MOVING ON
Manager Keith Curle on why it’s the right time to leave Carlisle United
KEITH Curle says he will leave Carlisle United with his ‘head held high’ when he bows out as manager after next Saturday’s game against Newport at Brunton Park.
On Thursday, the club announced that the former Manchester City and Wolves defender had decided to move way – they were bottom of on at the end of the season, League Two and winless having though he will still assist the
been relegated from League club with their retained list for
One the previous season. next term.
It brings Curle’s three-and-ahalf He then led them to finishes year spell in charge of the of 20th, tenth and sixth in the Cumbrians to an end. It says a following seasons. Following lot for the quickfire nature of that sixth place finish last term, football management these Carlisle suffered play-off semifinal days that his time in charge has agony when Exeter struck put him in 12th place in the list deep in injury-time to seal an of longest-serving managers in astonishing 6-5 aggregate success. the top four divisions of English football. The Cumbrians were tenth in
And while he’s sad to depart, the table heading into this the former England international weekend. believes it’s the right The 54-year-old said: “Sometimes time for both him and the club when you go into a club to go their separate ways. you find out there are more
He arrived in September 2014 things wrong than just results. with the Cumbrians in a bad The key was to change the mindset, change the thought process. We put in place foundations to build from.
“We have over-achieved in the time I’ve been here and this year we have massively overachieved even though we haven’t been able to make the play-offs.
Resources
“Injuries to key personnel hit us hard and we can’t match the resources of a lot of other clubs.
“I’ll leave with my head held high and my reputation intact. I’m very proud of the work that’s been done by myself, my staff and the people at the football club.
“(Because of its location), managing Carlisle can have a knock-on effect on your lifestyle and family. I think the time is right for someone else to take the reins.”
But the former Mansfield, Chester, Torquay and Notts County boss will be keen to get back into management quickly after he finishes off at Carlisle.
“I’m a football person that has got ambition and strives to improve,” he said. “I’m not going to beg for a job or apply for jobs that I don’t think suit me. However, the focus is on finishing the season in the right way first. I haven’t changed – if there are rollickings to be handed out, I’ll still do it and the players would expect that.”