Carlisle United’s 3-0 home loss was their 1,500th as Football League club

A view of Brunton Park from the Warwick Road side. The gate into the ground can be seen emblazoned with the words "Welcome to Brunton Park". Cars can be seen parked in the adjacent car park — Brunton Park, home of Carlisle United

Carlisle United’s 3-0 home loss to Swindon Town on Saturday was their 1,500^th as a Football League club.

If there are many more in the next two months they will stop counting.

For the Blues are in serious trouble, deep in the relegation mire with 15 games left and with confidence at an all-time low.

To cap it all there was the distraction of two senior players being caught up in a city-centre disturbance only a few hours after the dismal show against Swindon.

While the country watches and wonders with Boris over Partygate, manager Keith Millen has his own Botchergate to get through.

Putting it right on Saturday at Leyton Orient is next on the agenda for Millen and his men with the manager again insisting the team has to get back to a clean sheet mentality.

In a dismal season, perhaps the 1,500^th league defeat is not a significant milestone, but it could be a significant one for Millen and football director David Holdsworth.

For after the 3-0 defeat by the Robins, there seemed to be a distinct change in attitude from the suffering Brunton Park faithful whose patience with the new manager appears to have run its course.

Judging by the aftermatch phone-in to BBC Radio Cumbria the vast majority of fans want another change in the managerial hot seat – and also further up the chain of command.

The problem is, with so little time left, any new appointment would have to work with the current squad with no transfer window available. It’s a team that has been blasted as the worst the club has had for years.

If that’s the case, a fierce motivator to put fire into bellies, more than a shrewd tactician might be more appropriate. The need to instil a desire to win balls all across the football pitch, get on the end of crosses in both boxes and show more determination than the opposition would be a starting point.

Apart from the one season under Paul Simpson (2004-05) when they bounced straight back from the National Conference, their Football League membership stretches all the way back to 1928.

They were elected to the Third Division North 94 years ago and everyone knows if they lose their status again it will be so very hard to come back from a much stronger National League.