Aldershot Town match thread

[Pedro]

We only have one style give Cook the ball and hope he scores.

The opposition can isolate him and that's Barrows scoring chances gone.

We struggled last season to get promoted and really we have not got any better players.
Obviously had Norman Bodell scouting for us hence the lousy players recruited.

[Jim]

Obviously had Norman Bodell scouting for us hence the lousy players recruited.

It's hard to tell whether we have recruited lousy players or not as we have hardly seen some of them!

[Bluebird_john]

We need an experienced centre back and a winger. Pilks, arguably our best player on his day, cant seem to get a run of games, and Haworth just [SwearFilter] me off. Once he gets the ball he loses it, realistically, at least 70% of the time. that short step 'sprint' he does to make it look like hes killing himself to get to the ball then backs out, probably being too harsh but lately he hasnt impressed me at all. E. Newby a chance on tuesday please edmo

[SayitagainSam]

This is my very first post.

I'm a Senior from Ulverston, been involved in the game as a player and manager for 60+ years. There have been many excellent posts a lot I agree with. I have a hunch PC reads them as he seems to be a 'hands-on' guy, evidenced by the fact he flew over last week from the USA for an eye-ball to eye-ball with DE regarding the early disappointing results. PC would probably also want to know the 'lay of the land' with the supporters who are the life-blood of any professional Club. Barrow AFC is his club, he's made a serious financial investment, plans to increase it in the future, and as a businessman he needs to be involved personally to ensure the balance sheet is in the black and does not bleed money.

Regret to say I am not one of the 800-1200 diehard AFC fans, I'm in the 1200-2700 'floating' fans, that's 1500 of us. That's a lot and we are needed to ensure the Club is successful and viable. I don't expect to see the Bluebirds win every game, and I wouldn't stop attending home games if we lost a few, but I will stop attending if I think the Manager hasn't a clue and his team and tactics frustrate me to the point I say "Rubbish I've had enough"!

So firstly, given the positives that A. Barrow won their league last year and B. Rome isn't built in a day, I have to seriously question where the Club is right now and where it is going this season. From what I've seen from 2 home games so far and considering only those players I've seen on the field, not those sitting on the bench or in the stands:

#1. Barrow did NOT sign well in the off-season. (Transfer deadline closed now I understand). There are no new stand out players. Really, by and large, the new players are just a continuation of the ditched players. Same old, same old.

#2. I cannot fathom DE's strategy or tactics. If I ever got the chance to have a cup of coffee with him, I'd respectfully ask:

A. In common with almost everyone, I'd ask WHY the big boot up the field, from the goalie virtually every time, and from Grand and Livesey, most of the time? When Barrow have the ball it seems I'm watching a Netball or Volleyball game and not a FOOTball game. Keeping possession is critical, that's how a team scores. Giving the ball away is how the opposition scores. High balls into the opposition defence gives their center backs who are facing the ball, a 90% chance of winning it. Only Cook has a chance to head on, as Walker, Symington, Rae-Harvey and others are not 6' tall, barely 5' 6". The 'hoof up the middle' appears to me on the terraces to be Barrow's sole attacking tactic.

B. WHY does the goalie not throw the ball out wide to one fullback or the other, then PASS the ball, short, ON THE GROUND, through the mid-field? In other words, work the ball up the field from the back-line to the mid-field to the forwards. I think it's probably because, Barrow does not possess any ball-playing, ball-carrying, mid-field generals, ala Paul Scholes. The mid-field is the engine room of any team and Barrow seem to have no distinguishing or dominant mid-fielders, to hold the ball, to slow the game down, to slot a through pass. These type of players are conspicuous by their absence in the Barrow team.

C. WHY do Barrow not play with any width? Other teams do. From touchline to touchline the field is very wide, but Barrow seem only to use the middle strip, about half the width available. School boy stuff. Cristiano Ronaldo 'camps' himself on the touchline, much like Johnny Giles used to for Leeds Utd. (showing my age now). With width you create space, so mid-field wide-outs like Pilkington and Howarth can pass on thro' balls to Cook, Walker and Wilson.

