TOPIC: Any Curle doubters left?

What he has done in two years is nothing short of miraculous.

Any left out there who are not convinced (apart from ccu )?

CCU..

He took over a squad that was so unbelievably bad and we were pretty much nailed on to go down if things didn't change. Now we're in October, still unbeaten including games ogainst Plymouth, Doncaster and Portsmouth. He (and his staff) have identified the likes of Adams, Jones and Miller as genuine targets and got them up here.

I just can't imagine many league 1 or 2 managers, who if had taken us over when Curle did, having us where we are today,

There will be doubters waiting for a slip so they can mouth off on here.
Curle is doing a fantastic job and I'm sure will continue. Let's not forget the staff around him too.

No. He is doing an excellent job.
First season, we narrowly avoided relegation.
Second season, flirted with play-offs but finished mid-table.
This season we are looking like being in the top few competing for promotion.
The progress is there.
We did to Morecambe yesterday what teams did to us under previous regimes.
It is a fans forum though, so it's about people giving their opinion about things. There have been some ups and downs over the last two years so it's not that weird that some have criticised at times.
Most managers careers end in failure, so those that criticise will be proved right 90% of the time.
I was underwhelmed by the choice to appoint him, when I looked at his previous record, but it is plain to see what a good job he is doing.

Man's doing a great job makes mistakes but it just shows he's human. Good to have a proper manager it's been a while.

pacirv wrote:


Ere ere........compared to the last 2 managers, Curle has got my backing since his appointment.

Itis now important to get more supporters to matches to help the manager staff and players.They are all giving their best and deserve better support.

I'm sure he'd be the first to say that the backroom team of Colin West, Lee Dykes, Simon Tracey, Lee Fearn et.al. have fully played their part too.

To some he will never be as good as McDonald would have been.

Dykes will have been on a scouting mission yesterday, Anyone we could nab next season

Northampton's squad must be amazing if Adams is surplus to requirements, I would start by gan down Sixfields more often

shaldon1 wrote:

Yes, couldn't agree more. It's going to be hard for Curle to understand why the crowds aren't flocking in through the turnstiles.

We underestimated the negative effect the childish, silly and arrogant attitude some of the Club leaders has had on crowd numbers.

I feel a bit sorry for Curle, your right his does deserve better....

munchymagic wrote:
His own choice to leave

182blue wrote:
Great comment and totally agree. The anti-Curle mob will just be biding their time and waiting for the fall before saying I told you so.

franksidebottom wrote:
They will and their thoughts will become irrational. I suffered the same when Simmo was manager. I was a fan as a player but i honestly never took to him as manager at all. I still say he was bloody lucky Bridges became available or hed have been found out a lot earlier. Im sure most thought i was talking bollocks but i firmly believed he was not a good manager.

Dancingbear wrote:
He did a good job as our manager. I thought you were talking bollocks.

Simmo was good for us because he was a local lad i guess......and i was gutted when Kavanagh got the job when he was in the running for a return.

i think the Preston job was different class from being a league 2, championship manager. he may have a played at the top level but he was not ready to manage at that level. when he did drop down to league 2 again he never succeeded at gaining promotion for Shrewsbury, even with Grant Holt banging in the goals. Still feel he could do a job other than being as assistant.

Dancingbear wrote:
You're being very harsh on Simmo. He was definitely a good manager for us although he hadn't done much before or since to be fair although he was the first manager to get Preston in the play-offs for yonks.

He put together a decent side when he was here with young players like Westwood, Livesey, Hackney and Hawley. Those combined with players nodody else really wanted like Kevin Gray, Tom Cowan, Derek Holmes, Andy Preece and Chris Lumsdon made a team that got us out of the Conference the first time of asking and then walked Division Two.

Getting Michael Bridges was definitely the icing on the cake. Still not sure how he ended up at BP!

