Cambridge and Carlisle battle to end seven consecutive years in League Two

If you glance at Cambridge United and Carlisle United’s respective league positions from last year, you wouldn’t expect either of them to light up League Two next season.

But the U’s and the Cumbrians will use their opening clash of 2020/21 to prove to the rest of the division that they’ve got what it takes to compete at the top end of the division.

This will be the seventh consecutive season for both of these clubs in League Two, and their continuous stagnation has infuriated the two sets of fans. Cambridge were unable to push on from their National League promotion in 2013/14, while Carlisle have failed to bounce back after relegation from League One in the same season.

Perhaps that makes their opening day meeting a bit more interesting. A tie between Cambridge and Carlisle will hardly make the headlines on paper, but the two clubs have followed very similar paths since their return to the fourth division and will be looking to break what feels like a League Two curse.

Cambridge made the choice to axe experienced manager Colin Calderwood after a poor run of form mid-way through last season, going on to appoint Mark Bonner as his replacement. This will be Bonner’s first full season in management, his youth and inexperience highlighted by the fact that new signing Wes Hoolahan is four years older than the new U’s boss.

Embed from Getty Images

Attracting the likes of Wes Hoolahan and Paul Mullin to the club is a huge step in the right direction. The club have often struggled in the transfer market and gone on to pay the price. Mark Bonner has been backed, whereas those before him were not. Richard Money, Shaun Derry, Joe Dunne and Colin Calderwood have all been tasked with guiding the U’s to the upper echelons of the fourth tier, and all failed.

But there’s a different feeling around the club this summer. Mark Bonner is a young, hungry and determined manager. He knows what he wants from his players and vice versa. What he lacks in experience he more than makes up for in other aspects of his management style, and that’s different from what previous Cambridge managers have had.

He now has to job of changing the players’ mentality, something that has been a recurring factor in Cambridge’s poor league performances. Former boss Joe Dunne once claimed that his players had “dead eyes”, and that seemed to be the case last season as the U’s stumbled to a 16th place season. Bonner must instil the belief in his players from the off, as he did in a superb 1-0 win against Championship outfit Birmingham in the Carabao Cup last weekend.

Those are the kind of performances that his side need to replicate. It doesn’t need to be beautiful football, but rather organised, gritty and determined. That’s how Cambridge will change their fortunes from languishing in the lower ends of the Football League to pushing on to bigger and better things.

Carlisle United have faced a similar struggle to the U’s. The Cumbrians haven’t bounced back from their relegation from League One in 2013/14. Eight managers have tried their hand at getting Carlisle back to the third tier, but constant chopping and changing hasn’t allowed that to happen.

Chris Beech, who took over Carlisle in the midst of a relegation scrap last season, guided them to an 18th place finish. Rather than trying for something new again, Beech has been backed by the board to improve the situation at Brunton Park next season.

Embed from Getty Images

The Cumbrian’s transfer strategy in previous years has also hindered their performances. The club failed to attract top quality players, and those who did join were given one-year deals and the freedom to move on at the end of their contracts. Bringing in the likes of Rod McDonald, Joe Riley, Brennan Dickenson and Paul Farman shows a huge improvement in the club’s recruitment strategy. Akin to Cambridge, Carlisle have brought in players with experience in the prime of their careers and given them better contract offers to keep them at the club in the long-term.

Beech, much like his opposing manager on Saturday, has a lot of work to change the mentality at the club. He has the upper hand on Mark Bonner in terms of experience and will need that when motivating his squad. Despite having brought in top end League Two players this summer, there’s still a core group of players at the club from last season’s disastrous showing, and new signings like Joe Riley and Danny Devine will need extra motivation to turnaround their form from previous clubs.

The two clubs have the same aim – improvement. Finishing in the lower end of League Two last season, there’ll be added pressure on Mark Bonner and Chris Beech to turn their respective clubs’ fortunes around and both will see this Saturday’s clash as the perfect way to kick off the season with three points.

Team news

Cambridge United manager has said that it would be a “long shot” to see young centre back Harry Darling back on Saturday, while new signing Adam May will be available after suffering a head injury. Liam O’Neil and Wes Hoolahan will be back in the squad for the season opener this weekend.

Carlisle strikers Josh Kayode and Omari Patrick may not be risked at The Abbey, while Dean Furman has an “outside chance” of being involved after a slight hamstring problem. Young midfielder Josh Dixon has been ruled out with a long term knee injury, but goalkeeper Magnus Norman’s knee injury is not as severe as first suspected.

Head-to-head

Since the two sides were reunited in League Two in 2014, both sides have won just three of the last twelve meetings between the clubs. There have been six draws over the course of the last seven seasons, including a thrilling 4-4 draw at Brunton Park in 2015. The U’s have failed to beat the Cumbrians in their last six attempts.

[columns]

[column size=”1/2″][blog type=”timeline” posts=”10″ cats=”605″ heading=”EFL” heading_type=”timeline” /][/column]

[column size=”1/2″][blog type=”timeline” posts=”10″ cats=”2″ heading=”Prost International” heading_type=”timeline” /][/column]

[/columns]