Callum Guy quickly finds the word. “It’s bittersweet,” says the Carlisle United midfielder, who is understandably thrilled to be back from such a long injury – but has returned in the thick of very difficult times for the team.
Guy’s return from an ACL injury that kept him out for nearly a year has been the brightest part of a season otherwise mired in struggle. The 27-year-old has made five appearances since early October and, given his well-known quality and experience, it is taken as read that the Blues are going to need him.
Since Guy went down in agony at Leyton Orient in last November’s FA Cup first round tie, Carlisle have slid to League One relegation and then into further crisis in League Two. They are now second bottom of the fourth tier and fans are fearing the nightmare of a drop into non-league.
Welcome back then, Callum. “Obviously it's really nice to be back after being out so long, nice to be out there, but on the flip side, we’re in a tough space at the minute. The quicker we can get out of that the better.”
Guy’s return feels timely, and the more games he plays, the closer he will progress to the levels of peak fitness that have made him such an important player in United’s midfield since 2020. His experience feels essential to helping Carlisle get out of their mess.
“I hope so,” he says. “Obviously I've been at the club for a while now, so I know what the club's all about. I just try and bring whatever I can, day-in, day-out, into the training pitch and into games.
“It's important to use whatever you can. Even if it gives a five per cent boost it's better than not. You can talk about experience, but it's about how you use it as well.”
Guy was plunged into the dark world of ACL injury in east London last autumn. It was comfortably the most serious injury of his career and it has set him plenty of challenges along the way.
Of the first-half moment at Orient’s Gaughan Group Stadium, he says: “I think I knew straight away, to be honest. I was in quite a lot of pain and it was also where the pain was. The physios were not saying it immediately, but they were like, ‘We'll prepare for the worst and if it's better news, it's better news.’
“But I kind of had it in my head straight away. When the scan results came back I was obviously very upset, but I had a mind frame that I wanted to come back out of this stronger on the other side.”
The early days of recovery were the most painstaking, and in many ways the hardest. “From the start it's quite slow, even just in terms of coming off crutches. During that time there’s not a lot of stuff you can do.
“It’s very up and down. You have your good moments and your bad moments. It’s like you're starting off again, and you feel like you're completely learning how to walk again.
“You think of technique, and things like that, and you feel, ‘How long is this actually going to take?’ But then you start ticking off more boxes, you start doing strength work in the gym and you start to see a finish line.
“But yeah…it's a really tough injury to go through and it's a very long period to be out for. I had a lot of support from team-mates in the club, so they helped me through it. It was a tough one, but I'm out on the other side now.”
Guy faced the extra frustration of not being able to help his team-mates in a time of growing need, as Carlisle’s battling start to League One in 2023/24 unravelled towards a relegation slump.
“I always said the Saturdays were the toughest,” he says. “When we were at home, I'd be in doing gym sessions and not doing a lot, and watching them go out on the pitch…it's always tough because every footballer just wants to be playing matches. But you just have to crack on and not let it get you down too much.
“I always thought it was important to do my part off the field and just encourage the lads where I could.”
In the long months of rehabilitation, Guy leaned the most on his family: his wife Abbie and their two young children. Their support was invaluable, he says.
“You spend most of your time at home, so it's important that my family are around me and making sure I'm doing the right things at home as well as out on the training pitch and in the gym and stuff like that.
“My family were massive for me, they kept me ticking over and making sure I wasn't slacking. Abbie was really good for me throughout everything. And the kids definitely take your mind off it because they're non-stop...”
The various staging posts along the way to recovery were gratefully passed by Guy. It took time before he saw the light at the end of the tunnel. “I think that moment comes when you’re kicking a ball again for the first time. It was probably about seven or eight months before I did that. It wasn't a lot but it felt like, ‘Right, I can actually play football again now.’
“It was a bit weird being a footballer and not being able to kick a ball for so long. So that moment was nice. I thought I was nearly there at last.”
The sight of Guy’s name on the team sheet for October 8’s Bristol Street Motors Trophy game against Wigan Athletic was a heartening one – even more so when he came on as a substitute in the second half.
“It felt quite surreal to be honest, because it's been so long,” he says.
“You'd sometimes think throughout the rehab, ‘When am I going to get this feeling again of stepping out onto the pitch?’ It was a special feeling to get some minutes under the belt.”
There was a small crowd in Brunton Park that night but they cheered at great volume for Guy – while the backing of fans has always been a boost. “I've had amazing support,” he says. “Even the reception I got at the Wigan game gave me chills.
“It felt really nice to be really appreciated and even today [at the club’s ‘festival of football event], everyone saying they're so happy to see you back and stuff like that, it makes you feel really good.
“I'm hoping that, in two or three more weeks, a couple of more games under the belt, and I’ll be closer to where I want to be. I've felt quite good in the games I have played. Obviously my fitness isn’t 100 per cent yet but that will come with more game time. I definitely feel there's a lot more to come from me.”
Another milestone came when Guy played more than 90 minutes against Cheltenham Town last weekend: just two days short of a year since he last did so, at Cambridge United last October. The Cheltenham defeat took Carlisle to their most worrying point of the season yet: four points adrift in the relegation zone, and with supporter sentiment moving closer to despair.
On the team’s struggles, Guy says: “It's a tough one. Obviously you want to win every game you set out on to the pitch, but it's easier said than done. We're working on a lot of things in training, and training has been sharp. The players are giving absolutely everything on the pitch.
“It's not to do with lack of trying but we're trying to do everything. We'll keep going and I think it will click soon.”
As much as there are debates on style of play and systems and so forth, this feels a situation that demands strong character. In this, Guy ought to be a vital asset.
“You've got to stick to what you think is right, and you've got to be strong out on the pitch mentally as well as physically,” the midfielder says. “Just keep believing in yourself and the team, and trying to do whatever you can on the pitch to get a positive result.
“I also think it's important for everyone to be a leader on the pitch as well, not just two or three people. I think it's got to come from everyone, especially when things aren't going so well.
“It's about who can step up and who can talk individually to each other. That might not always be about being dead loud, but it's important that everyone speaks on the pitch, even if it's just a little bit off your nature.”
This weekend sees United back in the competition, at the same first round stage, that inflicted pain on Guy a year ago. For player and team, hopefully Saturday’s FA Cup encounter with Wigan Athletic will prove a brighter occasion.
“A game of football is a game of football, whether it's league football or cup football,” Guy says. “It's a chance to win a game, it's a chance to start a run, it's a chance to put on a real good performance and excite the fans, because we know we're capable of putting on really good performances
“I think you can see the talent in the squad. We've got a lot of players who have played at a high level, who have got a lot of games under their belts. They've been in situations like this before so I definitely think it's going to click soon, and when it does I think we'll be a real force.”
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