The Two Paul's Columns from the Barrow v Forest Green Rovers Programme

[Ralph]

THOUGHTS FROM THE CHAIRMAN
By Paul Casson, from the Barrow v Forest Green Rovers programme

And so the second game of a trio of home games that will go some way to defining our season. After the raw emotion of the game against Lincoln City comes another opponent with massive ambition. The collective relief after last Tuesday's victory must be placed firmly in the-rear view mirror as we focus on another team with all the menace and potential of a championship contender. To say they are heavily invested in the promotion chase would be an understatement, particularly after their chairman’s guarantee that they would win the League this year. No pressure then. I make no such guarantee but I do think we will show up and give them a game, and may the best team win.

Hopefully Tuesday's win was the hangover antidote we needed and we can now get about the business of a serious assault on the second half of the season. On a lighter note, our performances in front of the cameras for BT Sports in the National League have been nothing short of spectacular, so I am thinking of installing fake cameras, or perhaps it may encourage the real thing to visit us again before the season’s end. They definitely add an extra air of excitement, but today we will content ourselves with the dulcet tones of Andy Wood and BBC Radio Cumbria. Perhaps he is our good luck charm; we have only lost once at home in a year - and so long may that continue.

To those visiting from Forest Green, a warm welcome. Last year was an entertaining game early in the Paul Cox reign and it started a bit of a revival for us after we came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2. In some real sense, the excitement starts now. Eighteen games remain in the League. In the play-off places and an interesting Trophy game beckons. There are worse places to be.


THE MANAGER’S VIEW
By Paul Cox, from the Barrow v Forest Green Rovers programme

Table-toppers Lincoln City and then second in the table Forest Green Rovers. What a double-header; what a challenge. I’ve heard it said that it would be a week to fear but I quite like a bit of fear. We play well with that bit of fear. I see the devilment in the players’ eyes when the big games come around, when the TV comes to our games. Our work ethic shows we thrive off that bit of fear in our belly and I just want the boys to get back to believing they can achieve if they maintain last Tuesday’s standard of performance that beat Lincoln City.

That was when we are at our best. Our pressing, our work ethic, our willingness to go above and beyond as individuals and as a group I don’t think anyone can complain about the result. We played a team we knew their strengths; we had a game-plan; we nullified their threat and got ourselves into the game and played on the front foot.

You worry at half-time that energy levels will drift away, but we improved even after the break. I thought we deserved the 3-0 result and the performance was more like the old ones.

Today the game with Forest Green will be no different. It will not be beyond us if we do what we are good at. I think we are the best in the business at this level when we play to our potential. We have proved we are a handful for anybody. We have given ourselves a platform now. When you are building as we are, it is very easy for players to lose their heads when you have lost a few games. Then it is about regrouping, getting the energy and getting the confidence levels back into the players. If we slump back to our form after the FA Cup exit, we won’t get the results. When you do lose a couple of games you get a little bit of stick so on Tuesday, when we played the big boys, we answered everybody in the right way.

We were laughing in the dressing-room before the game. It was fun on the bench again. I know it got a bit feisty and there were a few decision to question but that’s football for you. That’s the drug we want, it is what we crave. And we have got to be greedy now and try to achieve this season. The crowd were excellent again, really getting behind the players – so some more of that this afternoon, please. And I hope by now we have been a bit more successful in our player recruiting because there has been no lack of effort in that department.