Mick Wadsworth, the former Carlisle United title-winner, was the unfortunate victim of Pools’ imagined high standards in December 2011.

Now, you can pause here and allow yourself a moment’s hilarity at the thought of mid-table in the third tier not being deemed good enough for Hartlepool, but then read on, because there is relevance here.

Wadsworth, midway through the 2011/12 campaign, had overseen a more than reasonable return of five wins from nine away games. His crime, and that of his team, was that at home they were dreadful.

By the time the Monkey Hangers strung Wadsworth up, they had lost seven on the spin at Victoria Park. “Although the away performances have yielded some results, regrettably the last seven home defeats have been of concern and it was felt that a fresh direction was required,” Pools said in a statement.

The wider picture and balance of results was thought less important than the notion they were stinking the place out in front of their majority audience, the place where the tone tends to be set.

Home form cost Mick Wadsworth at Hartlepool despite away success (Image: LOUISE PORTER)

And whether you think this an unfair conclusion, that a broader reading of overall performance ought to have preserved a manager like Wadsworth, the truth is that home is often where the heart is – and where judgement is frequently made.

How you fare at headquarters can have excess weight on the outlook. Think of the many managerial tipping points we have seen at Carlisle United over the years and it is striking how many have come at Brunton Park.

Very recently, Mark Hughes reached the end at home. It may have been in the context of a narrow play-off semi-final defeat, but the wider sentiment was linked to the fact it was at home, with a big, expectant crowd and an up-for-it atmosphere that was quickly deflated by Carlisle’s passive start to the game.

This joined other factors in the club hierarchy’s decision to spin away from Hughes and seek a different brand of football through Rob Elliot. Hughes’ three predecessors also came to an end at Brunton Park. Mike Williamson’s Waterloo was a 5-1 defeat to Swindon Town that somehow felt worse because it happened in front of so many weary Cumbrian eyes. Paul Simpson’s last game, a 2-1 defeat to Tranmere Rovers, was nothing like as bad as a couple of the away defeats that preceded it, but that Brunton Park hosted it felt decisive.

Keith Millen's final act was watching his team stamped on by Swindon and a gleeful Harry McKirdy, who returned to BP and trashed the place. Earlier, a home defeat to Port Vale brought Greg Abbott’s reign to an end. Older fans will recall the angst that sent Clive Middlemass to the exit following a 4-0 home humbling to Gillingham in 1991.

Others have fallen in irredeemable away games (Graham Kavanagh, John Ward, Steven Pressley, Chris Beech) but things still tend to feel heavier at home. This isn’t just about managers and sackings but the general climate. Carlisle, plainly, are minded to keep backing Rob Elliot at the moment and it was significant that a brutal home defeat (the 5-2 loss to Woking) did not prove the tipping point many had predicted.

Carlisle need to limit their frustrations at home if they are to grow this season (Image: Richard Parkes)

Yet there remains a risk, if Carlisle do not fix it soon, of Brunton Park becoming a place of growing trouble for themselves. United are four games without a victory at home and while this might not be crisis territory in itself – the Blues did not win in 13 home games during 2024/25, for heaven’s sake – this sequence cannot grow if United are to continue thinking themselves a team that can do anything significant this campaign.

Tom Lawrence, the chief executive, in interviews this week admitted that the title is unrealistic – quite the position to consider, after only 13 league games. The play-offs ought to remain achievable for a side in United's position that gets its act together, yet Carlisle need to build a far stronger home record than they have managed so far.

It took between 12 and 18 home wins to make the play-offs last season. The lowest side in that group – seventh-placed Forest Green Rovers – earned 15 home wins from 23 games, and 50 points in total at home at an average of 2.17.

Early days still now, to a point, but there is clear room for improvement bearing in mind Carlisle have only two home wins from seven and are averaging 1.29 points per game at home.

The business of gathering league points is set aside today, but a home FA Cup tie may not be of the meagre importance some imagine. The idea of Carlisle looking good and being good at Brunton Park requires focus whatever the competition and no matter the circumstances, and a convincing day’s work against Tamworth this afternoon can brighten the short-term picture.

Equally, another flawed effort on Warwick Road can have the opposite effect, and leave something lingering in the same way last weekend’s dour 0-0 draw with Kidderminster Harriers did. Had that featured away from home in a spell of seven points from three, things might have felt quite differently.

“I think there’s a mindset we need to get over at home,” Elliot said this week, referring to the younger players in his squad and the pressure they need to conquer at Brunton Park. If this is to prove a lasting issue then it would raise certain questions about United’s recruitment.

It would also fail to offer those determined to keep believing enough to hold onto. On top of this, it is never a good idea to present your worst at the place where the majority are most invested in your aptitude – fans and decision-makers – so, for more reasons than may feel comfortable, Carlisle must make us smile again at Brunton Park. As soon as possible.