INTERVIEW: A great chance to do good things

We caught up with Lee to find out more about his role with the club.

“I first worked with Keith at Notts County,” he said. “He brought me in to oversee his opposition assessments and I did a lot of scouting for him there. I’ve known him ever since and he spoke to me about this job being something he wanted to move forward with.

“I was excited by the prospect of coming to Carlisle United because the club is lower than where it should be. Hopefully I can help to change that. There’s a good atmosphere at this club and it’s a place where players should be able to perform. Keith likes to have a fun, safe environment and we all buy into that. I enjoy coming to work every day and that can only ever be a good thing.”

On his role with the club, he said: “I’ll do a lot of the organisational and operational behind the scenes stuff for the manager, as well as going out to see the opposition to see if we can identify something we can take into the game so we can get three points.

“I have a good understanding of this level already. I worked for Oldham recently, as well as Notts County, so I’ll be trying to bring that knowledge of players with me. I’ll utilise my network of contacts to identify improvements we can potentially bring into the squad.”

And on his route into the game, he said: “I came into football through my coaching badges. I’m finalising those at the moment. I love football and I like trying to dissect the opposition.

“I worked for Notts County and I was lucky enough that Keith saw something in what I did that made him decide to invite me in on a more permanent basis. I’ll always appreciate that, as I will the fact that Lee Johnson gave me the opportunity I had at Oldham.”

“In terms of players, I know the importance of finding people who fit into the philosophy. We have short and long term visions and I will try and identify a couple of options for Keith so that he can move on it, once he feels comfortable. From what I’ve seen getting the right players in comes down to how you sell the club to them. 

“The geography of the place can be seen as a weakness, but it can also be sold as a strength. Combine that with the messages about club ambition and playing philosophy and you suddenly have an attractive package.”

“As I say, the club needs something in place long term as well. We will now work on setting a structure in place for the scouting and recruitment side of things so that we can move the club forward in a way that will benefit everyone. From what I’ve seen we’ve got a great chance to do good things here. 

“The fact is that in Keith Curle and Colin West the club has got itself two very good people. I was surprised it took so long for them to get back in the game but I know that Carlisle United are going to profit from that. 

“It was surprising that Keith lost his job initially, particularly with a 46% win ratio, but Carlisle United now gets the benefit of that decision. The club now has forward thinking people to take them back to where it should be.”