Mmmm all very interesting, there is no doubt he's won me over (to a certain extent), we seem to have a strong, compact side with a blend of youngsters and seasoned old pros. We seem to have a certain strength in depth, and a few players which are good enough and are itching to be in the starting eleven. And certainly the difference between now and when he first took over are light years apart, there is no doubt he should take all the plaudits he richly deserves....however.... Just before I get too carried away, one thing that really did irritate me was his constant chopping and changing!! (any coincidence that he's more or less left it alone over the last few weeks?) Remember he took our best and most improved player out of the starting line up at Blackpool a couple of weeks back and we nearly paid the price for it, and how many times this season have we had to revert to plan 'B' when plan 'A' wasn't working, or should that have been plan 'B' first anyway? I suppose you could say that is a sign of a good manager when he sees the problems and rectifies them. Also we do seem to have secured some financial clout this season in the signings of Brisley, Adams, Miller, Devitt, Lambe etc , which has improved the team no end, and he needs to be applauded to attract those kind of players anyway .
I'm not going to get too carried away yet, but he's certainly started to win me over, long may it continue and the more he proves me wrong the better.
Up The Blues.

bluebry wrote:
TBF Bry we were 2-0 uout Joyce. Crapping his pants when they scored and bringing another centre half on was his undoing for me. CCU went from singing Keith Curles blues and white army to almost spontaneously combusting in 5 minutes!!!

I have no problem admitting I was a doubter after the first season. I thought he was actually pretty poor the first year.... with the budget he had we should have been away from the bottom much sooner than we were.... the football was the worst I've ever seen from a Carlisle team... yes, ever! His man management was total garbage... there was no need to split the squad the way he did.... players like Dicker and Paynter, whilst not his cup of tea longer term, could still have helped get us clear of trouble in the short term. The tactics he employed were absolutely dire and it was a chore to watch the team....

... but credit where credit is due, he has learnt from those earlier issues and now seems a much more balanced manager. Last season was a move forward in terms of the style of football and crucially the way he managed his playing squad. I was convinced he was doing a decent enough job about half way through last season. At times his tactics still had me pulling my hair out, the constant messing about with starting line-ups and formations did my head in and he talked a load of balls on the radio after games.... but you could see the signs of the team building. In terms of squad budget we probably still under performed compared to other teams in the league, but thinking about the previous season you have to give Curle credit. The big issue for me was that we had a hard working team buit totally lacked any pace or creativity.... this was addressed in the summer transfer window.

This season has been a different story.... the new players have all added to and improved the squad, which is an unusual thing. Defensively I am still not convinced but the midfield are now protecting the back four much better than they were last season, which is reducing our goals against rate. The team now has its own style of play and a plan B for when that is not working and crucially they now have flair and creativity. Curle still bemuses me at times with his selections and tactics... but less so than before... the thing I hate is the tactic of dropping back and trying to defend a lead instead of keeping playing the way we were.... we have lost a few points doing that this season. All in all it would be very difficult for anyone not to think Curle is doing a good job so far this season... but you'd have to say that our budget must be in the top 5 in this league this season, given the players that we signed, so we absolutely should be up there. Play -offs is a minimum target for this season but if he gets us promoted then he will have overachieved. He still comes across as a jibbering idiot on the radio but I'm pleased he is at the club and we should be doing all we can to keep him as long as possible.... I do think he will be off like a shot the first decent offer that comes in though so we shouldn't get too comfortable.

nobbyblue wrote:
I'm wiv da bear on this one, mainly I remember that run of form in the conference from mid december to the end of february (so it CARNT all be blamed on the floods) when we didn't win a match and simpson was in the paper basically blaming it on the team... paraphrased it was roughly "they're doing it on the training ground, i can't control what happens in the 90 minutes"... well that's a shit excuse from a manager for a start. He trotted it out at preston later and we heard it from ward and abbott and kavanagh in the following years.

orfc wrote:
Aye. Two promotions in a row (and a cup final) were just papering over the cracks eh?

Northumbrian wrote:
Would Portsmouth Plymouth Doncaster Orient Luton have bigger budgets? Followed maybe by us Blackpool Colchester Notts County in no particular order.

