Williamson may have walked before MK Dons had the chance to push him

After losing six of the opening eight games this season, MK Dons are in search of a new head coach, but not for the reason the stats would suggest.

Mike Williamson's departure does not come as a result of frustration from the board, pained at the way the season has panned out so far, and indeed the way last season ended. Instead, they are cashing a cheque from Carlisle United.

The 338-day reign at Stadium MK is one which sees him walk away with 22 wins in 46 matches, but he Williamson must surely be defined on the 19 defeats as the consistency he so craved constantly evaded him.

A brilliant opening couple of months at the club dragged Dons from the depths of League Two back into contention for promotion again. Dropping just seven points from 30 in his first ten games in charge, Williamson was the saviour, bringing about a return of a type of football the club wanted to see.

But the turn of the year brought about a turn in fortunes. Losing on New Year's Day to Doncaster Rovers - a team with two points from five games - in a pitiful 3-0 defeat was a shock to the system, and the first sign of trouble for Williamson's Dons. After their trip to south Yorkshire, the only thing consistent about the side was their away form, and it was dreadful.

Only three times for the remainder of the season would Dons not lose directly after a victory, and only four times would they win on the road. Not just defeats though, there were pastings too. Former boss Graham Alexander dished out a 4-0 thumping at Bradford and would-be champions Stockport County staked their claim for the title with a 5-0 demolition on TV. Then, there were the 'not us' performances at Grimsby, Barrow and, painfully, at AFC Wimbledon - 1-0 defeats where the team did not look like they even bothered getting off the bus, let alone laying hands on teams they should have been beating.

But the fight for automatic promotion was only extinguished a few weeks before the end of the season, and Dons went into the play-offs as the highest finisher. Taking on a Crawley Town side who snuck into the top seven in the dying minutes of the regular season though only led to the most historic defeat in play-off history.

The jury was out on Williamson, seven months into his tenure, but he was given the benefit of the doubt. He was working with a mish-mash of eras at Stadium MK - signings from previous head coaches, squeezing square pegs into round holes. Or so we thought.

Given the summer to build his team, he brought in 15 new faces - players in his mould, players he sought to play his style of football, and admittedly, players everyone was excited to see sign for the club. New owners took over, the budgets got inflated, the possibilities seemed limitless.

But within five minutes of the new season, the man Williamson replaced would be smiling once again, seeing his Bradford side 2-0 up at Stadium MK before some fans had even taken their seats.

Things haven't much improved. Two home wins aside, away form has been embarrassingly bad, and the less said about last Saturday's defeat at Plough Lane the better.

Fahad Al Ghanim's approach thus far appears to have a focus on the long-term at MK Dons. Pressure from on high was not levelled directly at Williamson, so it is understood, barely six weeks after the takeover. Perhaps not wanting to be seen as a chairman willing to wield the axe at the first sign of trouble, Carlisle's approach earlier this week may well have gotten Mr Al Ghanim out of an awkward conversation down the line.

But the same could be said for Williamson too. Cutting a lost-looking figure during Tuesday's night's Bristol Street Motors Trophy defeat at Colchester - their second loss in Essex already this season - the head coach looked powerless as his side struggled again to turn chances into goals. Walking before he was likely pushed saved him that indignity.

Carlisle, one of few teams to have had a worse start to the season than Dons, even losing at Stadium MK last month, can rarely claim they have geography on their side, but when it comes to luring Williamson, it will have played a big part in his decision to leave. Commuting from the nort-east to MK, where he played for Newcastle and managed Gateshead, the family-oriented Williamson saw little of his loved ones and will have been an incentive to take up the role at Brunton Park.

Rather than a sacking then, which has been the case with eight of the last ten heads at Stadium MK, Williamson has opted for pastures new. For him, it is a new challenge in a new location. For Dons, it is the same result they may have had to prompt in a few weeks anyway, but a much cleaner cut.