Could say more, but I've used up more than my equal time. Please understand I am not trying to be overly negative, I'm trying to be constructively critical, because I want the team to succeed, but DE is not demonstrating to me and others where his head is regarding strategy and tactics. We actually don't have a style of play at the moment that I could put my finger on, except for 'kick and run'.

Football Management is a precarious occupation. You keep your job based on results. DE and his coaches can only work with the players they have unfortunately, but they need to CHANGE their approach NOW and 'get with the programme', otherwise Barrow will languish in the bottom half of the table, just above the bottom four.

For next Season, PC MUST GET HIS CHEQUE BOOK OUT AND BUY SOME MUCH BETTER PLAYERS and probably hire a NEW MANAGER too.

Meanwhile, best of luck to all concerned!

[Middleton Nick]

You seem a sensible chap Sam.If you go on a regular basis you will end up crackers and frustrated like the rest of us .Some valid points.You have to keep the faith.

[Wintergreen]

" We actually don't have a style of play at the moment that I could put my finger on, except for 'kick and run'. "

Welcome to my world...

[Moonwatcher]

This is my very first post.

I'm a Senior from Ulverston, been involved in the game as a player and manager for 60+ years. There have been many excellent posts a lot I agree with. I have a hunch PC reads them as he seems to be a 'hands-on' guy, evidenced by the fact he flew over last week from the USA for an eye-ball to eye-ball with DE regarding the early disappointing results. PC would probably also want to know the 'lay of the land' with the supporters who are the life-blood of any professional Club. Barrow AFC is his club, he's made a serious financial investment, plans to increase it in the future, and as a businessman he needs to be involved personally to ensure the balance sheet is in the black and does not bleed money.

Regret to say I am not one of the 800-1200 diehard AFC fans, I'm in the 1200-2700 'floating' fans, that's 1500 of us. That's a lot and we are needed to ensure the Club is successful and viable. I don't expect to see the Bluebirds win every game, and I wouldn't stop attending home games if we lost a few, but I will stop attending if I think the Manager hasn't a clue and his team and tactics frustrate me to the point I say "Rubbish I've had enough"!

So firstly, given the positives that A. Barrow won their league last year and B. Rome isn't built in a day, I have to seriously question where the Club is right now and where it is going this season. From what I've seen from 2 home games so far and considering only those players I've seen on the field, not those sitting on the bench or in the stands:

#1. Barrow did NOT sign well in the off-season. (Transfer deadline closed now I understand). There are no new stand out players. Really, by and large, the new players are just a continuation of the ditched players. Same old, same old.

#2. I cannot fathom DE's strategy or tactics. If I ever got the chance to have a cup of coffee with him, I'd respectfully ask:

A. In common with almost everyone, I'd ask WHY the big boot up the field, from the goalie virtually every time, and from Grand and Livesey, most of the time? When Barrow have the ball it seems I'm watching a Netball or Volleyball game and not a FOOTball game. Keeping possession is critical, that's how a team scores. Giving the ball away is how the opposition scores. High balls into the opposition defence gives their center backs who are facing the ball, a 90% chance of winning it. Only Cook has a chance to head on, as Walker, Symington, Rae-Harvey and others are not 6' tall, barely 5' 6". The 'hoof up the middle' appears to me on the terraces to be Barrow's sole attacking tactic.

B. WHY does the goalie not throw the ball out wide to one fullback or the other, then PASS the ball, short, ON THE GROUND, through the mid-field? In other words, work the ball up the field from the back-line to the mid-field to the forwards. I think it's probably because, Barrow does not possess any ball-playing, ball-carrying, mid-field generals, ala Paul Scholes. The mid-field is the engine room of any team and Barrow seem to have no distinguishing or dominant mid-fielders, to hold the ball, to slow the game down, to slot a through pass. These type of players are conspicuous by their absence in the Barrow team.

