The news of Simpson's departure to Preston comes as a body blow to all Carlisle United fans. He has done great things for Carlisle United, and on that basis I wish him well in the future, but why on earth Preston? Yuck. A worry now is that he will take back room staff and players with him. Next season isn't looking as exciting with Simpson's departure. However, we will survive. We have a club, and we're in Tier 3, so let us not be too downcast and look hopefully towards a season of consolidation. Perhaps Mick Wadsworth returning as manager, with Peter Beardsley as assistant?
For a while Carlisle United were almost synonymous with The Great Escape after avoiding the drop to Tier 5 so dramatically twice, but for us all The Greater Escapes have been to come back from Tier 5 and now be promoted again to Tier 3. Who knows, perhaps this is finally the beginning of our rise back up towards Tier 1 again. 30 years have passed, but maybe (just maybe) we'll be back in Tier 1 before we hit 40 years! The other nice thing is that whereas our Great Escapes had an element of Jammy Dodgers about them, our Greater Escapes have been through skill, commitment and determination.
I always think that you should have the "spine" of the team good enough to play in the tier above - that is 'keeper, Central Defender, Central Midfielder, Striker. We had this for most games in the 2005/2006 season. Our 'keeper is young and getting better, and if we keep Hawley and Bridges, the same can be said of our strike force. I am concerned about midfield and defence though, and without strengthening I think we may struggle next season. I think the best way forward for us next season may be to bring in some Tier 1 or 2 players near the end of their playing careers, ones with some wisdom to impart to our younger players.
One thing important to me over the years has been that, irrespective of whoever was in charge, our team has largely been honest and clean playing, unlike some of the teams we've come up against. I hope that rising up through the tiers will not result in losing that proud tradition. On that subject, much has been made of the current administration's lack of investment. Personally, I like the fact that wild promises have not been made, and that a steady development plan has instead been put in place. Way back in December 1999 I wrote about an Alternate Universe where Carlisle United are on the way to being a top-flight club, and whilst it was tongue in cheek, it was intended to point out that steady and sensible development is the best way forward. Look at Reading, and what they have now achieved.
The big problem with a rich investor pumping money into a club is that if they leave, the club can implode financially and perhaps disappear altogether. On a small scale, this happened at Scarborough after Brooks Mileson left, and they have dropped further now out of Tier 5 and rumours are that their very existence is threatened. On a large scale, Leeds suffered badly in recent years under a financial crisis. Are you paying attention, Chelsea? Manchester United? Whilst many of us have engaged in, and enjoyed, that sport of 'Man Utd fan bating', I for one wouldn't want to see any club implode and fall victim to unscrupulous owners. Well, other than seeing MK Dons going out of existence, but that is to punish those who would want to move a club and deprive its fans of their club. Let us hope that no other club ever does the same again!
And finally.... come the reports that there is to be an investigation into unusual betting patterns prior to Carlisle United's 4-2 win over Boston. It appears that there were heavy bets on Carlisle winning by two goals. Personally, I think it is very hard to rig a footie game, plus Carlisle were hammering teams regularly all season, so betting of this type is hardly a surprise.
The most interesting documentary I saw recently suggested that Jesus was actually a returning Buddhist missionary! It seems there is evidence of a young Jew going to Kashmir at the time of Christ to study Buddhism from the age of 14 to the age of 29 - the period of Christ's life not covered in the Bible. This same Buddhist returned to Kashmir in his 30s (Christ's age at resurrection) and was buried there - his body laid to rest in a West-East orientation (Jewish norm) rather than North-South orientation (Buddhist norm). There are also foot impressions at the tomb, and they have scars which are similar to those from crucifixion - a practice only carried out in Roman territories. Also, Christ's teachings do bear similarities to Buddhist teachings.
Fascintating, eh? Were the "three wise men from the east" actually Buddhists sent out to find a reincarnated holy man, then? Does this mean that Christianity is in fact an amalgam of Juddhaism and Buddhism?
On a similar religious vein, much was made of the date and time this month: 2006-06-06 06:06:06
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