Carlisle United manager Paul Simpson has hit back at supporters after he and his side received abuse from fans after Saturday’s League One clash with Blackpool.
Blackpool would run out as 3-0 victors and were not really asked to get out of first gear as they cruised to victory over Carlisle.
Despite a sold-out away end, Simpson’s players gave fans very little to shout about and astonishingly failed to register a shot until after the 70th minute. The loss on the road extends Carlisle’s winless run in the league to five matches and the Cumbrian side now sit just two points above the foot of the table.
Frustration was evident amongst fans after the full-time whistle with the club failing to score for the 10th time in the league this season. Boos were heard amongst the travelling fans throughout the game, most notably at full-time, with the only cheers coming after striker Luke Plange who is on-loan from Crystal Palace, was substituted off in the second half.
It was easy to see Simpson’s frustration after the game, but the frustration was very much towards the fans rather than to the players. The manager’s frustration may have also got to him, with him repeating the word w***** multiple times in his interview with BBC Radio Cumbria and the News & Star in relation to fans’ gestures at full-time.
The lack of respect that was shown by fans towards the players was something that Simpson certainly wanted to highlight after the match.
“People might not like this, because supporters think they’re invincible and you can’t say anything against them. Let me tell you, I don’t deserve to get people giving me a w***** sign when I go over there, I don’t appreciate people telling me to f-off when I go and thank the supporters at the end of the game.
“I also don’t think it’s right that they are clapping when we take a young 20-year-old striker off the pitch in Luke Plange.
“If they’re supporters of this football club, like we think they are, I don’t think that’s right. I am really disappointed about that.”
Carlisle have undergone an incredible transformation under Simpson, going from being threatened with relegation to the National League to promotion to League One in the space of 15 months, this is something he wanted fans to remember.
“I think they’ve got a very short memory because when I came back into this club, this club was on its knees.
“They all wanted to turn up and support us when the good times were going, when we had runs of wins, and got into play-off semi-finals and finals, and won at Wembley, and got in League One…they all want to cheer and enjoy that.
“When I came back in February 2022 I talked about us sticking together because we’d have sticky patches. Now we’re having a sticky patch – and suddenly everybody wants to make gestures like that today. I don’t need that in my life, I don’t need that at all.”
“Let me tell you now, if I walked over and did that to them there would be absolute uproar.”
The incident is the first real negative since Simpson re-joined last year, and has put a bit of a cloud over all the recent positivity surrounding the club, performances will need to pick up, or it could begin to get ugly.
Writer’s View
It would be an understatement to say Carlisle are in bad form, with just one point in their last five games, but the fans getting on the backs of the players is the last thing that they need.
Their next six games see them face Northampton, Cheltenham, Fleetwood, Wigan, Port Vale and Exeter in what will be a pivotal part of their season. Simpson’s comments are completely fair and the negativity cannot get to the players or those next six matches, which on paper is their easiest run of fixtures so far this season, could become a whole lot harder.
