What we learned from Carlisle United's win at Swindon Town

1 HARRY AND SAM…

Mike Williamson was keen to put the praise on the players rather than himself after the game, so let’s follow his lead.

As much as this victory was about the new head coach and his initial work, significant credit must go to the team.

In particular it feels right to highlight a couple of players who have not, it’s fair to say, always enjoyed the best of times at Brunton Park so far.

In this respect it is about character as much as ability and both Harry Lewis and Sam Lavelle provided emphatic ticks with their displays at Swindon.

Harry Lewis had a fine game in goal for United (Image: Richard Parkes)

This was probably Lewis’s best performance as United’s keeper and his early defiance was absolutely crucial in ensuring that Carlisle, for once, did not concede an early goal.

His Rorke’s Drift charge to get in the way of Swindon’s seven-yard indirect free-kick typified his afternoon, his awareness when saving or punching other set-pieces was good, and a clean sheet was very much earned.

Lavelle was also the pick of a resilient defence and one cannot think of a moment when the defender put a foot wrong.

Certainly he didn’t in terms of his passing – an ever more important feature of Carlisle’s team play under Williamson.

Lavelle’s passing accuracy percentage was a highly impressive 97.8, the best of all 22 players who started the game, and if improved figures such as this are in part a consequence of United working the ball shorter and more often, there is still a premium on getting it right, especially when opponents press as Swindon did early on – and particularly when Carlisle have not been playing this way previously.

Defensively Lavelle made a whopping 11 clearances – again, the leading figure in this respect – and at the other end his presence forced the opening goal.

It was as well and as reliably as he has played since last autumn's spate of good form and the club captain contributed prominently to Williamson’s opening win.

2 STREAKING AHEAD

This was day one of what looks to be a certain overhaul of United’s playing style. Clearly it was never going to be totally smooth straight away, and it was not at Swindon.

Yet Williamson clearly trusts the Blues team to revamp their way of working the ball and that faith sends an immediate message to the players.

Carlisle, more often than not, rejected the long ball when they had it in tricky defensive corners. Sometimes their inclination to a shorter pass put them in trouble, but any side that plays this way – including many who are more drilled in it – knows the risks here.

United put together, on average, longer passing sequences than in their previous away games (Image: Richard Parkes)

Williamson’s calculation seems to be that it is just as risky launching a supposedly safer ball into opposition territory, donating it back to them and therefore losing control for another phase, rather than retaining that trust that better angles and opportunities can be found by a team keen to explore them, and take time to do so.

United and their fans will need to live on their wits with this new method but it is the way so many more teams than before play, and there is a sense of the Blues now, prompted by the Piataks’ change of direction, attempting to speak a language others are fluent with.

Significant at Swindon was their average passing “streak” of five at a time. That figure was four in their previous away game at Bradford City, three at MK Dons and four at Gillingham.

A small shift on the surface. But sometimes the minor details shed light on the bigger picture. Expect more of this as Williamson and his coaches drive more of their principles into the Blues.

3 HANDS-ON ATTENTION

It was interesting watching the new Blues regime and how they interacted with the players, and each other, before and during the game.

Once S&C coach Adam Kwiecien had conducted the initial part of the warm-up, it was over to Williamson’s new United backroom team to steer things.

Ian Watson was the most prominent figure in much of this, the assistant boss in everything but title, leading Carlisle’s players in some short passing drills and some competitive 5v5 sessions. Watson, in this, appeared the organiser, the setter of the tone, and was animated throughout.

Ian Watson (Image: Richard Parkes)

Among Carl Magnay’s jobs was to work with the defence and he was detailed to prepare the central three of Barclay, Lavelle and Mellish with some varied distribution and defensive work.

Chris Bell, the third new addition, was also present throughout, if not leading so much as Watson, and his involvement included a part in a quick creating/finishing session in front of the posts – although Watson, again, appeared the driver of this.

While some managers prefer a watching brief in this period – Paul Simpson would sometimes observe from the stand or bench to gauge Carlisle’s preparation – Williamson himself was also hands-on during the warm-ups, moving in to issue words and directions at various points.

During the game, Williamson was then front and centre in the technical area while Watson was also distinctive, including in United’s interactions with the fourth official, who also received plenty of attention from the Swindon contingent.

There was never a sense of the new regime being anything other than proactive in their general demeanour. This was the new Carlisle set-up materialising, and introducing themselves, on a Blues match day for the first time.

4 WIDE OF THE MARK?

Mark Kennedy, the Swindon boss, was strong in his post-match opinions. He felt the hosts had “absolutely dominated” the game and were simply “League Twoed” by two Carlisle set-pieces.

Hats off, first, to Kennedy for making ‘League Two’ a verb. Not sure if they teach that one at St George’s Park.

Does, to look deeper, his view stand up to scrutiny?

Swindon had more of the ball - but Carlisle had good chances (Image: Richard Parkes)

Well, to a certain degree, but also not, and it’s hard to see Kennedy’s view away from the prism of a frustrated home manager who’s just failed to win for the sixth time in seven league games.

“Dominance” at times depends on which angle you’re looking from. Swindon had more possession than United, 58.2 per cent to 41.8, more than twice as many shots (17 to 8), more than twice as many touches in the opposition box (21 to 10) and, according to WhoScored.com, 37 crosses compared with the Blues’ 10.

Yet what did this amount to? The same small number of shots on target that United managed – two – and, if 85 per cent of the game took place in the middle third and Carlisle’s defensive third, this still represents a sterile kind of “dominance” indeed.

The “League Two” reference to set-piece goals also appears somewhat sniffy and Kennedy’s verdict also disregarded the reality that, the moment Carlisle got ahead, it was down to his side to push the attacking envelope and United, quite frankly, could do what the hell they liked in protection of their lead.

“Dominating” against a side eager to defend does not confer any sort of moral right. Carlisle have, themselves, come out of many games having made lots of “last-third entries” but done the square root of nothing with them, their blunt attacking end results entirely vindicating the containing approach of other teams.

It takes two to tango, as the old saying goes, and one is tempted to suggest Swindon’s results are not, in reality, that of a side in the dominant habit in the most effective ways.