3 big Carlisle United issues to fix ASAP for Mark Hughes & Piataks | OneFootball

A number of problems need to be sorted next season for Carlisle to have a real shot at promotion back to the EFL.

Carlisle United have a mound of issues that they need to fix if they are to win promotion back to the EFL next season.

Back when the club's American owner, the Piatak family, took over at Brunton Park in November 2023, there were hopes and dreams of ascending the footballing pyramid, reaching levels that the club hadn't seen for decades. Instead a scary, unexpected descent hit United, landing them a spot in the National League for the 2025/26 campaign.

Across their back-to-back promotions, fingers have been pointed towards culpability in all directions, and yet an answer has not been found, despite all the investment and the willingness of the owners to try and do what is right.

Getting back to the EFL will be a very tough proposition for Carlisle, largely due to the two-up, two-down promotion and relegation system between the football league and the non-leagues, but it's not an impossible job. Addressing these three issues will give Mark Hughes and his players a much better shot at rectifying the mistakes of seasons gone and returning the club to where they feel they belong.

Losing mentality

Hughes' brief stint as head coach towards the end of this season didn't yield the result that everyone of a Blues persuasion hoped he would bring - survival - but there was a definite turnaround in performances and results.

Carlisle only lost one game at home with Sparky at the helm, and they finally broke their long-standing record of not winning two successive matches, which stretched back to before they won promotion to League One, two seasons ago.

Still, despite the slight up-tick, it's hard to argue that a losing mentality is not present in the current crop. Restoring that belief in their abilities, of which there is plenty in the squad, will be central to Hughes' rebuild at Brunton Park.

Defensive solidity

In Carlisle's last 92 league matches, they have kept a total of 13 clean sheets - they have conceded goals in just under 86% of those games. That sort of record is not going to do them any favours if they continue in the same vein.

Hughes' sides of the past, like when his Bradford City team met Carlisle in the play-off semi-finals just over two years ago, have shown that they can be defensively solid. Four of his 18 games in charge this term saw the Blues not concede.

Again, that was an improvement, but one that will need to be boosted again next time out.

Pace in the squad

The two out-of-contract players that United have offered new terms to from their 24/25 squad are Matthew Dennis and Kadeem Harris. Both turned out to be very successful free agency signings outside of transfer windows, but the Blues will be lucky to hold onto the pair, or even potentially one of them.

For pretty much the entirety of this most recent relegation campaign, Dennis and Harris were the only options in the squad who could stretch defences with their quickness. Without them, the current squad is very one-dimensional and will be much easier for National League backlines to manage.