By Malcolm Nugent - CUOSC

‘You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time’.

Those words from medieval English poet John Lydgate sum up CUOSC’s current position.

We are working hard to provide a link between the club and the fans but cannot keep everybody happy.

The CUOSC board, all volunteers, is used to criticism but this week things reached a new low with an implied death threat posted on Twitter. The tweet was reported and has since been taken down.

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No-one is happy with the position United find themselves in – not the fans, not CUOSC, and not the majority owners.

We recognise many fans have become apathetic and have chosen to stay away. We know some want to form protest groups and demonstrate. And we see others who will turn up through thick and thin to get behind the team.

It is a diverse fanbase. CUOSC, with a shareholding in the club and representatives on their boards, can give everyone a voice in the corridors of Brunton Park.

We are a democratic group with directors voted on to the CUOSC board by members. If fans are unhappy with the direction we are taking they can change things by becoming a member and standing for election.

Last week CUOSC were present at a regular meeting of CUSG (Carlisle United Supporters Groups) where Blues fans come together to air their views. It covers a broad spectrum of the United fanbase with chief executive Nigel Clibbens always there to listen. We see this group as more important than ever.

In addition the club has said their door is open to anyone for face-to-face meetings.

CUOSC also meet fans at our regular pre-match supporters’ surgeries to answer questions.

Of course, the big one, and the one we cannot answer, is when will there be change at the top of the club.

The majority of fans want it, CUOSC want it, and indeed the owners have made it clear they are open to it.

But with the Blues £2.5million in debt it is a sensitive and complex issue.

In the meantime, we appeal to everyone to get behind the team to help them climb away from the relegation places. Demonstrations that disrupt the game will only make it harder to attract players when boss Keith Millen tries to add to the squad in January.

CUOSC are holding a members meeting on Saturday week, before the home game with Bradford City.

The meeting will be held in the study centre at Brunton Park (next to the club shop) at 1.30pm.