Despite a 3-0 defeat at Harrogate to make it just one win and four defeats in the last six games, Carlisle United fans are firmly behind any decision which will keep manager Paul Simpson at the club.
The belief he brought to the role, and the initial run of success, has convinced supporters he’s the man to lead the Blues in 2022/23.
But Simpson is still in the dark, although he expects to have more discussions with the board this week after making a number of suggestions.
He told the club website: “I really don’t know whether anything is going to happen. Hopefully things will become a little bit clearer with the suggestions I’m making.
“That’s without even going into the playing squad. As I’ve said quite a few times, this club needs a bit of an overhaul.
“It’s not something that’s going to happen overnight, it’s something people will have to be patient with and people are going to have to take a bit of pain at some point as well.
“But if we want to be pushing as a football club at the top end of League Two, and also having aspirations to go into League One, there needs to be an overhaul and a proper plan put in place to take it forward.
“We’ll have discussions again this week and we’ll see where we go from there. At the moment I think it’s too early to say anything.
“I’ve given them information on how I’d like it to be done. They’re going away and having a think about it and trying to decide what to do.
“We’re not going to put the football club in a situation that takes them under, but we’ve all got to be right that I’m right for the football club with how I want to do it, and they’re prepared to do it that way.
“If they decide it’s not, so be it. As it stands, we are still going to speak again next week, which tells me that it’s not finished, and if we can come to an agreement then we will.
“I’m planning that I’m going to be here because that’s out of respect to the club. We’ve got confirmation this week I think on five pre-season games.
“I’m doing everything right in the hope we can come to an agreement. And there are still a lot of conversations that need to go on.
“I’ve said that I want to be here, and I think the commitment from them is there as well, they would like me to stay, but it has to be right for both parties.
“We’ve got to accept this club needs a change, a change around. I’m quite fortunate that I’ve got a few years of experience which shows in the bags under my eyes and the grey hair.
“But I have an idea about how we can restructure it. It’s just whether or not we can actually afford to restructure it and do it differently. If we carry on doing it the same way we’re going to get the same results and we can’t afford to do that.
“This football club can’t afford to be scrapping around. The directors certainly don’t want to be getting flak from supporters who are wanting to see change. Nobody wants it.
“I don’t want to walk off a pitch and hear the things that are being said as they were at Harrogate, and they were saying them rightly so as well, because it isn’t good enough.
“I want it to be better, I want us to improve as a football club. Hopefully I’m wanting that as the manager, but if not, I still want it to improve as a supporter. So, let’s see what comes.”
