Following a season-so-far ridden with fan frustration and below-par performances, Carlisle United’s patience today ran out as they pulled the plug on manager Steven Pressley.

Three months into 2018-19, United sit in 19th place, five points off the bottom of League Two. They suffered defeat to bottom side Morecambe in the EFL Trophy last night, signalling the end of the road in the Border City for the former Heart of Midlothian captain.

Appointed until the end of the last campaign in January, Pressley never really clicked with the Cumbrians as they dropped from 3rd to 11th place during the second half of the last term, despite a scattering of shining displays.

Handed a one-year contract on Easter Sunday, the Scottish boss was given the reigns over summer to build a team equipped to play his high-octane football, while also being the ‘fittest team in the division.’

Suffice to say, it didn’t work as well as Pressley, and supporters had hoped as he departs Brunton Park just weeks after his claim of ‘amazing’ support from the board.

Where did it all go wrong, then? Let’s take a look.

False Nine flummox
A lack of strikers when the new manager arrived lead to star man Jamie Devitt being deployed as a False Nine striker in Pressley’s preferred 4-3-3. It prompted bemusement and anger from the fan base, as the Irish playmaker was visibly hindered by the role and ultimately left the club in June for Blackpool, rejecting a new, shorter contract. More on that later.

The lack of a focal point limited the team as Hallam Hope was relied on for goals on the left-wing and Nathan Thomas – a favourite of the former manager – faded in and out of games and therefore didn’t contribute as much as required.

Key figures like Anthony Gerrard, Danny Grainger, and Gary Liddle also left for pastures new, as the squad had a huge renovation. Assistants Tommy Wright and Paul Murray followed out of the door, as local lad Gavin Skelton was brought in.

Holdsworth’s handlings
From the day Director of Football David Holdsworth spoke the words ‘the days of two and three-year contracts at this club are over,’ tremours were sent across the fan base.

Recruiting as one of the main pack without financial freedom is hard enough but the Blues were left picking second or even third-best players to bolster their squad with only one-year deals with a ‘review’ on the table. A relatively modest budget is okay to build on; not for attracting players and even staff to long-term projects.

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Notable incomings were Jack Bridge, released by Northampton, Harry McKirdy, who failed to convince Newport County of his talent, and Olufela Olomola, on loan from currently 21st-placed Scunthorpe.

Although stalwarts like Adam Collin, Mike Jones and Stefan Scougall re-signed, their experience could only stretch so far and Kelvin Etuhu’s injury still leaves a void in midfield.

Mohamed Sagaf, released from National League South in summer has helped fill it, and Byron Webster seemed like the man to lead the side in pre-season, now a far cry from his current struggles.

Leaky at one end, not flowing at the other
Just a few weeks ago, D3D4 unearthed a damming statistic via InStat about Carlisle’s woes. They had created the second-least chances per 90 minutes in League Two, despite Pressley cramming his team with creative players such as Bridge, McKirdy Scougall and Thomas.

Morecambe are unsurprisingly bottom – only just – but United fans have also only got to look at the goals against column of the league table now and see they are on par with their northernmost counterparts, with a whopping 29 conceded.

Damning days at Swindon, Bradford and at home to Crewe Alexandra saw the goals leak from various outlets including set-pieces. The only real solid showings where United came out on top were in a tremendous 0-3 win at Barnsley in the Carabao Cup and gritty league victories at Scunthorpe, and when they welcomed Oldham.

A large factor in the Cumbrians shipping so many goals has been the entire new-look backline where the likes of Nathaniel Knight-Percival and Webster have failed to recapture earlier career form, despite now plying their trade at a lower level.

Himself a former warrior-like defender, Pressley had switched his defence around more times than the club have pushed back the completion date of the vulnerable Paddock roof inside Brunton Park.

At least supporters flocking away from the cordoned-off area have found stability, standing in new places to see the same frustrations arise.

Part of the 32-time Scottish international’s lacklustre legacy will be 17-year-old defender Jarrad Branthwaite, who looked more like Franz Beckenbauer on the Lancashire coast last night.

The homegrown colossus has done well since making the first of his six consecutive starts and at Morecambe, he gave the Blues the lead through a superb solo goal from his own half for his manager’s final goal.

Although on the pitch things went wrong, Pressley’s passionate persona and commitment to the job is something supporters admired from his arrival.

He’ll now no longer spend six-days-a-week away from his family as he leaves his fifth post.

In a statement made this morning, chairman Andrew Jenkins said: “Steven has given his all and has worked tirelessly since the day he joined us.

“We understand the challenges and have supported him throughout, but we haven’t seen the evidence of progress we expected or needed to see.

“This is not something we can allow to continue, so sadly it is time to change, move on and look forward.

“I want to say a personal thank you to Steven, he has been a pleasure to work with and this has not been an easy decision for us to make.”

Who do you think should take over at Brunton Park? Let us know.

words Nathan Ridley, D3D4 Carlisle United correspondent