Carlisle United vs Notts County, League Two Match Review, 1 October 24

Pre-season promotion rivals turns boys vs men at Brunton Park

Why this game?

Carlisle are now three games into the Mike Williamson era and, with time and game time to get his ideas in place, what would they look like against a hot Notts County side that had to deal with the long term injury to the talismanic Jodi Jones. Two sides with similar pre-season expectations but with very differing seasons so far.

The story of the game

News came pre-match that Charlie Wyke had been benched for Carlisle - with his form having been an issue so far this season, the graft and craft partnership of Armstrong and Sadi was preferred as an attacking line-up this time.

The clear difference from the Paul Simpson era for Carlisle was clear quickly not just in the willingness to pass the ball around the back, but also the riskiness in which it was carried out. It was passing that made the crowd go “ooh” in both admiration and worry. With that style natural to County, it’s fair to say that it leant to one of the more attractive games in League Two in terms of being easy on the eye.

It took County under 10 minutes to take the lead as early positive Carlisle passing paly broke down as Mellish hammered a long shot wide -  the ball was blootered up the park from the resulting goal kick, the ball bounced once as Terrell Thomas completely missed the header and Jatta had a simple finish conducted with some aplomb to send the away side up.

Dom Sadi had a chance to level up shortly after, supplied by Armstrong, squaring two men up and shooting low to pull a save from Bass. Said shortly after drew a foul in a good area and Harper demanded a slight Hollyowood save from Alex Bass. Those were small forays in what was a consistent 20 minute period of County dominance without chances before Jordan Jones whipped in a great cross on 32 minutes for Armstrong to glance wide. By this point, the Brunton Park fans were… ahem… vocal in their frustration on the Sky Sports + coverage.

2-0 came very soon after as Carlisle passing didn’t work again, County took possession high up and Carlisle failed to deal with a cross to the back for an easy finish for Scott Robertson. Notts County may not have created much to this point, but they converted both of their chances and were bossing the game. After the second, County’s dictating the game continued but being able to do so 10-15 yards higher up the park than earlier in the first half.

The second half began in that vein also. Carlisle consistently a) failed to get the ball to stick up top and b) consistently had gaps between midfield and defence allowing County space to build in dangerous areas. Carlisle shifted formation to a 4-1-4-1 with Sadi going to an out and out right midfielder and all it really served to do was to make Armstrong even more isolated than he already was.

That said, Carlisle did get a chance 15 minutes into the second as a deep cross was headed across the goal by Harper and wide. This began an extended period of Carlisle pressure to the end of thegame, albeit one that didn’t really produce much more than half chances - a header for Wyke that he couldn’t produce power on, a shot from the edge of the box for the sub Neal until, for the first time, County’s passing game broke down on 78 minutes as an overambitious pass out from Bass led to three chances for Carlisle in a row, forcing a save and a couple of blocks in short succession before Harper cracked the bar after an overhit Jones cross was met on the volley from an acute angle. While Biggins pulled oof a great save from Bass at the death, in truth, Carlisle could have played all night and still rung up a zero in the goals column. If the crumb of relief is that, for much of the second half, it was competitive, that relief must be tempered by the fact that they were competitive only once Notts County had completely taken their foot off the gas. 2-0 flattered Carlisle in spite of the stats - Carlisle dominated on shots, but they weren’t good chances, Carlisle won on possession but the final ball was almost never there.

Standout performers

The goalscoring record of Jatta obviously draws the eye and this was my first time watching him for a full game. What struck me was that, as a coach I know would say, he looked like he was pulling a tractor. He looks like he should be more athletic than he is, if that makes sense - it’s certainly clear why he’s not currently at a higher level. Carlisle have a pedestrian defence yet they matched Jatta on the run save for the opener when the mistake from Thomas allowed him space. What he is, though, is an effective blunt force to offer a long option and to be there and occupy defenders while the ball shifts quickly behind him. Crowley deserves a mention just for being excellent.

Cameron Harper was an interesting one in that he certainly had good touches and times on the ball but his set piece delivery was, save for a shot in the first half, not on the mark. When it comes to Jordan Jones in front of him, when even commentary starts calling him out as not putting much effort it, it’s fair to say that he didn’t have his best day. For Archie Davies on the opposite flank to Harper, his best is as a swashbuckling, galloping wing back forcing his opposing man back - we didn’t see it once as Carlisle’s forays were too few and too static to suit his talents.

Analysis

I tend to subscribe to the view that if you’re a good enough coach, you can get players to adjust to new ideas almost immediately. Some of the more complex patterns and set piece tactics naturally take a bit of time but, at the basic level, every player capable of playing consistently at a professional level knows how to pass the ball around and how to play attractive, explosive football.

So, from a Carlisle perspective, that the passing and pressing game looked uncoordinated and unsettled is something that a top coach as Williamson’s reputation from Gateshead and his early period at MK Dons demands, is concerning. Notts County’s pressing game worked well and disrupted Carlisle’s passing  Carlisle’s press didn’t do the same and while Luke Armstrong is never going to be found lacking for effort, at times it was hard not to feel a little sorry for him aimlessly chasing around trying to press the defence. This was a worse performance than anything under Paul Simpson. Williamson’s ideas may work, but it’s clear already from this that he’s not the standard of manager to turn this ship around at the speed a coach of his reputation should be expected to. The next question is if he can at all.

Notts County, however, are experts at that style and executed it well, albeit looked as if they had little interest in actually getting a win the size that their dominance probably deserved. They can’t continue that trait when playing more dangerous opposition because all they really did for much of the game is pass the ball nicely and play rope-a-dope with United. Eventually, if you do that too much, you get a punch in the mouth and go down. Not tonight and they were never in danger of that.

Signs for the season

County are serious promotion contenders if they take things seriously for 90 minutes. They’ll likely take more confidence from their defensive resilience than from the win itself. Carlisle may have lacked threat, but not pressure.

Carlisle, meanwhile, are probably now in a relegation fight. You don’t get points for being the better side after a game has already been lost and, before that point, Carlisle were absolutely atrocious. The Williamson style didn’t just not work, it actively blew up in their faces and made the bright spots of the bad days earlier this season less effective. Perhaps, it’s unfair to judge that style against a side further on in their journey in playing like that if this was a students vs masters game. But, again, if you’re a good enough coach, that doesn’t really matter. As such, dispensing the relief of the second half performance and focusing on the scary first half performance is as much as you can take.

On that evidence, Carlisle are in for a long season indeed.