Northumbrian wrote:
I disagree with some of that. What he did when he first arrived, which was take over a failing club certain to fall out of the league again, to get it safe by Easter Sunday, was astonishing. I thought the way he handled wasters like Marrow, Paynter and Dicker was brilliant. He used them when he absolutely had to, but basically saw right through them.
As for the standard of football - you're lucky Northumbrian! I wish I could could forget Abbott's first and last seasons, everything Kav ever did, Ward's 12 game run, and Wilkinson, McCafferty, Atkins, Gregg, Roddy, et al. Atkins did a decent job - but it wasn't pretty. As far as I'm concerned, even if we go up this year, it won't be as great a feat as keeping us up that first year. The mess he inherited from 3 consecutive clowns was astonishing, yet he turned it around with a bit to spare.

I'm not getting carried away though - remember going top of the league in 1990 (then losing 6 in a row!), winning 3-0 on the PNE plastic, Glennon's heroics at Filed Mill, going 2-0 against Charlton in 86, winning a play off game at Elland Road, leading at Wycombe in 2012 with not long left....all seasons that ended in heartbreak. Long way to go, but some encouraging signs.

deeksme wrote:
People also forget we were spawny as [censored] to beat aldershot on penalties in the playoff semi's...

I can't see how Simpson's reign in charge can be seen as anything other than a success. Like Curle, he took over with the club and team in an absolute mess, by Christmas we only had 5 points after 21 games, 1 win in nearly half the season! Yet he nearly kept us up, remarkable we were anywhere near really. He got us back up at the first time of asking ( be interesting to know how many teams have done that ) even in a season interrupted by the floods. We then won league two playing entertaining football, we seemed to be hammering teams every week. Although it wasn't confirmed until the last day I always felt we were pretty comfortable that season. That team got us promoted that season, Bridges won us the league. Two promotions in less than three seasons is successful in anyone's book.

People are confusing simpson's reign as manager with fred story's reign as chairman. Every season under fred we finished higher than the previous season. BIGBLUE would agree (not).

Dancingbear wrote: I'd say the first three you mention probably yes... not so sure about the rest being higher probably all fairly similar. All just guess work obviously.... but the points is the same... our budget should get us to the play-offs as par for the course.... top 3 would be an over-achievement.

We have a smaller squad than last season but, players on a better wage i would think. But having a smaller squad it leaves space for to 4 more players if we need them. I think you will see Curle keep this squad for as long as he can unless forced to - injury or player sold or a player they cant refuse to sign. He is doing a great job and that's how he is managing it. I am quietly impressed.
Don't expect changes in player aquisition until he is forced to or a player he really wants becomes available.

By that time we may be being invested in by our overseas friend also!!

deeksme wrote: It's all a matter of opinion Deeks... my view is that his treatment caused big problems building a team spirit.... it wasn't just the three you mention who had the hump with Curle that season... because of the way he treated the players several first team players thought he was a bloody idiot... that can't have been much help in a relegation battle. The style of football he played was way worse than the ones you mentioned... just hoofing the ball into orbit at every opportunity.... it was even worse than the late eighties in my view. Luckily it has improved.... and at least he has now given up on the ludicrous corner tactics he employed that season Yes we had a bad squad when he took over but not as awful as some make out... it was better than several other clubs near the bottom and we had a way bigger budget than them to buy our way out of trouble. Kennedy was certainly a big help when he came in. The monkey hangers were in more trouble than us, with a poorer squad than us and they got out of trouble.... that was a real achievement.

Anyway that is the past...as I said he is doing a fine job now and seems to have learnt from the mistakes he made early on at Carlisle. The team are playing well and it's a pleasure to watch them this year. I for one am happy to be proved wrong about Curle if he gets us up this year.

When Curle took over we were 92nd in the league with 4 wins in 32 league games going back 9 months. We didn't have a right back, and the spine of the team was CMW-Marrow-Paynter. We were right in it, and I don't remember Hartlepool being below us! He then won 5 in 8 and got the best out of a teenager who played wonderful football that season. I don't blame you for blanking out 86-88, 91-93, and 99-03, I wish I could too!

