Mike Williamson believes his Carlisle United side are going in the right direction to rebuild following a tough start back in League Two.
Torrid form in the early stages of the season led to the sacking of favourite Paul Simpson, with MK Dons boss Williamson chose to be his successor at Brunton Park. It has also not gone well in the early stages of his tenure and despite a win in his first game at Swindon Town, United have lost their last two against Notts County and Grimsby Town.
Carlisle have lost the most amount of games of any team so far on seven and if not for a late Bradford City equaliser against Morecambe, they would have been sat in the bottom two going into this weekend’s clash against Colchester United. The Essex club are in 15th and have seemingly put last season’s struggles behind them by only losing once in the last five matches.
Speaking to the News and Star ahead of their trip south, Williamson said he was happy with the ability his side have shown under his leadership, adding: “I don’t need any more convincing – I’ve been working with these boys for a very short time, but what I’ve seen is a lot of quality and a lot of heart, a lot of personality.
“The fans are brilliant, and you hear them, and they got behind the boys in the second half on Tuesday night.
“It’s been a difficult year or so for the club, and it’s going to take time to change things, and to change the belief and the mentality, but we know we’ll do that, and we know that the lads are working relentlessly.
“We just have to make sure that we channel that second half [against Notts County], that fight and that determination, and we come out on Saturday and we face everything again with a mentality that it doesn’t matter what happens, we’re going to be on that front foot and as aggressive as we were [on Tuesday].”
It has been a tough period for the Cumbrian side having been outclassed during their year-long stay in League One and had seemingly gone into a hangover period despite some brilliant signings such as Charlie Wyke from Wigan Athletic and Aaron Hayden from Wrexham. Whilst the club were tipped to be in the promotion conversation, the season has not gone to plan and Carlisle have conceded the most goals of any club so far in the fourth tier.
Writer’s View
Arguably Carlisle United have been victims of their own success following that play-off final win two seasons ago against Stockport County. Whilst any supporter will rightfully look fondly upon that day at Wembley, it was too soon for them to go up and were easily picked apart by the teams in the division above. The return back to League Two was expected to go better than it has though and unfortunately spelt the end of Paul Simpson.
Mike Williamson is now the man to take the club forward and has done reasonably okay so far. Based on the quality of the squad the win over Swindon was expected but losing to Grimsby should be seen as three points dropped. Notts County are one of the best teams in the division so being beaten by them is not a big deal. Improvement is needed to be seen relatively soon though and the upcoming game against Colchester would be the best place to start. The pitch situation at AFC Wimbledon would mean that any momentum gained in the league would be disrupted going into next weekend but will give the former MK Dons man plenty of time to rest and train his squad.
Football journalist with The Real EFL since 2023. A 2024 Multimedia Journalism graduate from the University of Salford, Lewis specialises in Salford City FC and EFL coverage.
