Football with a different accent in new Carlisle United era

“If you’re proud to be a Cumbrian…” ran the caption on the Blues’ social media pages, and thousands of positive interactions duly followed. And it felt good, that, didn’t it? Lads from here, wearing our shirt, winning. Perfect.

This feeling was a small capsule of what was happening more broadly at Brunton Park. When Paul Simpson was manager, and things were good – and even, to a degree, when they were bad – it was never just about the football.

It was about a reconnection, the idea of someone from this place, this club, plugging us all back in to the idea of United being credible again, run by people who understand it, who care, who get it.

The reigniting of the club, the resurgence of support, was not just because the Blues had a half-decent team again. It was because of what people thought of when they thought of Simpson at United: a credible, local figure, with a profound history of success at his home-city club, back to sort things out again.

It was a rarer experience than one might imagine considering Simpson is the only Cumbrian to have managed Carlisle United permanently in the post-war period. What we experienced from 2022 to 2024 – or certainly the good bit – was the exception, not the rule.

Perhaps that is why it was cherished so much; why, to some degree, the Simpson era was given more slack by many, even when things were unravelling: that sense of unity, between us and them, which you don’t often get.

Paul Simpson's background and connection reignited the Blues - now the football under Mike Williamson must do the same (Image: Ben Holmes)

Its effect was felt throughout United as the place was rebuilt from the remote and ultimately troubling Edinburgh Woollen Mill/Purepay years. It will be written into history as a genuinely transformative time.

Yet those of us who imagined it could have been a dynasty were, in the end, well off the mark. This highly pleasing and satisfying convergence of events, and people, lasted no longer than two years and six months – and, to some, that was months too many, given how United collapsed last season and the start of this.

In the modern game, 30 months might constitute an era but it is still not long, all in all, for you to have to look for another reset. The game, as ever, must exist in the real world, not the one we think will ideally be the case, and the new look of Carlisle United now strips certain things back to how they usually are and, generally, must be.

It brings the football front and centre again, to the exclusion of almost everything else.

It is the football that must carry things, must inspire supporters, must generate the waves, must be the torch. It is the coaching and tactical acumen of Mike Williamson, and the output on the pitch, that will determine pretty much all.

There is no background aura of local and historical United success, no Carlisle/Cumbrian connection any more. There is a head coach, his skill set, his staff, some players – and on we go.

United, in 2022, were highly fortunate that Simpson could tap into many good things before a ball had even been kicked. Yes, results had to follow, but when they did the swell was evidently not just about those results.

Now it is. Banners will not proclaim Williamson our king until that status is deemed to be earned. United’s new figureheads are from there, not here. This is an appointment based on calculation, method and recruitment, rather than a desperate, on-our-knees hunch on a local saviour.

It is, for sure, the first examination of the Piataks in this respect. It is the first significant light shone on their vision for United as a footballing entity. It is, it clearly appears, a strong statement of faith in the kind of football Williamson is known for, and which the owners wish to see at Brunton Park as a long-term proposition.

It arises from a hiring process which had to be broad, had to be sweeping, had to be executed with the aim of widening Carlisle’s horizons. Doubtless the football of late has been a grind, and a failed grind at that.

So it is ripe for change, for refreshment. In this respect, the Piataks are right to go for someone they feel can overhaul United’s style of play. Considering the previous style had, for more than a year, not delivered successful results or an attractive vibe or the sense it was in any way a lasting way forward, those at the top should not spend too much time justifying their attempted change of angle.

Similarly, the question of whether Carlisle’s squad is equipped to play the Williamson way can be met with a broad bat. It wasn’t particularly good under the latter-day Simpson way, so why should a different way arouse immediate doubt?

The last methods did not work - so a new way of playing under Williamson deserves every chance (Image: Ben Holmes)

Why not give this new way a chance? We’ll soon know if those players inherited by Williamson can adapt to his coaching. Going down a similar, more agricultural road to before would have provided only the answers we already know – those that have taken United to 22nd in League Two, one position above where they were in February 2022.

It of course needs to be good, both now and tomorrow. It needs to be good to guide Carlisle away from an immediate bottom-tier reckoning. It also needs to be very good to harness the best of what the Blues found from 2022 to 2023, when the place rediscovered itself and gained new life.

It needs to show United can be ignited by something new, something fresh, some outside eyes.

If it happens, this remains a club and a support base ready to throw itself headlong at success and the idea of a dynamic future under these owners and their chosen football brains. The local angle may be gone, which it’s ok to regret, but that was never going to be here for long anyway. United’s football, in a different accent, must now do all the talking. Let us hope it speaks enough of the right words.