Carlisle United must dream of repeating deal for promotion hero in January | OneFootball

It'll go down as one of the most influential deals in the club's history.

Carlisle United's current languishing state at the bottom of League Two was not one that was expected by many before the first ball was kicked this season.

A first full summer with the Piataks in charge of the club, and their money to rebuild the squad, had supporters understandably excited about what was to come. What we didn't know at the time was that the Blues were set to undergo a complete structural rebuild on its footballing side less than a month into the season.

Now United are in an oddly familiar position compared to last season, when they were in League One. Then, they knew that they were going to have to bank on a good January window to help save them. It wasn't a good one, and it didn't save them.

The last time Carlisle were in this sort of position in League Two was only three seasons ago. Keith Millen was in charge of the first-team and the threat of relegation was large.

Again, a strong winter window was needed, and one transfer, the return of Omari Patrick, helped to change the club's course of history in many different ways.

Omari Patrick's Carlisle United return

Early in the month, Patrick made his way back to Brunton Park, signing an 18-month deal just months on from leaving to join League One side Burton Albion after his first 18-month long spell with the club.

Patrick's impact was immediate. He scored in a 2-0 win over Bradford City in his first game back in Cumbria. Things stagnated a bit after then, but after he found the net again versus Salford City on the opening day of February, it was full steam ahead for the forward.

Patrick went on to score nine goals in the second half of the 2021/22 campaign, including one in Paul Simpson's first game back in charge of the club away at Leyton Orient and one in Carlisle's comeback win over fellow relegation candidates Oldham Athletic.

After spearheading the survival push, he wasn't as potent in the following season, when United won promotion to League One, but he did have the all-important touch at Wembley in the play-off final, levelling the scores against Stockport County; a touch that will forever go down in the club's history.

Should we watch it one more time? It wouldn't hurt to, would it?

Carlisle United would love another Omari Patrick transfer this January

Patrick leaving the club that summer after his play-off heroics is something that some Carlisle supporters, and maybe even Simpson, will always rue. Whether he would have been the answer in League One is debatable, especially given his time with Burton, but they had nobody else in the squad that was like him - a pacy, direct winger who could score goals.

Another hotly contested topic now is whether, like last season, Carlisle are banking on returns in the winter window to help save them from a second relegation.

The club's new sporting director, Rob Clarkson, has told the News & Star that there is a "quite confidence" about the deals that United may be able to make in the new year.