Carlisle United confirm departure of coach Geoff Haugh

The popular rehab coach has left Brunton Park following the departure of manager Paul Simpson.

Experienced Haugh becomes the fourth member of Simpson's backroom staff to depart the club.

United owner Tom Piatak said it was Haugh's own decision to leave because of his loyalty to Simpson.

"Geoff Haugh left on his own terms this morning," said Piatak in an official club interview.

"I think that's understandable, he was brought in by Paul, he's very loyal to Paul and I completely understand that."

Haugh had rejoined United for a second spell after Simpson returned to the club in 2022.

He had worked under the manager during his previous managerial reign from 2003 to 2006, and was a trusted member of Simpson's regime.

His departure follows that of assistant managers Gavin Skelton and Billy Barr, and head of performance Jake Simpson - the manager's son - on Saturday.

Tom Piatak has spoken about the departure of Paul Simpson and United's aim to recruit a sporting director and head coach (Image: Richard Parkes)

Piatak said those three departures as well as Paul Simpson's were as "kind of a reset of the coaching management.

"I think it's unfair to bring somebody in and then basically say they have to work with coaches we already have," he added.

“When we looked at it, we had to look at it from the perspective of the coaching management and those four were truly what we deemed at that level.

"We needed an entire reset, rethink, get a new vision, get a new strategy and move forward."

Piatak said United plan to recruit a sporting director and a head coach rather than place all footballing responsibilities on a manager's shoulders.

“We can work on both of them simultaneously, but we will be selecting the sporting director first and then we'll be selecting a head coach and we want to make sure that we explain to any potential applicants, anybody that we're looking at, that this is what we've recruited for," he added.

"The club's been under-resourced in the past and we now have resources. I think there can be too much on just a manager, so we want to separate those two.

“We want them to work very closely together but we want the head coach to be focused purely on the pitch, the next performance, what's required, the player selections, the tactics, and we want the sporting director to have the longer-term vision, the budget, what's needed to improve the team, the recruiting, overseeing the academy - much broader."

Piatak said anyone interested in becoming the Blues' next boss must buy into the desire for a certain "style of play."

"We want to be aggressive. We want to be front-foot forward. We want to dominate. We want to be attacking," the American businessman said.

“We don't want to wait for things to come to us and then react. We want someone that understands the style of play that we are recruiting for, and has done that in the past.

“It's not a new initiative for them, let's say. They have some proven ability there but we want somebody that's also energetic and innovative. This is nothing against Paul or the previous coaches.

“I'm just trying to say some of the attributes that we're looking for. Energetic, innovative, flexible, adaptive, can react quickly to what's going on, on the pitch and get the squad to react quickly as well."

Piatak will face questions from the media, including the News & Star, on Tuesday afternoon.

The owner and wife Patty have delayed a planned return to the USA to oversee the immediate post-Simpson period at Brunton Park.