image: Richard Parkes)

It is to have maximum trust and faith that the real work, the actual doings, is where the credibility lies, even if the outcome of it all has not emerged publicly yet.

It must, as a director, be a mighty blessing to know that you have someone like Paul Simpson in the manager’s office. Nobody’s hand needs to be held, no naivety stalks your summer dealings, no trumped-up tension lies between boss and board, no mixed agendas influence the tone.

It’s Simmo. Let him do what he does. He's good. As a guiding principle, it’s taken Carlisle from the brink of Football League relegation to their first promotion for 17 years.

Chances are, it will be fine from here too. This will not be any sort of scramble. It will be a summer of trading in line with United’s strengths and limitations – and no doubt there will be frustrations, the same as any summer, at any club – but it will not be the result of faulty or scarce planning.

Plotting Carlisle’s path into a competitive League One season will be a major challenge for a club that has not known this level since 2014. What the man steering the ship towards these waters has is a high level of gravitas across the game, a new sheen of success thanks to Wembley’s play-off victory and the sort of background and bearing that must appeal to players who are looking for their next good thing.

On top of that, he’s given all of us clinging on for news more reasons to believe than anyone else in his position could possibly have done.

As such, even as another quite day drifts gently by, it's best to put the feet up, grab a cold drink and leave any worries behind. Whoever leaves, stays and arrives, in whatever circumstances, will do so under Paul Simpson’s careful eye.

As the scenery for Carlisle’s latest summer, it’s hard to think of better.