C. WHY do Barrow not play with any width? Other teams do. From touchline to touchline the field is very wide, but Barrow seem only to use the middle strip, about half the width available. School boy stuff. Cristiano Ronaldo 'camps' himself on the touchline, much like Johnny Giles used to for Leeds Utd. (showing my age now). With width you create space, so mid-field wide-outs like Pilkington and Howarth can pass on thro' balls to Cook, Walker and Wilson.

Could say more, but I've used up more than my equal time. Please understand I am not trying to be overly negative, I'm trying to be constructively critical, because I want the team to succeed, but DE is not demonstrating to me and others where his head is regarding strategy and tactics. We actually don't have a style of play at the moment that I could put my finger on, except for 'kick and run'.

Football Management is a precarious occupation. You keep your job based on results. DE and his coaches can only work with the players they have unfortunately, but they need to CHANGE their approach NOW and 'get with the programme', otherwise Barrow will languish in the bottom half of the table, just above the bottom four.

For next Season, PC MUST GET HIS CHEQUE BOOK OUT AND BUY SOME MUCH BETTER PLAYERS and probably hire a NEW MANAGER too.

Meanwhile, best of luck to all concerned!

Some interesting points there regarding the disappointing player recruitement over the summer. I think all of us expected better.
I will however challenge some of your comments about the style of play. You say yourself that you are only an occasional visitor to matches, and you have no doubt witnessed some unquestionably poor, uncultured football....of which there has been plenty, I grant you. However, the most infuriating aspect of the current team and management is that they CAN and often DO play intelligent football. Last Tuesday, for example. The tactics, team selection and formation were spot on against an admittedly pretty ordinary Lincoln City. At times we looked a decent outfit, kept possession, moved the ball with pace and intelligence. At Halifax, for 80 minutes, we played some really good football. Against Dover Athletic we worked two excellent goals. High flying, and free spending Eastleigh were sent packing after we did a solid, professional job on them. We CAN and DO play with width. In almost every game this season, and going back into last season, when we also pretty dire at times, there have been patches of good, incisive football.....and most of our goals have come from those periods. When we resort to alehouse football we generally don't score goals.
Your comments regarding Joel Dixon's distribution are unfounded. His distribution yesterday was admittedly erratic, but generally this season he has been good - preferring as you suggest, to quickly feed the ball underarm to an available fullback, usually Ashton, whenever possible, to encourage a build up from the back. Long punts upfield?.....what else is the lad expected to do when he's given endless backpasses like yesterday?
This team can play football the right way. Why they don't all the time is a mystery. Perhaps it's the management's default mindset, perhaps it's a confidence thing - certainly belief does seem to be fragile at times. We struggled yesterday because Aldershot were too smart for us, and you know what? ...that will happen many more times before next May.
We're all disappointed about yesterday. We were all delighted on Tuesday. It's feast or famine every week, that's what it's like when you're a Barrow fan. This team will win some games, and lose some games. Let's get over ourselves.

[Blue and white]

The midfield of any team is the engine room , it brakes up play , and create's play, the fact is if u asked Barrow fans , who's your midfield 4 , each person would say a different 4 ! I don't think Edmo knows ! Aldershot were passing it around our midfield for fun at times , we just need a settled Central midfield then the team kicks on ! As for Cook , he will score 20+ in this division , his game is more than a big man up top, good in the air and decent on the deck , and fights for the ball all day , he's done well so far given the lack of service he should be getting ! It's great too see Wilson back now, will really help Cook and our forward play.

[Moonwatcher]

The midfield of any team is the engine room , it brakes up play , and create's play, the fact is if u asked Barrow fans , who's your midfield 4 , each person would say a different 4 ! I don't think Edmo knows ! Aldershot were passing it around our midfield for fun at times , we just need a settled Central midfield then the team kicks on ! As for Cook , he will score 20+ in this division , his game is more than a big man up top, good in the air and decent on the deck , and fights for the ball all day , he's done well so far given the lack of service he should be getting ! It's great too see Wilson back now, will really help Cook and our forward play.

