Analysis, James Phillips, BBC Radio Cumbria, Carlisle United commentator

For all that Mark Hughes played for Barcelona, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Chelsea, and managed Blackburn, Manchester City and Wales, the 61-year-old also has experience of League Two.

He took Bradford City to the 2023 play-off semi-finals, where they were seen off by none other than the club where he has been appointed head coach.

Unlike two years ago, though, the Carlisle he meets now are not in a healthy state, sitting bottom of the Football League and five points adrift in the relegation zone.

United have 18 games left and 54 points to play for. Plenty of points and plenty of games, you might say, but the average point tally to avoid relegation from League Two post-Covid is 43 – fully 22 more than Carlisle have today.

Even if they are to stay up by the skin of their teeth, United will likely need 40 per cent of the points left available, when they’ve managed to gather just 25 per cent of those available to date.

That, then, is scale of the task for the man who once signed Brazilian superstar Robinho…

Galvanise the squad and the fanbase, turn water to wine on the football pitch and save Cumbria’s most famous football club from an unthinkable drop into non-league football, for only the second time in their history.