Bloody hell people give all the lads a chance. There have only been 3 players who have started all 6 games so far, Keen Whitehead, and Andrews. We have a new strike force who are going to take time to gel together Molloy and Wake making there league debuts this season Foran can't do it all himself I think the main problem for him this season is so much is expected of him this season as he is the only striker with any league experience and I think it might be too much pressure on him, whoever he is partnered with they have to get used to each other. The midfield have hardly played together cos it changes so bloody much, through no fault of Collins, McGill and Summerbell have only just joined us, not too far behind then are Baldacchino and Burns, Galloway hasn't played properly in over a year. McDonagh and Jack are the not most experienced of players are they, so give them a break, not everyone is gonna be instantly good or fantastic. Defence well Maddison hasn't played for a year, even though he has made a cracking start the poor lad is now injured, so that means another change, Peter Murphy doesn't know whether he should be defending or in midfield, same goes for Birch. Whitehead and Andrews are playing very well but again they can't do it all on there own, and Shelley has only just joined so give him a chance to settle in, he hasn't played that bad so far this season. And as for Darren Kelly, again so much is expected of him, he's never played in the league, he has hardly played next too Whitehead or Andrews. He again will get better as the season goes on. And as for Keen he has been solid so far this season, made some good saves and made some excellent saves, but again he can't defend for the whole team. All in all give the lads a chance, its only been SIX GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are expecting too much too soon from a very young and inexperienced side, if we keeping getting on the players backs coming on here slagging them off its not going to be long before the crowd start getting on their backs and they are going to lose confidence, we should be getting behind the lads cheering them on, not having a go at them at such an early stage of the season, if these performances were at the end of the season then we have every right to moan, but for gods sake its only just started and like its being pointed out some of them probably can only just remember other players names cos they have just met each other. It will get better, we just have to give them time, and give them our support. So quit the bloody moaning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mark Mandale
The body language of the Carlisle fans told it all as they trudged out of Brunton Park in a silent, despondent convoy of depression, following a performance which could only be charitably described as inept. One could point partially to the impact of suspensions and injuries to five key players, as the root cause of this debacle, but you couldn’t help feeling for the fans who had paid good money, only to be cheated of anything remotely approaching entertainment value. This deplorable showing was probably enough to close the door on the honeymoon period for Carlisle’s new ownership. The boos that accompanied the players exit, following the final whistle, will be a harsh reminder that the results and the quality of performance are everything to the paying punters. Manager Roddy Colins remained upbeat and assured the fans that he will get it right with time. He said after the game: “I saw the game as everyone else in the stadium. We were awful. We conceded the first goal, which I thought was a very sloppy defensive error, and then conceded the second which killed us off completely. I didn’t see any way back after that. “I don’t complain or cry before games but facts are facts. When you’ve three senior players suspended and two injured it doesn’t help when you’re still building the squad. Ideally we would like two more senior players to add to the squad. I just hope that the players that are making their way at this stage don’t get too disheartened. “We have players who have just come in who need to get match fit. That will all come and as a manager you’ve to just stick to you guns but I’m confident in what I’m doing. I know when the end of the season comes the supporters will see it different.” Things might have turned out differently had Will McDonagh’s 4th minute effort found the net but Kevin Miller in the Exeter goal pulled off a stunning save. Exeter’s overly physical approach to the game resulted in four of their players being booked in the first 24 minutes with ex Sunderland star Don Goodman lucky to stay on the pitch after he appeared to elbow Peter Murphy. Carlisle’s best chance of the game came on 37 minutes when a neat turn by Brian Wake gave him the space only for the ex Tow Law striker to drag his shot wide with only Miller to beat As if to rub salt in the wounds it was Goodman who popped up in the 42nd minute to put the Grecians ahead, when he stole a yard on Stuart Whitehead to head home Andy Roscoe’s near post corner. With Carlisle still reeling from this body blow they conceded a second three minutes later. Brazilean defender Santos Gaia ghosted into the box unmarked to get on the end of a Glen Cronin cross to power his shot home from 15 yards. The second half became a non-event as Exeter were content to keep possession and knock the ball around in a patronising manner with the Carlisle players at a loss to make any impact. Rosco went close to adding to the lead with a left foot strike buried into the top of the side netting and Keen then made saves from Cronin and Cleveland Taylor. The relief of the final whistle eventually came to draw to a close a game that all but the Exeter contingent will want to forget.
