Carlisle United caretaker blasts 'criminal' goals in Fleetwood defeat

The Blues’ 3-2 home defeat continued their miserable start to the League Two season.

A fifth loss from six games left United third bottom as they await the appointment of a new head coach.

It was a third successive defeat in all competitions under caretakers Rudd, Mark Birch and Jamie Devitt with Carlisle always chasing the game after a terrible start.

Fleetwood scored twice inside the first 19 minutes through Danny Mayor and Ronan Coughlan and although Charlie Wyke’s brace had levelled things by the early stages of the second half, Mayor then struck a winner for the visitors.

Rudd pinpointed the early period in the game as seriously flawed from United’s point of view.

“It would be nice to see us score first, to get the belief, have the momentum. But the goals we've conceded in the three games have been criminal,” the academy manager said.

“We can't concede goals like that. We don't give our lads at the top end of the pitch the chance to go and win us the game, because we seem to always be chasing it.

United conceded an early goal for the latest occasion this season (Image: Ben Holmes)

“It’s not just [down to] the back three or four and Harry [Lewis]. It’s everybody as a collective – the front players not securing the ball for longer, midfield players turning the ball over. We have to be better out of possession.”

• Jon Colman's big match verdict on Carlisle United 2-3 Fleetwood Town

Mayor and Ronan Coughlan took advantage of some alarmingly open United play in the first half.

Rudd said: “We started the game very badly. At times we were wide open, and just didn't do the individual basics well enough in that first 20-25 minute spell.

“The way we want to try and play with the football, we need to make the pitch as big as we can. But we kept turning the ball over and giving it away.

“So then you have got players out of their normal position. For Fleetwood’s second goal, we have possession of the ball under little to no pressure, and managed to give it away.

“So our two centre-halves have split and dropped out, and the lad runs through the middle and scores.

“The goals we've conceded aren't good enough, but us in possession of the football need to be better as well.”

United finally grew into the game late in the first half and after Wyke scored from the penalty spot, the striker levelled early in the first half when he converted a Dylan McGeouch cross.

The Blues, though, could not build further and soon shipped another goal.

Rudd added: “The game was kind of played in three 30-minute [spells].  The first 30 minutes we were miles off and they know that, we know that, that's not acceptable.

“The second 30 minutes of the game, before and after half-time, we were probably on top in that spell. We had a couple more half-chances, one doesn't quite drop to Luke Armstrong, we seemed to have momentum – and then the last half an hour we lacked quality to get back in the game.

Two-goal Charlie Wyke (No10) pulled Carlisle back into the game only for Fleetwood to score again (Image: Ben Holmes)

“We were crossing things into the goalkeeper’s hands, the basics. We have a free-kick in a wide area, we send our centre-halves up and take it short. Little tiny things that we have to be better at.”

Rudd, in United’s poor start to the game, was also critical of the standard of things like recovery runs from players after Carlisle lose possession.

“I would never doubt the lads' commitment because they are hurting, but if we're going to be open and try and keep the football, we have to accept that at times it's going to break down and we're going to make mistakes,” he said.

“I've just been talking to Charlie Adam and he was saying players are at this level because of consistency.

• Carlisle United 2-3 Fleetwood Town - as it happened

“Mistakes are going to happen but if we make a mistake [it then comes down to] your body language, your action, your willingness, your enthusiasm to think, ‘Right, I've made a mistake, let’s put it right, let's get the ball back or prevent the opposition from hurting us’.

“We have to accept mistakes, we have to try and cut them down, make them as minimal as we can so we don't hurt ourselves – but if we do make them, be positive, have a good body language and go and recover from it.”

Rudd said he and his fellow caretakers have planned next week’s training so that United are organised at a time the appointment of a new head coach and sporting director is yet to be confirmed.

Things are believed to be at an advanced stage but it is not yet certain when announcements will be made.

In the meantime Rudd and his colleagues made further alterations to the side on Saturday, dropping midfielders Harrison Neal and Josh Vela amid four changes.

He added: “We spoke in the week and we haven't been winning games now for long enough.

“It’s five [league defeats] from six now this season, and if we carry that back into last season [it’s worse].

“We've just tried to change personnel and also looked a little bit at Fleetwood, their strengths and thought about ways it could try and give us a foothold in the game.”