"Lack of desire" - Scathing view of Carlisle United regular sums up current situation: View | OneFootball

Carlisle United legend, and BBC Radio Cumbria pundit, Chris Lumsdon had some harsh words for one of the side's regular players after their defeat to Cambridge United.

There's an overwhelming consensus among fans of the Blues that they will not be in League One for the 2024/25 season. The squad looks out of its depth, and the desire to claw back the 14-point gap (when goal difference is taken into account) just doesn't seem to be there.

Paul Simpson's side have lost their last seven games. To make up the gap to safety, they will need to better every team above them by at least a point per game. Given their record, that's unlikely.

The loss on Saturday to Cambridge was probably the worst of the seven. They conceded sloppy goals, including a very poor mistake from January signing Harry Lewis, who mishandled the ball, which then hit off Sam Lavelle and went into Lewis's net. But the fourth goal they conceded was the most damning, and Lavelle, who has captained Carlisle for much of this season, has taken some stick from Lumsdon.

On the Carlisle Social podcast, Lumsdon said that the game against Neil Harris' side could have gone much differently had they capitalised on their early momentum.

"I think, on Saturday, if you score in the first 15-20 minutes, it is a different game; Cambridge were there to be had," said the former midfielder. "But it's the fourth one [goal] for me. Giving the ball away for the third was a bit shambolic, and then the fourth is just a lack of desire. It wasn't even a challenge.

"It smelled of someone, or a group, who knew that they were beaten."

At the start of the season, Simpson spoke about getting the players to believe in themselves; that they were worthy of being in League One. Maybe that was a bit of foreshadowing of what was to come.

When you have to try and convince yourselves that you're good enough after just a few games, that's a really worrying sign, and it could also be the sign of a group who don't have the desire to battle for points as much as other teams. If you think everyone is better than you, then why would you show the desire needed to compete with them on a consistent basis?

Not only is it a worrying sign now, but that sort of attitude that Lumsdon alluded to can't be present next season either, regardless of what division they are in.

The next steps for Carlisle United

With the way that they have been performing, the task of clawing back those 14 points seems insurmountable. Nothing in that game against Cambridge suggested that they would be able to win many more of their remaining games, if any at all.

One of the big problems that Carlisle faced this season was their shorter recruitment window, due to their promotion through the play-offs, and the lack of funds at the start of the season. Neither of those things should be an issue heading into the 2024/25 campaign, and summer recruitment, across all areas of the club, should be the number one priority.

All the work that's going on around the club sounds positive. If they can get the spirit on the pitch back to the same level next season, then they should progress as a club very quickly.