Keith Millen says all his football experiences - including the Swedish game and time at Blackpool with Ian Holloway and the Oystons - help equip him for his latest challenge.

The new Carlisle United manager brings a varied CV to Brunton Park as he prepares to lead the team for the first time tomorrow.

Millen’s most recent managerial stint came in Scandinavia with a year-long spell at Orgryte.

That followed a stint with Halmstads, on the recommendation of ex-England boss and fellow South London native Roy Hodgson.

Millen, speaking about his path to Sweden, said: “I’d been manager of Bristol City [in 2010-11] and after leaving, I wanted to carry on being manager. It wasn’t like I thought, ‘That’s not for me’.

“The reason I didn’t go back into management was because I had the opportunity to go to Crystal Palace with Ian Holloway as his assistant.

“Crystal Palace is my home team who I’d supported all my life; it was my dream job. Then we got promoted to the Premier League, and there’s no way, if someone had offered me a manager job, I would have left. That was part of my career that I wouldn’t change.

“I learned so much there. When I left, I did a few bits at other clubs and then got a chance in Sweden.

“It was Roy Hodgson who rung me. It was his first club, called Halmstads, which he first managed when I think he was about 28.

“He said, ‘I think this will be a good experience for you – with the way you work, I think you’ll be a good fit’.

“When I met them, a little bit like the conversations I’ve had here, it was a case of, ‘This is me, this is how I work and what I want to do’, and they were like, ‘Great’ – it was a clean slate, a case of ‘Come in and do it’.

“That was great for me for those two years. It was a different culture, and I learned a lot about dealing with people, but that’s how I’ve always tried to look at my career on trying to develop myself.

“I did that, and I’ve also been doing an FA coach education thing, which I still do. It keeps you looking at the game in a slightly different way; you’re assessing yourself as a coach.

“That’s great for me. I’m telling young coaches, this is what I’ve learned in my experience, but I look at myself and think, ‘I can probably do that better’.

“That’s been great for me as well, and if I can, if I’ve got time, I will carry on doing that. All of that has built up to me wanting to manage again. That’s how I’ve ended up here.”

Millen managed Bristol City for a year and, before heading to Palace, experienced Blackpool’s rise to the top-flight under Holloway – and the controversial Oyston ownership.

“I’d just left Bristol City, and Ian Holloway asked me to come up and help him at Blackpool.

“That was an experience, it was the period when Karl Oyston was in charge. It opened my eyes to a lot of things. An amazing period for Blackpool, and what Ian achieved…you could tell some unbelievable stories.

“For me, an experience is an experience. Whether it’s good or bad, you’ve got to take something from it.

“There were things that happened at Blackpool…I couldn’t believe some of the things I saw there, but Ian managed to turn it round to be a positive and be successful there.

“I took things from that.”

Croydon-born Millen said that United’s location is not a problem for him.

He added: “I’ve got a good settled family life. My children are slightly older now and have got their own lives.

“The train up here from London is an easy journey anyway. It’s not like I’ll be finishing training on a Tuesday and flying down the motorway.

“I don’t do that. I was in Sweden and was there all the time.”

Millen added that any boss is a product of his experiences – but he will stamp his own individual traits on United too.

He has worked under the likes of Tony Pulis, Neil Warnock and Alan Pardew, and added: “I’ve taken bits from everyone over my career, some good bits and some bits that I think don’t suit my style.

“You have to realise who you are as a manager. All the people I’ve worked with have got their own strengths but Keith Millen is Keith Millen.

“I have a world of knowledge and that’s why I’m excited to be here. I want the opportunity to help the players and the club become better.

“When came back to England from Sweden I felt I wanted to get into another football club in the Football League. I want to be able to pass on and use all of my experiences and it didn’t worry me one bit about where it was in the country.

“I think Carlisle is a club that has potential even though it isn’t in a great place at the moment. Hopefully it’s only onwards and upwards from here.”