League one struggles cost Curle his job, but he can still be proud of Cobblers stint

Curle has paid the price for the current run of poor form, and a general dissatisfaction for the style of play his Cobblers teams have produced on the whole (with a few very notable exceptions!)... but he can still leave the club with his head held high.

Curle was brought to the PTS with the club struggling off the back of relegation from league one and in serious danger of sliding towards non-League oblivion, and was charged with the difficult task of turning things around.

­­­Kelvin Thomas wanted a 'nasty person' (I won't reveal the exact word that was used!) to come in, shake the squad up, and get the results to drag the team away from the bottom of the table.

Now I am not suggesting Curle is a 'nasty person' at all, far from it in fact, but he knew what he was doing, knew what he wanted, and he did exactly what his new chairman wanted.

Thomas also wanted to cut what had become an inflated wage bill at the PTS following the collapse of the partnership with Chinese investors 5USport... and Curle did that as well.

He was happy to work within the financial boundaries that were laid out for him, and believe me, not all managers are happy to do that.

Also, with what has happened with the Covid-19 pandemic, and the fact there have been no crowds inside the PTS since last March, that carries even more significance.

It is anybody's guess what financial strain the club would have been under if the highest earners, who were also on lengthy contracts, hadn't been moved on when they were... it was a part of the job Curle deserves huge credit for.

That brings us on to last season, his first and only full campaign in charge.

Promotion was the stated target, and although it was at times a tough watch, it was achieved with what was an absolutely stunning finale, with the unforgettable wins over Cheltenham Town and Exeter City to win the play-offs on a wonderful night at Wembley.

The win over Exeter will quite simply go down as one of the best in the history of the club.

It was an absolute honour to be there - I know how lucky I was - and it ensured Curle won his first promotion as a manager, which is something nobody can ever take away from him.

It was just such a shame there weren't tens of thousands of Cobblers supporters there to share that special moment.

The play-off success meant the step up to league one, and there is no getting away from the fact it has been a struggle.

The breaking up of the promotion team did not help that - although I would suggest Curle's hands were tied on the bulk of those departures.

One of those he couldn't stop moving on was Charlie Goode, who was perhaps the key loss - but let's not forget he was a player brought to the club by Curle, plucked out of Scunthorpe United's reserves, and was then sold on for more than £1 million.

There was a hefty profit margin in there, and it was fantastic business for the club.

The new players that Curle has brought in have struggled, and in particular in an attacking sense, with the team the lowest scorers in league one, and currently having netted just one goal in 2021.

Curle has to take responsibility for that, as aside from Sam Hoskins, Shaun McWilliams and Morgan Roberts, he signed every single player in the first team squad.

He will argue that things were still gelling, particularly with the six recruits in the transfer window still settling.

He will have also believed that under him the team would have done enough to stay in the division, but there are plenty of people who think otherwise - most notably the club hierarchy who have decided the team was only going one way, and that was back to league two.

The performance in the loss to Wigan Athletic on Tuesday was well below what should be expected of a league one team, and unfortunately the truth is that the woeful showing was not a one-off... Curle's reign has been sprinkled throughout with some awful performances.

One of his great strengths, however, was getting a reaction from his players following those poor performances. On this occasion, he won't get that chance.

Taking into account what I have seen on social media there will be plenty of Cobblers fans who will be extremely happy that Curle has gone, and many will be delighted they will no longer have to watch the 'hoofball' they so detested watching - especially when the team lost.

And I accept there is no getting away from the fact Curle's team could at times be ugly on the eye.

But they could also at times turn it on and entertain, and it will be one of the great frustrations of those who felt Curle could succeed, that he didn't let the team off the leash more often, and let the players express themselves more.

They showed it in flashes, but flashes aren't enough, and Curle just didn't seem to have the belief in either himself or his players that they could play that way.

Curle did have many detractors (although many overstepped the line between criticism and downright abuse) but there are others who will be a little surprised that he has been dispensed with at this point.

They may have though he still have had a little more credit in the bank for what he has done overall.

The bottom line is that it is what Kelvin Thomas and the board thinks that matters, and in relieving Curle of his duties now they have at least given his successor, whether it be Jon Brady or somebody else, an excellent chance of keeping the club in league one.

There are still 20 matches to play, the Cobblers are only in the relegation zone on goal difference, they are two points off 18th with a game in hand, and there is all to play for.

On a personal level, I would like to say that Keith Curle was always a pleasure for all of us in the media to deal with.

He was always available, nearly always cheerful, and never ducked a question ... although he could sometimes give a politician a run for their money with his answers!

At the age of 57, Curle still has plenty of managerial life in him yet, and I would like wish him and his trusted assistant Colin West well in whatever venture they take up next.

And I don't think it will be too long before they are back in work.

Curle leaves the PTS with the Cobblers a full division higher than it was when he took it over, and that is something plenty of club chairmen would love to get from any new manager they appoint.

That said, there is always a reason that a manager gets the sack, and I fully understand why Thomas and the board have made the decision they have.

But that doesn't alter the fact that I think, on the whole, Curle can be proud of his time and his work at Northampton Town.