Isn't it funny how all the things that supposedly hold Carlisle United back - pessimistic fans, nuisance media, scathing forums - suddenly don't seem so problematic when things start going right?

Not much changes in those areas from season to season. There will always be an inclination in a certain type of supporter to look on the gloomy side, while the club that does not deserve to be challenged has yet to be invented.

Complaining about either brings to mind the old line about politicians upset by the press being akin to sailors moaning about the sea.

The best learn to live with it - or, better, use it to their advantage. Those in need of excuses react differently. Some years ago a senior figure at Brunton Park - no longer there - claimed there was a "cancer" surrounding events at Cumbria's only professional club.

The accusation was that many of those watching and commenting on the Blues had unrealistic expectations and never seemed happy. United were floundering at the time, and the idea that the real problems may have been slightly closer to home was perhaps too sensitive to touch.

Chances are the same background elements were also there when United were enjoying better seasons. It seems crazy to think that Paul Simpson came in for harsh criticism during the 2005/6 season but after a 3-0 defeat at Macclesfield that January, depriving the club of top spot in League Two, at least one letter-writer castigated the manager for "arrogance", and others certainly did not hold back.

And this after Simpson had been big enough to admit that he got his team selection wrong. United went top the following week and stayed there until the final, jubilant day.

In other words, Simpson coped perfectly well despite a little flak. He accepted it for what it was and rose above it. Good practice, strong management, capable performance, and the "cancer" was miraculously cured.

It may seem different if the doubting voices are coming from within, but there is a degree to which this simply has to be dealt with, too. Keith Curle feels there are elements both outside and inside United who will be "enjoying" the current run of defeats, because they have never taken to him.

The implication is that Brunton Park is not the completely united place it ought to be, especially in a promotion push. Curle gave us the impression he and his team have been doing well, overall, in spite of a few rebellious individuals.

One trusts the manager's remarks, made to the News & Star last Saturday after the 2-0 loss at Plymouth, have been interrogated by the relevant people at the top of the Blues. It would be remiss not to follow up what Curle said, just in case it was not simply a deflecting tactic and there are indeed a couple of Trojan horses in the building, threatening to destabilise everything.

But there must also be a certain acceptance by United's boss and anyone else in a managerial position that you aren't going to please all of the people beneath you all of the time.

Chances are, if you have a job that requires you to oversee a reasonable number of folk, somebody in that number hates you. It might be kept secret, it might be quite the opposite to how they appear normally, and it might be an opinion that shifts from time to time. But isn't greener-grass syndrome part of human nature?

We often convince ourselves the world would be a better place if only the boss would do one. We aren't always right, but we won't change our fixed beliefs in a hurry.

In the same vein, there may be those who were unsettled by Curle's vastly different style upon appointment in September 2014 for whom a climb from 24th to fourth in League Two is not enough to alter their view.

It is tempting to ask them what it would actually take, and which hypothetical figure would have made United even stronger contenders, and of course it is easy to answer this with a lot of suggestions untested by actual events.

What Curle has that they do not is some basic evidence to support his work. United were relegation candidates when he arrived. They are now free from such stresses and, even after a poor run, have ambitions firmly the other way.

Right now there is no better argument against those who feel he is wrong for the Blues, yet it is more interesting to consider why he chose to voice his concerns when and how he did. United had just lost their third game off the reel and it was at this point that Curle invited us to think he was fighting against a few negative factions.

They were no doubt just as negative, or broadly so, when the team were starting the season in record-breaking form. Airing the problem now gives the impression of a manager keen to consolidate public support at a testing time, as well as taking some heat off his players.

This might be a smart tactic. It also fits the image many have of Curle, one which the manager has wisely fostered.

From day one Curle has asserted the idea that he is essential to United's better fortunes. "It needs me," he said of the club after his first game in charge, a reckless first-half drubbing at Mansfield followed by a futile fightback. His work since then, delivering significant improvement, has spread that notion, and his popularity, in some unlikely ways.

And so, you probably cannot pose with a flag featuring three likenesses of your smiling face, you cannot stand and watch a fan lower his trousers to reveal a tattoo of your name on his upper thigh, you can't receive a Valentine's card from another admiring supporter, and you can't "love" the Mysterious Curle phenomenon (a view offered by his amused backroom staff at a fans' forum last October) without feeling there are times to wield that popularity down the line.

What comes easily in the good times can be a crutch in the bad. Some of Curle's predecessors failed to grasp this and it must be said that United's current boss has managed his public image better than certain others.

He recognises the symbolic side of his job and that, by choosing your words and actions carefully, you can get people on your side in a quite powerful fashion. His sense of humour and outward approachability endears him to many.

He has also, earlier in his tenure, been decisive at rooting out some players and coaching staff he did not take to, which leads you to think those he believes are against him now are less movable figures at the club, at whatever level.

If that is the case, he is best advised to live with it and prove himself better than them, for there is a fine line between raiding problem areas and wasting energy, and focus, on things that cannot be so easily controlled.

"It doesn't change my mindset," Curle also said last weekend. "I'm here to be successful." The best are able to be so despite background noises, and on this slightly rocky road now we will discover just how good United's boss can be.