Carlisle United manager Roddy Collins has hailed as unacceptable his side’s poor start to the season, which has seen them lose their opening four league matches, but refused to blame his players, instead hinting that he was looking at his own role in the disappointing start to the campaign.
United went down 1-0 to Boston United on Monday and, to add to their woes, had striker Lee Maddison sent-off.
They are now rooted to the bottom of the Third Division, and already the Cumbrians are hot favourites to be relegated from the Nationwide League.
Collins admits that he has no explanation for such a dismal run, but he stresses that it is no fault of the players, who he believes are putting in a tremendous effort.
"I’ve had a chat with the lads and there is no point in blaming any of them. None of it is their fault," he stressed. “I’m looking at my situation, at the way I’m doing what I’m doing, and I can’t for the life of me understand why it’s not working.
"It’s a massive week for me and it’s a massive week for the players, and it’s a massive week for the club. I am feeling every emotion there is as we go through this one but one I don’t feel is defeat," he added, cryptically.
The Blues face Cambridge United at Brunton Park at the weekend and Collins has decided to give his players a few days off beforehand in the hope that they can return to a winning attitude.
"I’ve told the players to go away and forget about football for a few days. The next game is a few days away so we can all sit down and think how to approach it. We can look at what we’re going to do once this one is out of the system."
