WHEN Richie Wellens was offered the chance to become the new Swindon Town manager last week, I’m sure he thought about the potential success he could bring and what the future had in store for him in Wiltshire.

But I doubt he ever imagined breaking a club record so soon into his reign as Town’s 4-0 home defeat at the hands of Carlisle United last weekend was the worst result for any Swindon manager in their first game over the club’s 139-year history.

Last Saturday was easily one of the darkest days I’ve endured as a Town fan, sitting inside a quarter-full County Ground watching a lifeless Swindon making Carlisle look like Manchester City.

It would be easy to dump all the blame for Saturday’s disaster at the manager’s door, but his players seriously let him down with their second-half performance.

After only a few days settling into the job, he understandably went with a similar system former boss Phil Brown had used a week earlier, with a couple of changes as Matt Taylor moved into in midfield and Keshi Anderson sat in just behind lone striker Elijah Adebayo.

Over the opening 30 minutes, Town were the better side and should have gone ahead as we saw glimpses of the attacking football the new man had promised.

The turning point came when James Dunne had to leave the field for personal reasons, and we wish him all the best in that matter.

The immediate challenge facing the new manager isn’t the level of ability in his squad, it’s his team’s entire demeanour.

This was on show when Carlisle doubled their lead, heads dropped and they looked a defeated side.

It’s clear the manager can’t wait until January to change what he’s already described as an unbalanced squad.

Over the coming weeks, he’ll discover he has some talented players around him, but he will need to bring in players in key positions to play the style of football he prefers.

If he can create a new atmosphere around his dressing room, results will come eventually.

That starts this weekend as Town travel to Port Vale in a vital game for Wellens as he needs to bounce back from the Carlisle horror show.