Football League World
·25 September 2024
Football League World
·25 September 2024
The new boss has one player that should seamlessly fit into his system.
The Mike Williamson era at Carlisle United kicked off with an away win against Swindon Town.
It's always good to get the pressure of those first three points off your back quickly if you are the new boss of a team. That's exactly what Williamson was able to do and he seemed very happy after the game to have done so.
"The points and the feeling that the fans are going to be driving back up the road with is fantastic," said the former MK Dons manager, to the News & Star.
It was a hard fought victory, one that isn't likely to resemble the performances that the head coach will want from his team once he has truly been able to affect change in this group.
Williamson is known for his possession-heavy style of football which was best put on display during his spells in the respective dugouts of Gateshead and Milton Keynes. Last season, Notts County were the only team in the fourth tier to complete more passes per sequence than Williamson's former side, as per The Analyst.
A lot was made of Carlisle's current group and its fit with how Williamson wants his teams to play; mainly whether they would be capable of doing it.
United aren't as obviously built to retain the ball for large periods of the game as their new head coach's previous team. Questions are there for most of the squad. Dylan McGeouch, however, has shown that he is the type of player that should really suit Williamson and his notorious style.
The head coach's first training session with Carlisle clearly displayed one of the key things he wants his teams to be about: drawing the press from the opposition, playing out of it into space and exploiting it.
To do this, United's midfielders, in particular, will need to be confident receiving the ball with their backs to play when opposing players are charging down on them looking to snatch possession back in an opportune area.
McGeouch has such a neat and tidiness about him when on the ball. Of Carlisle's current options in the centre of the park, he is certainly the calmest and most press-proof in possession.
He's able to find passes in tight areas to keep his side in control of the ball, which then allows those around him to quickly find others in wide areas or play direct, vertical balls into the forwards.
Injured players like Ethan Robson and Callum Guy, whose returns aren't expected in the near future, should certainly be able to perform a similar role to McGeouch when they get back to full fitness. But, for now, while Williamson is looking to implement his philosophy on this group, the ex-Scottish international looks like he's going to be such a big help for the new boss.
The terraces of Brunton Park won't have seen much like what Williamson and his staff want to turn this team into if they do it successfully.
Not only will it be a mammoth task for them to turn this playing staff into one that can consistently get results while dominating the ball, the process to get there will be hugely demanding too.
There's going to be growing pains. These players are going from one world to another in the transition from Paul Simpson's football to that of Williamson, even if the formation used is very similar.
Against Swindon there were signs of some of the team not being too comfortable with the passing out from the back element of the game. That is likely to continue, but the Blues faithful must, as they usually do, be patient with Williamson and his team as he tries to turn this season around.