Paul Simpson: New Carlisle owners Castle Sports Group making changes, says manager

Paul Simpson says parts of Carlisle's training ground are "in the dark ages"

Carlisle United are "slowly starting to turn" under new owners Castle Sports Group, manager Paul Simpson has said.

American Tom Piatak, whose family took over the club in November, has been in the city this week after identifying a site for a new training facility.

The relegated League One bottom side have had to hold dozens of training sessions at Gretna this season.

"We need a facility," Simpson told BBC Radio Cumbria. "We need more than we've got out the back, with one pitch."

Simpson added: "The ground staff do everything they possibly can to keep it in working order but you can't do anything when the clouds open and it starts flooding.

"That's not right. Things are slowly starting to turn. There's even talk of improvements inside the changing room areas, which need updating because they are stuck in the dark ages.

"From a footballing point of view, we want to get all those things improved to try to take us forward. That's what the ownership want to do - to move the club on."

The Cumbrians face Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday in their final home game of the season after supporters received a letter from the Piateks last week reiterating their commitment to United.

"I'm quite sure that once we get this game out of the way, there will be lots of things going on," said Simpson.

"They are fully immersed in it all and trying to get everything sorted. I think we are up to number 99 on a project list at the moment, there's that many things going on inside the football club.

"There's a lot of investment going in. Those are all really positive things, but the one thing I keep saying is that we have to make sure we get the football right.

"We're having to take a step backwards and go to League Two but we want to make sure we're in a better place when we next get the opportunity to go to League One."

Simpson led Carlisle to promotion through the League Two play-offs last season, beating Stockport County - who will replace them in the third tier as champions - on penalties at Wembley Stadium.

"Over the last couple of years, we've had a massive increase in terms of shop sales and commercial activity," Simpson added.

"That came about because the players went and did the business on the grass, and then we've got staff in place who can deal with all the expectations that go with that."