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22 October 2008
The hunt for Blue October


Well, incredibly late in the month again, but here is my October issue.

Well, what can I say? I was at Hereford, and the second half was awful. The first half was pretty good, but with nothing to show for it. So, I left Carlisle at 12:30, got back at 02:30 and into bed at 03:00. A long day for a disappointing 1-0 defeat to a team that is languishing in the table. Not good

We seem to be on a downward spiral at the moment, and there are many arms being waved in the air as people run aimlessly back and forth. And that is just the fans! There have been calls for protests from the fans, which is in some way understandable, considering our intermittent form over the last 12 months. However, I believe that any protest should be after the match, not before or during it. We should show our support for Carlisle United during the game. However, I have always said (and I stick to it) that you should give any established and respected manager one full season to prove themselves at a club. Ward came in part way through last season so, no matter how bad things are at the moment, I would want to see him given until the end of this season. We had bad runs last season, and still made the play-offs. At the moment we've got a a lot of players out and the lack of strength in depth has been exposed. Finally, I said several times last season that Westwood was saving us too many times from defensive errors, and with his departure those errors are now resulting in goals.

So, what is the way forward? Buggered if I know.

A bloke next to me on the Paddock this month was again talking about a new Stadium out at Dalston. He "knows someone" in the club and reckoned it was a done deal, with it happening in the next couple of years. As I explained to him, I can't see this happening:

  1. The club wouldn't get enough for the land it owns:
    1. half is on the wrong side of the flood defences
    2. new builds are slow at this Credit Crunch time
  2. It wouldn't cost much to redevelop BP over the next ten years, in comparison to a one-off new build which would be financed (how?) alongside the ongoing costs of keeping up BP.
  3. Why would they be continuing to build at BP if moving:
    1. new disabled area in Paddock
    2. new bar in WRE
    3. new bar in Paddock soon
  4. A big off-pitch investment would alienate fans at mo

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