Omari Patrick, many concluded, had taken a risk in deciding to leave Carlisle United in a state of disagreement about his position on the pitch.

Patrick, Paul Simpson said in early summer, wanted an assurance he would play on the wing.

Simpson could not offer that, and so off Patrick went, into the free agent market, in search of a club and manager who could satisfy those particular wishes.

Finally he has found them in Sutton United and Matt Gray, and Patrick returns to League Two a couple of months after helping Carlisle to League One.

There might be some regret at this path. There should not, though, be a temptation to scorn the 27-year-old for the decisions he has made.

The fact is, he had the clarity of thought to make them. In a business where you often question the influence of any number of surrounding voices on players, Patrick clearly knows his own mind.

He has taken ownership of his career in a way he feels will suit it best.

Now, whether we agree with him or not – whether we feel Patrick could indeed have toughed it out in Simmo’s range of attacking roles, or was more suited for a tactical pigeon-hole – that is a principle anyone should respect.

Even if it is a principle that has taken him down a division, presumably not for more lucrative earnings, then good luck to him. As far as I can see, he was honest about what he wanted, was straight and up front in his expression of this wish, respectful in that expression to United, and has followed it through.

It won’t get him a statue at Brunton Park, but it will presumably make the conversation in the mirror an easy one as he moves on.