Most managers say the same sort of thing when supporters talk about the right time to draw conclusions. “Judge us after 10 games,” they say.

Keith Curle’s marker was 16 games but whether it’s 10, a dozen or anything around that mark, you tend to know when you can form a reliable opinion about a side.

We are now 20 league games into this season and it is not disrespectful to say that a position of third bottom at this stage proves that this Carlisle team are just not good enough.

Whatever the reasons, whether there were budget cuts or not (and we have heard conflicting stories about that) and whatever the general standard of the division, it is a massive under-performance on the pitch.

We have seen some flashes of talent this season but on the whole, over those 20 games, it’s hard to think of many occasions when United have really put together a complete performance.

Off the top of my head I would say Barnsley in the League Cup but, without taking anything away from that performance, the home side were in testimonial mode that night.

Against Salford, Carlisle largely played well but still drew. It’s difficult to come up with any others and that says it all about how the season has panned out.

A draw with bottom side Morecambe was the latest offering and that did little to convince fans that better things were around the corner. It is early days for head coach Chris Beech and he will be learning a lot very quickly about what he has inherited.

A handful of Carlisle’s injured players were watching at the Globe Arena and the only one I looked at and thought, ‘We could really do with him today’ was Kelvin Etuhu. That tells you where Carlisle are and Beech is openly talking about changing certain things in the January window, which will come as no surprise.

Anyone in line for the United job when the appointment process was under way must have been promised certain things about having room to manoeuvre in the market. Who would want anything else when they are in the position they are – the position they deserve to be, based on performances?

Beech sent coach Nathan Rooney away to watch a player over the weekend and hopefully he will be able to get a few new names through the door and ship a few out.

Not many in the current squad could complain if they are moved on. Yes, there are a few exceptions, and I imagine keeping Gethin Jones for the season will be a priority. I don’t think Carlisle will find a better right-back in January in this current market. He looks comfortable in the position and United’s defence is better for his presence.

Left-back, though, is a problem for me, in that Carlisle have one player more comfortable going forward than defending, and another the opposite. They somehow need a blend of the two which is easier said than done.

The defence in general needs looking at although once Jarrad Branthwaite returns to centre-half it might be a different story.

Elsewhere, the side is crying out for someone to grab hold of the game and dictate it. Beech and Gavin Skelton were both midfielders. They will know what is needed in that position.

Up front, meanwhile, let us be honest and say it hasn’t worked with Elias Sorensen and he surely needs to return to Newcastle for his own benefit as well as Carlisle’s. Hopefully that would enable United to bring in someone to help Ryan Loft and Olufela Olomola, who I think are worth keeping.

Three or four signings, overall, are surely needed, including a couple who are tried and tested.

Branthwaite’s future is another obvious factor. I think it will be tough to keep him but it could be a case of selling him but making sure he stays until the end of the season.

He was used in a midfield position by Beech on Saturday, which raised a few fans’ eyebrows. I’ve played in teams who’ve used centre-halves in the middle before, and it is certainly nothing new.

Gudjon Thordarson at Barnsley liked to use an enforcer in front of the back four, and we have seen players like Ben Tozer do it over the years at Carlisle’s level. Beech felt Branthwaite’s passing ability was worth trying in midfield, and I thought he started the game well, but then Morecambe’s players got around him more and it looked like he found it a bit alien.

His touch, for once, was a little bit off but we should remember that he is having to perform knowing that scouts from massive clubs are watching his every move these days. Let us also not forget that he is still just 17, and there will always be games when things don’t go a young player’s way.

If that was one of his lesser performances we will take it all day, because he was far from terrible.

Take tonight’s FA Cup game out of the equation for a moment, and the next league game, at home to Grimsby, is absolutely huge. Their form is no better than Carlisle’s and this is a game where you have to take three points.

If you don’t, there will be a lot of people giving up on Carlisle and also potential targets looking at it and wondering if they should go and put themselves into a relegation battle.

It is one of those games where United simply have to make sure they win.

-----

The FA Cup offers prize money and the chance of a trip to Cardiff but I have to be honest and say tonight’s replay with Forest Green isn’t the most important game on Carlisle’s calendar.

There are bigger fish to fry in the league, and even if United get through it won’t have too much effect on the serious business that they have to get right.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Chris Beech used it as a bit of an experiment. I don’t think the team he fielded against Morecambe will be the same as he puts out against Grimsby, so he may see tonight’s game as the chance to try a couple of things.

If there was a Premier League team awaiting it might be a different scenario. Given Cardiff’s home crowd the last time they played in the third round of the cup was just over 6,000, it is not the same kind of mouthwatering occasion on offer.

Yes, the prize money would be welcome but that would be dwarfed by any proceeds from selling Jarrad Branthwaite, which might be on the agenda in January.

I just feel the league, the bread and butter on Saturdays, is much more important right now.

Some people are speculating whether the fact there is only one relegation place might benefit Carlisle – and whether relegation might vanish completely from League Two if Macclesfield’s problems keep mounting.

Firstly, you don’t want to see Macclesfield go under, so soon after Bury. That would be shocking.

From a Carlisle point of view, too, it is depressing even to be considering those things. My preference, anyway, would be to reward the success of another National League team with promotion rather than to spare a League Two struggler from the drop.

I honestly never thought United would be in this predicament – I thought they had a mid-table squad – but here we are, and the priorities of this season from this point onwards ought to be clear enough.