Carlisle United: owners 'fully supportive' of Paul Simpson

Manager Simpson today said he had had positive conversations with the Piataks in recent days.

And the Blues’ American owners, he said, remain “fully supportive” and continue to see Simpson as part of the long-term picture at Brunton Park.

Seven straight defeats and United’s predicament 13 points adrift of safety in the third tier have increased scrutiny on the situation.

But the Piataks, who recently declared their faith publicly in Simpson, appear to be reinforcing that message in private.

“I had a conversation with the owners on Sunday, I had a conversation with them on Tuesday – we are constantly in touch. And I know that they are fully supportive,” said Simpson.

“And as a football club, we have got a real togetherness – there are so many positive things that we want to happen at this club, [and] we do have to stick together.

“All I'm focusing on is the next game is now the most important thing for us, and then we'll keep building it after that.”

Some Blues fans have called for a change of manager during Carlisle’s slide to the bottom of the table and seemingly inevitable relegation, although many also remain supportive of Simpson.

Carlisle's season went from bad to worse with a 4-0 defeat to Cambridge last weekend (Image: Barbara Abbott)

United’s boss said he had received a number of supportive letters and messages from fans this week.

And the same message appears to be coming from the top.

“The biggest message [from them is] that we are building this football club,” said Simpson.

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“I think it's probably fair to say that this football club wasn't ready for League One. But I don't want to take last season out of the equation, because that was a wonderful thing to be involved in.

“But we have found it tough. We may have found it easier if we were in the position we are now [after the takeover] last July or August, but we weren't, we can't change it.

“So this football club is going to keep getting bigger and better. It’s going to get stronger. I want to be part of that, the owners want me to be part of it.

“And I've just got to keep doing what I believe is the right thing and hope that we can turn the results around, and get the first one which could lead to the second one, and keep believing that we're capable of doing that.”

Simpson said he is realistic about the levels of criticism that will come in a run like Carlisle’s, and accepted there would be some who wanted managerial change.

United owner Tom Piatak (Image: Ben Holmes)

The 57-year-old said he was remaining clear-headed in his approach to the job amid the range of opinions currently out there.

“I think you just have to do what you think's the right thing to do,” he said.

“If I look back over my managerial career, in one of the jobs I believe I got the sack because I listened to what other people said to me, instead of me doing it my way.

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“And that was a big learning for me. So I try to do it my way. My way may have changed in different parts of the season, but I go away and I assess everything I do.

“I was disappointed…probably I will go so far as to say I was more disappointed than anybody else [after the 4-0 defeat to Cambridge United].

“I don't care what level of support you [have] of Carlisle United, you could not have been more disappointed than I was last weekend after the way we went.

“And so I've gone away, and I've looked at how I prepared the team, what we did, I look at the selection, I look at what I asked the players to do, I look at the changes that I made during the game.

“So I've assessed everything. And I then come into this week with a clear plan of how I then want to go about it. And that's what I've done. And I will carry on doing that.”