IF ONLY

Okay, so we haven't exactly set the world alight in our opening few fixtures and we are playing with so much inconsistency that no one, not even the players can truly understand why a solid performance is followed by a shallow display. Obviously, some of the current crop of players aren't good enough and need replaced, but at least they are trying to play some football, albeit with limitations, hopefully, the tide will turn more positively in the coming weeks and we can find it from somewhere to put a run of decent results together to turn the corner and lift us away from the 'drop zone.' Anyone who saw the lads play at Southend will realise that we are NOT that bad a side and had it not been for silly mistakes (which we all know can be costly) then we could and should have left there and other places such as Darlington for instance, with some reward.

It's fairly sad that many have instinctively turned on the manager after such a short time, however, this is a reality in the modern game, no doubt in the coming weeks managers such as Peter Taylor at Leicester, Glenn Roeder at West Ham will all be succinctly dumped because of the crap performances on the pitch. Believe you me, as someone who often HAS to cover Leicester City for the media, their style of football is atrocious, many of the players have no heart or lost commitment to the cause presumably because of poor man-management. Reporting on 90 minutes football with Leicester City is a woeful experience and at the moment they look certainties for relegation. West Ham on the other hand at least (like ourselves) have a bit of fight in them, albeit the overall team quality is dubious, but at least they try.

There is no 'quick fix' solution to team performances which spiral downwards, supporters, with all their aspirations for a Championship or promotion challenging season see their hopes dashed as the inevitable struggle continues to blight their dreams. Apathy sets in, moans and groans are heard from the depleting crowds at home games and the club directors panic as they see a marked loss in revenue. Who gets the blame? The manager, in some cases quite correctly so. Throwing money at the problem definitely doesn't work, unless it is spent wisely and their is a huge mountain of cash available. In our position, there is definitely no easy answer. No high profile replacement will come to the club while it is in its current 'off the pitch' state, so do we risk getting rid of someone who is trying and does have some idea, and bring in someone who may to us, be equally as useless, or do we give the current manager some support and a bit of time and space to prove himself? It's all a matter of opinion, we are though, damning our current incumbent just a little too quickly i think. He took over a struggling and poor (both financially and in football quality) division three side and thats what we still are, but in my opinion he deserves some time to try and sort it out and make put his own stamp on football matters.

The team everyone expected to set the division on fire are without doubt, Rushden & Diamonds, how many millions has Max Griggs thrown into that lot, new stadium and access routes, record breaking transfer fees and look at them, struggling to find a couple of wins and staring a relegation dog fight in the face. Having reported on them a couple of times this season i can tell you they are anything but a good team, possibly the worst of the crop of Conference promoted sides to come into league football for the last decade. Yet they continue to support their team manager, Brian Talbot (he'll probably be sacked now i have said this) and believe in him. So, for all the millions that have been thrown into the managers transfer and players wages kitty, they are not anything to shout about, indeed i do fancy us to take six points of them season. Money doesn't answer everything in life or football, it helps, but its not a total solution for happiness.

One of the football fans greatest weaknesses, me included, is to honestly believe that the team should be playing at a higher level, competing with better opposition. In our case there are many who feel we could and should be emulating the likes of Bolton, even Barnsley and Bradford City, all enjoying a fleeting moment in the Premiership. Perhaps we shouldn't set our goals so high, easier said than done as i still believe we should never have been relegated from the old division one, back in 1975, we were too good and the immortal words 'If Only' slip into my sentences when i refer to the games which we lost to force us (wrongly) to be relegated.

'If Only' also slips into my conversations now, as i refer to our results of the past few seasons, 'If only' is important to us as supporters, incredible as it may sound, some say 'If only' Mick Wadsworth were still here, or Mervyn Day, or Alan Ashman, as we somehow believe that these 'gods' could save us overnight and make us into world (or even division three) beaters. We are of course wrong, albeit publicly we could never admit to that. So what then, do you think the team managers or coaches say when they see statistics proving them to be failing in their role? 'If only' we had put away that chance, 'If only' we had hung on for a few more seconds for that win, 'If only' i could buy that/those player(s). You see, we are all the same, football is a united game where team loyalty is concerned. We are unusual in the fact that we have business managers who don't give a toss about the team or us (other than for the quick financial rewards they can make), but most chairmen etc actually do. Grammatically, the difference there is that the board of directors more often than not use the term 'What if'! 'What if' we bring in such and such manager? etc etc.

I guess we have no control over our future where the football club is concerned, talk, as has been proven, is extremely cheap where Carlisle United is concerned, we are currently seen as punters and as agitators if we dare voice our opinion. However, all we can do is continue to voice our concern, we either back the manager and give him some time, or, run the risk of having him sacked or walk out in the vain hope that a better quality guy will come in and save us. It's all a matter of 'What if,' and 'If only,' i am afraid. Lets just hope Roddy Collins can (and does get the time to) prove himself and that the consistent quality we so desire arrives soon, i think we are now all getting sick of saying 'IF ONLY.'

Come on ye Blues.

Paul Harrison

Email Paul @ Harrsport@aol.com