Why Carlisle United's adaptable Ben Barclay deserves credit

All the same, a few more weeks of the defender in midfield and we might yet be able to start columns like this with such a hackneyed introduction.

Thankfully there are other benefits to the experiment, the main one being that, against Barrow, it didn’t feel quite so much an experiment. At this very early stage of 2024/25, that’s the best tribute to Barclay of all.

And no, it’s not the long-term scheme, to have the centre-back signed from Stockport County as your defensive midfield Plan A, Plan B or perhaps even Plan C when more of the orthodox middle men are fit/signed/ready.

Yet it’s proved workable, in certain circumstances. And this, let’s be honest, is something that could have backfired. Imagine had Barrow’s midfield, which received a few premature laurels in last Saturday’s build-up, given its United counterpart the runaround.

Imagine if it had been a third straight defeat, and part of the reason for it a square peg jammed so awkwardly into a circular orifice that half the Paddock got splinters? Imagine what that would have done for Paul Simpson’s immediate standing with some?

Barclay helped United win the midfield battle against Barrow (Image: Ben Holmes)

So let us applaud that it succeeded in a quietly reasonable way. And yes: it’s one win after two defeats, and no, it is too early (and quite pointless) to be talking about the next Dean Walling here – a player moved from one position to another and a career suddenly flourishing in previously unforeseen ways.

But we can afford the matter a more gradual respect, and also compliment Barclay on an adaptability that was not just reflected in last weekend’s result – on a day that was, let’s not forget, heavy with tension beforehand – but by his own individual output.

It was not simply an auxiliary job, a case of making up the numbers as best he could, bearing in mind Barclay had more touches of the ball than both Harrison Neal and Josh Vela, offered a better passing accuracy percentage and frequency than both, out-tackled Vela (which didn’t seem the case on immediate reflection), had two more shots than United’s big summer striker signing (Charlie Wyke - two versus none) and, in a game where long balls were a fairly common currency, ensured that half of his were accurate (a ratio in the Carlisle XI only bettered by Archie Davies).

Some of these statistics might be weighted by Barclay’s position, and that he was not shuttling up and down like Vela, or firing up his engine and covering the ground that Neal did. But nor are they the numbers of a fish squirming on dry land.

They suggest a certain aptitude both for the job and its expectations; not just an acknowledgement of limitations but a promoting of them. Barclay was there to play like Barclay, not attempt to reinvent himself as a different sort of midfielder.

In this way it is easier to see why Simpson trusted the defender to occupy the position in the first place without the whole thing jarring. When Carlisle were at their best, in the first half, their three midfielders stamped over Barrow’s and this also helped render Emile Acquah, the visitors’ big centre-forward, an isolated figure.

Barclay won three aerial challenges (only Terell Thomas and Wyke won more) and some of those were in that sentry position in front of the defence, another body in the way of Acquah and his potential for menace.

Positional acumen, and an acceptance of the boundaries of your role, are valued aspects in team-building. In 1994/95 it often felt like there was little to Richard Prokas’ game other than to collect the ball and pass it to the nearest man, often sideways or backwards.

That was, of course, a subtly powerful and indeed intelligent contribution given that Mick Wadsworth’s team had more than enough enterprise without needing another dynamo. Had they opted for someone else who’d have yearned to be the creator, who knows how the structure of that great team would have survived?

As time passes you do appreciate players who, in the best possible way, know their place, rather than try to do everything for everyone (see Graham Kavanagh in 2008/09). You do appreciate someone like Paul Thirlwell. You appreciate Prokas – whose selection, remember, was not the initial plan, given that Carlisle started 1994/95 with Shane Reddish in that position before Wadsworth gave Prokas a try in the second league game.

That latter situation also points to the need, sometimes, for things to evolve in unpredicted ways; how the first scheme is often not the scheme that carries you, that there has to be an amount of lateral thinking across a 46-game season, often as a response to events.

Jon Mellish is more obviously known for his versatility but Barclay has adapted well too (Image: Richard Parkes)

Barclay’s versatility has been a modestly decent reflection of this. Being able to do a few jobs, as opposed to the one, is sometimes described as a curse but it hasn’t held back, for instance, Jon Mellish, nor did it hinder Rory Delap in the 90s.

Peter Murphy’s United career was changeable, position-wise, for a good period to begin with and even when he was predominantly stationed in defence later on, there were still times when he could be called upon to be the chameleon, playing in deep midfield to polished effect in 2009's misty FA Cup victory against Norwich City.

There are of course the less smooth examples – chucking David Brightwell up front from the start was not one of Martin Wilkinson’s more thoughtful managerial notions – and, considering we’re still in August, there is ample time for the Barclay thing to fail as well as succeed.

A less directly combative game, against a more mobile and fluid passing team, would test and stretch it more than we’ve seen so far. Simpson, his midfield torn by injuries, has not been seeking reinforcements in that domain simply for the fun of it.

Right now, though, he and we can at least be satisfied that he has a certain additional option there, one that was untried before the very latter days of pre-season but which has since been retained not just by necessity, but also on the very latest evidence, on merit.

That makes Barclay a more valuable United player than we had reason to know before.