Barrow v Cambridge match thread

[Adam29]

No he didn't,he was in charge of the dross served up v S'thorpe

I seem to remember that the Mail had him taking charge of that game but he said wasn't in charge, and sat in the stand.

David Dunn was sacked after Crawley away
Scunthorpe was the game after that which was Rob Kelly’s first game as caretaker manager
The 3 games were:

15th December: Scunthorpe 2-1 Barrow
19th December: Barrow 3-0 Cheltenham
26th December: Port Vale 0-2 Barrow (Michael Jolley in the stand watching)

[Mark Johnson]

I seem to remember that the Mail had him taking charge of that game but he said wasn't in charge, and sat in the stand.

David Dunn was sacked after Crawley away
[SwearFilter] was the game after that which was Rob Kelly’s first game as caretaker manager
The 3 games were:

15th December: [SwearFilter] 2-1 Barrow
19th December: Barrow 3-0 Cheltenham
26th December: Port Vale 0-2 Barrow (Michael Jolley in the stand watching)

Interesting that Jolly would have seen a 3-0 vs Cheltenham and a 2-0 vs Port Vale but still saw that he needed to make 8 new signings

[spirit of 1990]

Hopefully get Frost in for Tuesday and play a couple of behind closed for games this week to get some cohesiveness and structure with those fit and well. Gives our injured time to recover too!

I also was wondering about behind doors games to get them up to speed, I read a article on a L2 club who has a large squad & their manager has arranged games saying “We need everyone game fit and raring to go” Have we done something similar or intend doing it when we have a chance to?

We have that many players we could field two teams to play each other, there’d be millions of defensive errors and both teams still wouldn’t score.

[whitty1969]

Really poor performance yesterday.
Why so many changes ?
Defence was looking okay. Problem area was the midfield and the urgent need for another striker.
Quality of the new players dont look any different to what we had.
Seems to me we have repeated the same mistakes we made with Dunn.
Hope I'm wrong.
Just hoping there are 2 worse teams than us or not something I want. But a null and Void National league season.
Unfortunately based on the last few games, poor team selection, playing people out of position I'm afraid we are heading back to where we came from.

[Reginald]

Yeah. I am all for giving the new manager and new team a chance to find their feet and gel but, I really feel the damage has been done and its now that wee bit to late.
Its a double header for me in terms of not only the impending soul destroying relegation back to the National League but, the ensuing trouble the club would be in on relegation-i.e. losing all the players we have and recruiting again for a new manager and a new team. Add to that the fact that you automatically become the whipping boys for that league makes it all quite disturbing really.We will have the best ground in national league north the season after next.

[Jonty]

One player was the main difference between the two sides yesterday. Hoolahan brings to Cambridge the type of playmaker we had been missing at the start of the season. It was the one area above all others that Dunn needed to address pre season. He didn’t and the team couldn't play through midfield any more.
Now we have changed manager, brought in a raft of new players, took on a whole new approach as we try “find a way”, when there is a strong argument that we were only ever one creative midfielder from picking up from where we left off last season, with the majority of last season’s players still playing a key part.
It was fed to us that its a big step up, that we had to change to adapt. I'm sorry i am just not convinced that there was that much needed to change, but to address the gap left behind by Rooney’s departure. 19 goals from midfield and countless assists and a set pieces. Why oh why did we not go all out to address this.

[Hadrian]

Hoolahan is aged 38.

Perhaps some will pause for thought in future before decrying anyone over 28 as "legs have gone"?

Perhaps not.

[Il Metronomo]

Hoolahan was never much of an athlete. He can play into his late 30s and still flourish in this league because his technical quality, intelligence and composure on the ball far exceeds that of the average League Two player.

Unfortunately for someone like Chris Taylor, once his legs have gone you're not left with much else.

[McMark]

I still can’t believe we extended the deal for Chris Taylor, he’s basically an anchorman these days! We already had that covered in Jason Taylor. Think Jason was more of a leader and offered greater versatility to cover at the back too!

[Jonty]

Hoolahan was never much of an athlete. He can play into his late 30s and still flourish in this league because his technical quality, intelligence and composure on the ball far exceeds that of the average League Two player.

Unfortunately for someone like Chris Taylor, once his legs have gone you're not left with much else.

As with Augustien. Tech ability, composure, and that bit of magic in his boots. But no, far too old to be pulling the strings in midfield.

[SayitagainSam]

Wes Hoolahan has 43 full International Caps for Republic of Ireland. He hasn't lost his class and quality even at 38 and even with little 5' 6" legs. Our est. 43 +/- players don't have a single full International Cap between the lot of them. And the difference showed yesterday. Cambridge signed him in July 2020 on a FREE TRANSFER from Newcastle and that one smart signing alone outweighs the last 20+ for Barrow, by Messrs Dunn and Jolley, judging from what we've seen this Season. Good scouting for one key mid-fielder (ala John Rooney or Wes Hoolahan) is paramount (plus another Striker) and will make all the difference as others around him will lift their games. Paul Scholes only left Salford recently. Anyone know his phone #?

[Jonty]

Wes Hoolahan has 43 full International Caps for Republic of Ireland. He hasn't lost his class and quality even at 38 and even with little 5' 6" legs. Our est. 43 +/- players don't have a single full International Cap between the lot of them. And the difference showed yesterday. Cambridge signed him in July 2020 on a FREE TRANSFER from Newcastle and that one smart signing alone outweighs the last 20+ for Barrow, by Messrs Dunn and Jolley, judging from what we've seen this Season. Good scouting for one key mid-fielder (ala John Rooney or Wes Hoolahan) is paramount (plus another Striker) and will make all the difference as others around him will lift their games. Paul Scholes only left Salford recently. Anyone know his phone #?

Agree, was number one priority in summer, but that was then. Jolley taking us down a different route and the dynamic of the team and game plan has shifted.

[Hitthebar22]

Wes Hoolahan has 43 full International Caps for Republic of Ireland. He hasn't lost his class and quality even at 38 and even with little 5' 6" legs. Our est. 43 +/- players don't have a single full International Cap between the lot of them. And the difference showed yesterday. Cambridge signed him in July 2020 on a FREE TRANSFER from Newcastle and that one smart signing alone outweighs the last 20+ for Barrow, by Messrs Dunn and Jolley, judging from what we've seen this Season. Good scouting for one key mid-fielder (ala John Rooney or Wes Hoolahan) is paramount (plus another Striker) and will make all the difference as others around him will lift their games. Paul Scholes only left Salford recently. Anyone know his phone #?

Neil Eardley has 16 caps for Wales.

[HenneysKnee]

Cambridge signed him in July 2020 on a FREE TRANSFER from Newcastle

Newcastle Jets

[SayitagainSam]

Wes Hoolahan has 43 full International Caps for Republic of Ireland. He hasn't lost his class and quality even at 38 and even with little 5' 6" legs. Our est. 43 +/- players don't have a single full International Cap between the lot of them. And the difference showed yesterday. Cambridge signed him in July 2020 on a FREE TRANSFER from Newcastle and that one smart signing alone outweighs the last 20+ for Barrow, by Messrs Dunn and Jolley, judging from what we've seen this Season. Good scouting for one key mid-fielder (ala John Rooney or Wes Hoolahan) is paramount (plus another Striker) and will make all the difference as others around him will lift their games. Paul Scholes only left Salford recently. Anyone know his phone #?

Neil Eardley has 16 caps for Wales.

Oops #1.