Anyone who thinks we were lucky to win our conference play-off semi can't have been at the 2nd leg, where the ref bottled sending off 2 Aldershot players for attacking 2 Carlisle players. Bunch of thugs them like.

Not sure you can count Marrow as ever having been the spine of the team. He played 4 games for us.

Curle was appointed manager in September. That was more than enough time for any reasonable manager to avoid relegation that year. If he'd got us playing some decent stuff and safe with 10 games to spare he would get praise from all corners. But he didn't, so for that season he doesn't get a huge amount of praise from me.

He can have all of the praise in the world for what has happened so far this season though, he's got a very good football team at this level together.

deeksme wrote:
TBF i was at the first leg (id guess you were as well) and we were lucky not to get thumped by 4 or 5 goals. Thats prob what ORFC is referring to.

deeksme wrote: Yes we didn't have a great squad but it was one of the most expensive in the league, when you compared it at the time player for player there were teams worse than us... it was just that we had a god awful manager before KC... the reality is one of the players you quoted that KC sidelined went on to Captain his team and score 16 league goals the very next season. Had he been able to get that potential out of that one forward then we would have been safe several weeks before the end of the season. Instead he made him train with the kids as the player in question once turned him down over a transfer. He also had budget to bring players of the calibre of Kennedy into the club, which other teams at the bottom didn't. We will have to agree to disagree on this one... I personally think the squad was better than several teams around us at the time, even though Kav had failed miserably to get results early on.... obviously you disagree.

I was there for every home game in the years that you mention and we were a terrible team but never did we set out to play the long ball dump of a game plan that we employed in KC first season. There is a difference between being just crap and setting out a team to deliberately play crap tactics. Again you can disagree but it was like watching pub footballers on a sunday at times.

As mentioned before though KC clearly learnt from his man management mistakes and is less confrontational with his players, as can be seen with McQueen. He now has his own players in and the style of football is pretty good. I am more than happy with where we are currently.

Nice to see some doubters eating humble pie even though they try to justify being a doubter it don't wash.
Keep it up Keith lad

huddersfieldcock wrote:
By name by nature eh?

huddersfieldcock wrote: What's the view like from the summit of mount awesome champ?

No justifying needed... just an honest view from one fan. You should try expressing a view yourself at some point on this message board, as far as I can see you basically just contribute snidey little comments about other peoples opinions.

Clarifications:

Yes we were rubbish in the play off first leg at Aldershot; however we would have gone through but for an injury time goal for them at BP. 2 closely matched sides.

Billy Paynter has never scored 16 league goals in a season for Hartlepool. He's only managed that many once in his career, for Swindon, 6 years ago.

The cost of a squad doesn't matter - if it's put together by an idiot!

Deeksme, are you mixing Aldershot and Leeds up?

No.

deeksme wrote: According to Soccerbase Billy Paynter has scored 16 league goals for Hartlepool in 37 starts plus 5 sub appearances... you are probably right as some of those could be this season... but the point still remains 16 goals in 37 league starts shows he had the potential to contribute to our team back then, if managed correctly. I'm no Billy Paynter lover, he looked overweight and off form.... however, his issue with Curle was a historical one... nothing to do with the playing side. Curle should have tried to get more out of Dicker and him that season, even if he intended to get shot of them in the summer. I know you hate Paynter with a passion Deeks... but the fact that his very next manager thought him fit to be club captain and he has scored at a good rate at this level kind of proves he had more to offer than we got out of him that season.

Anyway it's all water under the bridge now and it looks like KC has now taken a more pragmatic approach given the evidence of McQueen.

Don't think there are any doubters left are there? He has been handed a good budget and he has spent it well, credit to all involved

I can't imagine how big KC's head is going to be after reading this thread, as if it isn't big enough already. (I'm not and never have been a doubter BTW).

As for the first seasons under Simmo and Curle having taken up such a mess is there a common denominator in regards to stewardship of the club at the respective times?