The stat that proves Mike Williamson’s positive effect at Carlisle United | OneFootball

It's fair to say that the Blues' supporters haven't been unanimously won over by the head coach.

Some of Carlisle United's supporters are tired of hearing head coach Mike Williamson talk about stats and metrics. The trouble is that he is right about some of the things that he has said.

When you're in a position like Carlisle are in (bottom of League Two) it's totally understandable for people to not care at all about any form of data other than the scoreline on a matchday. Ultimately, Williamson needs more of those to go in his favour to get the Blues into a more comfortable position.

Despite going unbeaten in the month of November and being nominated for League Two's Manager of the Month award, the 2-0 loss at home to Chesterfield brought back some of the disgruntled feeling that had been out in full force in the latter stages of October.

One fairly well-worked goal and another sloppy one was all that the Spireites needed to pick up three points at Brunton Park.

Williamson spoke after the game about box entries and expected goals, which rattled some cages among supporters after Carlisle's 11th loss of the season in just 19 games.

It was a really disappointing performance, everyone is in agreement about that, but as much as hearing about these metrics after defeats may rile some, one of them in particular shows that there has been some improvement under Williamson.

Mike Williamson has had some positive effect on Carlisle United

The defeat on Saturday led to calls for the head coach to be removed from the club. Carlisle have already sacked one manager this season: Paul Simpson. Sacking another is usually the sign of a team that is destined to drop.

Under Simpson, United looked disfunctional going forward. Apart from on the opening day against Gillingham, they just weren't getting into good scoring positions.

According to Sofascore, in the four league games that Simpson took charge of this season, they created a total of two big chances - defined by Opta as: "A situation where a player should reasonably be expected to score."

That works out at an average of 0.5 big chances per game. Since Williamson was appointed in September, 13 league games ago, Carlisle have created 22 big chances at a rate of roughly 1.7 big chances per match.

Williamson hasn't been perfect. The weekend's team selection, although justified by him in the aftermath, was a strange one. He's made other odd tactical moves, like playing Jon Mellish at left wing-back in the loss to Walsall, or using Dominic Sadi as a right-wing back.

There are blemishes, but, as much as they might not mean much to everyone, this aforementioned stat proves that his philosophy and the implementation of it have had a positive effect on the team.

They aren't conceding goals from playing out from the back, as was feared, and they are continually getting into better positions to score.

Individual mistakes are what's hurting Carlisle United

As a coach/manager, there is only so much you can do from the touchline. No matter what your tactical beliefs are, it's ultimately down to the players to go and deliver - you've just got to put them in the best position that you can to help them succeed.

Chesterfield's second goal last Saturday came from two mistakes from Aaron Hayden. Georgie Kelly had two opportunities to score on the day, even though Sadi was considerably offside in the build up, and failed to convert either. They have missed 19 of the 27 big chances that they have had this season. That's just nowhere near good enough.

But, at the end of the day, Williamson isn't the one who can directly affect that. The players can though. If they start taking these chances, a number of which originate from the way that the head coach wants his team to play, Carlisle will end up in a much safer position than they are now.