I think when we are moaning about long balls up to Cooky it might sound like we're criticising Cooky himself, and we are most certainly not. As you quite rightly say, there is much, much more to Andy Cook's game than aerial strength. His work rate is phenomenal, he has good feet, and contrary to popular folklore he is no slouch when covering the ground. Although he still shows his frustration at times (and let's face it, playing in this team would frustrate anybody...) I even think he has curbed his petulant streak. He's a top quality player, arguably one of very few we have at the club.
As for Ant Wilson...he has a bit of expectation on his shoulders, and is overdue for a change of luck.

[blue nige]

Part of the problem is edmo sets the team up using 2 wingers but as everyone knows this rarely happens,when we do get width we look good,the reason that dixon boots it is half the time is that he looks around and NOBODY seems to want it!

edmo has to decide a format to play and stick with it but we seem to loose our shape far too quickly when "plan a" goes wrong!

[Smoggie]

You cant blame the keeper for kicking the ball, if you dont have full backs or midfield dropping to provide options / angles he is left with very little choice. The lads need to have the confidence to want the ball, but also need a midfield to play it through, which we do rarely but we do, we look a lot more like a football team than long ball one. Edmo needs to find his best midfield with some creativity in there without that we will just continue hitting the long hopless balls to poor Cookie who is getting frustrated. Lets hope for a better result tomorrow at Macc.

[blue nige]

Having watched aldershots goals the last 2 are shocking,the second goal marking is pathetic,as for the last one,starts with symington daydreaming,not being aware where his man is,then cowps is looking can see the danger he then should come across and at least attempt to get near him,then grand just makes barely any effort to at least make the shot more difficult,just lazy couldn`t care less attitude which isn`t good enough for this level !

[Moonwatcher]

You cant blame the keeper for kicking the ball, if you dont have full backs or midfield dropping to provide options / angles he is left with very little choice. The lads need to have the confidence to want the ball, but also need a midfield to play it through, which we do rarely but we do, we look a lot more like a football team than long ball one. Edmo needs to find his best midfield with some creativity in there without that we will just continue hitting the long hopless balls to poor Cookie who is getting frustrated. Lets hope for a better result tomorrow at Macc.

All true. Simon Grand is usually the scapegoat in the long ball argument, but more often than not Grandy has no other option available to him. Many times in a game he has the ball at his feet, is looking for options, looking for an outlet, gets closed down and has to clear it long. The team desperately needs a centre mid who WANTS the ball, a player who is the conduit for everything, an "engine room". In the past we have been blessed with such players - Wayne Bullimore, Graham Anthony, Kenny Lowe, Mark Boyd, Darren Sheridan to name but a few. All players who were comfortable with the ball at their feet, had good vision, and could create an opening with a decent pass. Maybe Dave Mellor was signed to be that kind of player...?

[The Real Slim Azza]

Wow! You don't realise how far away Symington is away from his man until you watch the highlights

image.jpg (49.86 KiB) Viewed 2650 times

[The Real Slim Azza]

All true. Simon Grand is usually the scapegoat in the long ball argument, but more often than not Grandy has no other option available to him. Many times in a game he has the ball at his feet, is looking for options, looking for an outlet, gets closed down and has to clear it long. The team desperately needs a centre mid who WANTS the ball, a player who is the conduit for everything, an "engine room". In the past we have been blessed with such players - Wayne Bullimore, Graham Anthony, Kenny Lowe, Mark Boyd, Darren Sheridan to name but a few. All players who were comfortable with the ball at their feet, had good vision, and could create an opening with a decent pass. Maybe Dave Mellor was signed to be that kind of player...?

He is no scapegoat, its just every time he gets the ball at his feet he just punts it long.

Just keep an eye on it at the next game you attend. Gets the ball , looks high and forward, puts it out for a goal kick.

Its a serious problem, we can't keep giving away the ball over and over again.

Teams will murder us.