“WATCH CHARLIE GO ALL THE WAY
Carlisle boss signs two to replace him
UPBEAT Carlisle United manager Keith Curle has tipped departing stiker Charlie Wyke to reach the top – but believes the Cumbrians can more than make up for his absence.
The 24-year-old forward moved to League One promotion contenders Bradford City on a two-and-a-half year contract for a fee believed to be £250,000 on transfer deadline day.
He’d scored 18 goals this season to spearhead Carlisle’s League Two promotion push, and had enjoyed a purple patch over the last couple of months, including netting a hat-trick against Mansfield.
It was the coming of age of a player who started at Middlesbrough and had loan spells at Kettering, Hartlepool (twice) and AFC Wimbledon before joining the Cumbrians two years ago.
Curle believes Bradford have captured a diamond by snapping him up now but is proud of the way Carlisle have helped him progress.
The former Manchester City and England defender said: “I think Charlie will score goals in League One…the Championship and the Premier League – he’s a goalscorer.
“He won’t score from the halfway line or beat three or four men and bend one in the top corner, but if you put the ball in the 18-yard box he will score a variety of goals. He’s brave, aggressive and has good technique. He came here with a desire to create a personality and a profile as a goalscorer, a young, developing centre-forward learning his trade.
“His background at Middlesbrough stood him in good stead. He came wanting to play league football, which was the one thing Middlesbrough couldn’t offer him.
“He’s grown up with us and he’s appreciative of the time and effort we spent working with him. We can’t take all the credit, but played a part in his development.”
It says something for the impact Wyke has had that Carlisle have signed two strikers on loan until the end of the season, to fill the gap left by him. Jamie Proctor, 24, has joined from League One Bolton, while George Waring, 22, has come in from Premier League Stoke City. Proctor is the more experienced of the two, having had spells with Preston, Swansea, Crawley, Fleetwood and Bradford before joining Bolton last summer. Curle is delighted, and perhaps surprised, to have got him.
“Jamie is a centre-forward that will score goals at this level,” he said. “He ticks every box Charlie did and is more established. Jamie is, at minimum, a League One centre-forward and has been very unlucky that the form of Bolton’s strikers has meant he hasn’t had as many opportunities as he would have liked this season.”
Waring has had previous loan spells at Barnsley, Oxford and Shrewsbury.
“We’ve got good recruitment contacts and George was flagged up twice before,” said Curle. “I went to watch him play for Stoke U23s on Monday night (Waring scored in a 2-2 draw against Middlesbrough) and he’s so well suited to how we want to play.
“He’s 6ft 5in, he’s got a good touch and he scores goals. He can be unstoppable with his height and we like to put deliveries into the box in open play or from set-pieces.
Stronger
“We like to get to the final third and deliver quality and George has the hunger and desire to play and score goals.”
Carlisle have stuttered of late, but remain in the automatic play-off places – and Curle is positive about their fortunes as the season heats up.
He added: “We’ve had a dip in form and suffered a few injuries, but we are still up there and have the attitude to not get beat. We’ve drawn the last three games, and it’s a lot easier to turn draws into wins than defeats into wins.
“We have come out of January stronger than when we started it.”