What did we learn from Carlisle United's Blackpool defeat?

1 Firing blanks

…or not even firing them at all. Until too late in the game this was a sorry afternoon in terms of chance creation for the Blues and the stats reflected this for much of proceedings.

The first time Carlisle had any sort of attempt on goal it was the 69th minute, when Jack Armer stretched to reach a cross and the ball popped tamely into keeper Dan Grimshaw’s gloves.

Five minutes later Jordan Gibson had an effort blocked from 30 yards – the first attempt of any force – yet by then the home side were 2-0 up and the direction of things was well set.

Joe Garner and his team-mates had no attacking joy at Bloomfield Road (Image: Richard Parkes)

It is a little surprising to reflect on the overall numbers and see that Carlisle, in the end, totted up eight shots in that closing period.

Gibson, a substitute, had three of them, and another fellow replacement in Sean Maguire had two. Alfie McCalmont could/should have scored late on but these were, in a large respect, after-the-event offerings.

The final analysis says Carlisle failed to score for the tenth game of 20 in League One this season, with a return of 15 goals in all that time shining more bright light on one of the obvious areas for improvement: probably the biggest one of all.

2 The other end

Carlisle’s defensive aptitude has tended to be decent even as they’ve toiled for results this season.

Things have, though, come loose in recent weeks with goals starting to fly into their net more regularly.

They’ve conceded eight in their last two league games and their total goals-against tally of 29 is beginning to resemble that of a struggler, after a more solid earlier period.

Tomas Holy looks dejected after Blackpool increase their margin of victory (Image: Richard Parkes)

It is surely a case of the pressure of their predicament starting to work its way towards the rear of their team after United have extended themselves so much just to live with many third-tier teams so far.

The unforced error count is creeping up bearing in mind Tomas Holy’s mistake for Blackpool’s opening goal, which followed own-goals from the otherwise impressive Sam Lavelle in two of the previous three league games.

The consequence of struggling so much at one end is that there is very little margin for mistake at the other and it was always fanciful to think Carlisle could stay totally defiant as things started to bite.

After going 18 league games without conceding more than two in any of them, it’s happened twice on the spin. They’ve also now lost eight of their last 11 games in all competitions and the impact of this negative momentum was clear in what we saw at Bloomfield Road.

3 Rhodes to goal

If Carlisle needed any more reminders of the sort of thing they need in January, it was supplied by Blackpool’s number 16.

Jordan Rhodes was not a particularly influential presence in the first half, with the taller Jake Beesley initially a more involved threat in the home attack.

Yet in the second half the 33-year-old Rhodes brought all his goalscoring instincts to the table and sealed the game for Neil Critchley's team.

Jordan Rhodes' goalscoring instincts were on full display (Image: Richard Parkes)

The home side’s second goal was on the surface a little fortunate but it does not take much digging to recognise that it wasn’t really lucky at all.

As Beesley took aim for goal, Rhodes was tightly attended-to by two Blues defenders. As Holy parried the header, the experienced Rhodes was suddenly a couple of yards beyond both Jon Mellish and Sam Lavelle.

An instinctive finish duly applied, Carlisle’s hopes of a fightback were snuffed out.

Signing someone with Rhodes’ pedigree isn’t a straightforward matter to say the least. But it does show what United currently lack, and have done in the poaching department since they lost Kristian Dennis.

It is not that Dennis would necessarily have repeated last season’s output at a higher level – he’s only got two goals for Tranmere Rovers in League Two this term, after all – but finding someone who's dangerous close to goal has been a costly shortcoming so far in 2023/24.

On a general level it is telling that Carlisle this season have barely scored any of the kind of close-range goals Dennis often supplied en route to promotion. Only three of their league strikes from August to December have come inside the six-yard area – an own-goal against Shrewsbury Town, Joe Garner against Burton Albion and Luke Plange at Reading – and a fox in the box of some description would surely help them climb in the new year.

4 Alright, Jack

Saturday was not a day for “positives” and any upsides to the day overall were minor and qualified indeed.

Character can always be shown, though, in hard times and Jack Robinson emerged as one of United’s players to come out of the Bloomfield Road gloom with a little credit.

Simpson backed the ex-Middlesbrough man to start ahead of Jack Armer, whose 72-game run of league starts duly came to an end.

Jack Robinson showed some bite in his performance (Image: Richard Parkes)

While Carlisle were inferior to Blackpool across the park there were at least some moments of decent bite from Robinson, who does not have a long run-up of first-team minutes at Brunton Park just yet.

One feisty 50-50 win in the second half should have set the stage for a goal, with Armer – on as substitute – going on to put a chance on a place for Alfie McCalmont which the midfielder failed to take.

That came after Robinson had moved from the left into midfield, showing a certain versatility Simpson has called on at other times this season.

Armer, it should be said, looked lively and positive when he came on, Simpson having left him out because the manager was unhappy with aspects of the team in the previous game (the 5-1 hiding at Reading).

If Saturday’s decision has the desired effect in terms of a cattle-prod to Armer’s performances, then so much the better. Either way, Robinson’s competitive nature did not let the side down at Blackpool, whatever else did.

5 Cheers and jeers

A sacred principle in football is that fans have every right to say what they think when a performance has been as turgid as Carlisle’s was on Saturday.

The investment to watch the Blues up and down the land is considerable for many, and when the numbers are as strong as they were at Blackpool, small wonder some of that criticism comes with bells on.

To a reasonable degree a team has to take it when performance levels are so low. If a player or team cannot live with some booing and caustic language, a career in football is going to be a bracing experience indeed.

Some of United's fans at Blackpool made their feelings known during and after the game (Image: Richard Parkes)

All the same, it would be wrong to say everything said and shouted from those orange seats was totally acceptable, as Paul Simpson and others have mentioned in the wake of the 3-0 defeat.

Frustration with Luke Plange’s performances, for one thing, is a matter for each fan’s judgement but cheering a young player’s substitution only ever comes across as callous and counter-productive.

‘In Simmo We Trust’ – an article of faith at Brunton Park since February 2022 – cannot be this conditional when it comes to his players and signings, however exasperating displays might be right now.

United’s manager was himself deeply affronted by what he felt were abusive words and gestures in his direction post-match too.

Some in that away section have since said that most of the anger was directed at players, not the boss himself. It is indeed hard to imagine many, with the slightest feel for what’s happened at Carlisle in the last two years, piling it on one of the club’s greatest managers of all time.

Yet whatever was said and shouted to whom on Saturday, Simpson’s demand for unity surely has to be heeded. Nobody can expect maximum backing for low performance but it is now just three weeks from January, everyone from Simpson down knows what the squad needs, and a Carlisle with as much togetherness as possible, in the circumstances, stands a better chance of coming through this than one with fractures.