Carlisle United duo deserve faith that better times can come

You might think of the pleasant surprises, like the goal against Aldershot and the high-skipping celebration. Mainly, though, you’ll remember two promotions, one title and a body of midfield work that warranted both those medals and more.

You’ll think of a player who’d certainly get a warm and respectful reception any time he walked back into Brunton Park. That indeed happened in 2019 when he joined Simon Hackney, Karl Hawley and Dennis Booth on the pitch.

You’ll recall someone who made his “little mark” on the place, as Nigel Clibbens has referred to all those people who’ve passed through United and contributed well to its meaning and memories.

You might not immediately think of the bloke whose right to be anywhere near a blue shirt was the subject of scathing question. That was the same Chris Billy as the one who did all those good things. His first incarnation as a Carlisle player was not successful.

“At the time I wasn’t playing well, and nor were the team,” he once told me, thinking of his first weeks at United, in 2003. “I was getting a bit of stick along the lines of: ‘What have we signed you for? Nothing’s changed, we’re still getting [beaten] every week.’”

Billy’s memory had even softened some of the sharper criticism. In some cases the offers to drive him straight back to Bury were at the gentler end of things too.

Was this struggling, besieged pro greatly different from the one who became such an admired fulcrum in United’s last title-winning team? Of course not. What differed were the circumstances – as well as the results of a test Billy had to pass.

“It could have gone two ways – me going into my shell and Carlisle never seeing bits of what I was able to do, or me knuckling down and going: ‘Right, let’s get over this and get into some decent form’,” added Billy.

A player’s work ethic is not always the only aspect of improvement, and the manager who started 2003/04 with Carlisle was soon gone (Roddy Collins), replaced by another (Paul Simpson). The latter recognised and isolated Billy’s qualities in a much more realistic way.

He appreciated the workmanlike assets he brought, and dialled down Collins’ more enterprising expectations. Oil was no longer being asked to blend with water. From there, Billy grafted his way to form and Simpson also got him there.

It doesn’t always pay off like this. Sometimes a player who starts badly remains on that road. Yet in these warm (ok, wet) days of summer it’s surely right to lean Billy’s way when thinking of one or two current Carlisle players who are hoping for happier times in 2024/25.

Harry Lewis is striving for better times at Carlisle after the struggles of last season (Image: Ben Holmes)

This came to mind when talking to Harry Lewis at St Mirren last Friday. Now, the proportion of United’s goals-conceded from January to April that can be placed at the goalkeeper’s door is clearly, and has been, a matter for debate.

What is undeniable is that that collective record was dreadful, statistically and in vision. Lewis, in Paisley, talked about the difficulty of “moving on” from the bruising second half of 2023/24, but also the necessity of it. He said coming into work is “fun again”, with a new coach, a refreshed goalkeeping unit, and some new perspectives.

Another thing that struck you was: what a decent individual Lewis seems to be. Open, approachable, thoughtful, committed. This counts for little if three Gillingham shots go through his legs on August 10. But it also counts for something still.

It makes you want such a man to succeed, and to trust that he can. You can easily see what such a turnaround would mean. A footballer puts his reputation on the line every day, every season, and Lewis will have known he was walking towards challenges, as well as opportunities, when he traded Bradford City for Brunton Park in the new year.

The journey of Chris Billy at least urges us to think he, and others, can spin things around. Lewis was not dreadful last season, and his record had the mitigation of all the struggles in front of him, but nor was he an immediately commanding figure. In a better side, with a more proactive defensive unit and without the weekly baggage of defeat, can things change?

Well, why not? Think, too, of Sam Lavelle, who started last season solidly enough and grew into a strong performer in the autumn before things started to tumble.

Some of the goals scored against United in the second period of the campaign were not simply down to low performance. They were surely the product of someone increasingly pushing against the tide and in the end being drenched by it: the weak backpass at Charlton Athletic, being tackled in the six-yard box at home to Wycombe Wanderers.

Certain United players must find a way to offload the baggage of 2023/24 - with the right approach and environment, they can (Image: Ben Holmes)

This happened to the same man who, impressively, captained Morecambe to League Two promotion in his early twenties and earned a move to a club of Charlton's scale. Not a bluffer, then. Far from it.

Can he also, then, progress to rosier times at United? Can he retain his place and knit more snugly and soundly into a defence aided by the likes of Terell Thomas, Aaron Hayden and Jon Mellish?

Maybe, maybe not. But again, let’s edge towards maybe. Let’s think that a professional who has also shown his decency in other ways (witness his contribution to United’s support of Jack Musgrave and his family during the teenager’s cancer fight) can rise a little, or even a lot.

It’s down to the player’s character and will, it’s also down to the manager and coaches to find a better way, and it’s very much down to all involved to improve the environment, the detail, the method, the machinery that can make good players better again.

Thinking it impossible or unlikely in some cases might be a more satisfying opinion to throw online. Giving certain players the benefit of doubt and hope feels, at this moment in July, the more worthwhile way to go.