Epic journey tests Exeter diehards By Tony Francis (Filed: 02/09/2002) Dave Bennett went as white as a pillow when he saw the date. Dental appointments he could handle. Wedding anniversaries didn't faze him. Saturday, August 31 however would stretch the chairman of Exeter City Supporters Club to breaking point. The away fixture from hell - Carlisle - clashed with his busiest weekend at the petrol station. Over at St James' Park (the other one!) Exeter's fledgling chairman, John Russell was trying to coax a friendly response out of his pocket calculator. Instead of 12 hours on the road and an overnight at Penrith, wouldn't it be more sensible to fly? He couldn't make the figures stack up. Bloody calculator! Just below the Scottish border, Derek Lacey was having a lie-in. For once he didn't have to go anywhere. The veteran BBC Radio Cumbria commentator drives 26,000 miles a season covering Carlisle's away games. "Many's the time I've sat with a cup of tea at a motorway services around midnight wondering why I'm doing this. Then I remember - I love this club." He must do. Carlisle repaid him with three victories in 69 outings and suffered a 2-0 loss on Saturday. The club's travelling expenses would guarantee a headshake from accountants under normal circumstances. When you're still technically in administration and kept afloat by a PFA loan, £40,000 is a huge debt. After two showings of Pearl Harbor on the in-transit video, Exeter's chairman gazed out of the coach window and wondered how his co-chairman was getting on. Uri Geller could not make the trip to Carlisle. He was busy extricating himself from an Australian rain forest and sent his apologies. Come to think, a 700-mile round trip to the furthest-flung outpost of English football had the pseudo-survival feel of a reality television show itself. He half-expected Ant and Dec to intercept the charabanc at West Bromwich and confront the players with mind-expanding tasks like sweeping the north-bound carriageway of the M5 on stilts before resuming their epic adventure by narrow boat. Fortunately for Exeter City, they weren't famous enough. The producers of I used to be a celebrity, thank God they invited me here were only interested in Mr Geller. Rumour has it the old spoon-bender was at the head of the queue - anything to avoid Carlisle. My problem was different. I actually wanted an excuse to go North. While the rest of the nation was preoccupied with transfer deadlines and Sven's bold plan to give youth its head by playing Brooklyn alongside his dad for England against Portugal, I wanted to stand on the Lakeland fells and feel the flinty edge of football. Cumbria, where Barrow and Workington slipped off the Football League grid decades ago and Newcastle is a world away across the thinnest part of England. Besides, I had work to do. I'd found my excuse on the Carlisle United website: "Urgently wanted - volunteers to sell match programmes". I sent in my CV, breezed through the interview and was awarded a prime pitch outside Gate C of the old stand. "Good job you weren't here last season," quipped one of my first customers. "No bugger was buying 'em." How right he was. The club shop was boarded up and the commercial department closed down as Michael ********'s erratic love affair with Carlisle erupted in vitriol. Things are easier now. Although "The Blues" have yet to win at home this season, crowds have doubled from 2,500 and I sold two-dozen programmes in no time. I almost sold one to the former England international Ivor Broadis, but he displayed a surprising turn of speed for an old 'un, skipping up the stairs before I could snare him. As player-manager at Brunton Park, Ivor apparently made history by becoming the only footballer to transfer himself - to Sunderland in 1949. The little stadium reeks of folklore. From Broadis to Bill Shankly to Stan Bowles to Chris Balderstone, England's last true footballing cricketer. His left foot peeled open First Division defences in the mid-Seventies when Carlisle enjoyed five minutes in Paradise. Then there's Derek Lacey. He once got so carried away describing a Carlisle goal at Luton that he knocked his bag of toffees all over the commentary box floor. While retrieving them, Derek failed to see that the goal was disallowed and inadvertently misled his listeners for the rest of the afternoon. Most bizarre of all is Stephen Brown, a chancer who booked his place in the Carlisle Hall of Fame by hoodwinking the Prince of Hype, ********. Brown was introduced by the outgoing ******** as a millionaire property magnate who would save the club from ruin. Journalists caught the sniff of a rodent when the new Messiah turned up for the press conference in a clapped-out Vauxhall Cavalier. He dodged most of the questions before vanishing in a cloud of blue exhaust fumes. Brown was eventually traced to sheltered accommodation in Peebles where his favourite pastime was posing as a professional darts player and challenging the local pub talent to big money matches. He specialised in slipping out of the back door moments before his inevitable trouncing. The charismatic Mr Brown was last spotted driving a bus at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, no doubt claiming to be a javelin thrower from Tonga. The future of two debt-ridden clubs is extremely uncertain. Will Carlisle's Irish owner, John Courtenay, lose heart if the Conference finally claims them at the fourth time of trying? Will Don Goodman shed his paunch in time to inspire Exeter? Will Geller survive the funnel-web spider? Will they ever bring back the Third Divisions North and South? The victory sweetened the return journey as darkness fell over Staffordshire. Only 200 miles to go. In the end, Bennett hadn't made it but a handful of Exeter fans sang themselves to sleep in the coach he laid on. They'll be back any time now.
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