Barrow v Oldham match thread

[Jonty]

We were too slow at moving the ball forward, every pass was to a static player, no one running into space off the ball. Frustrating to watch. We deffo missed Hutton and Banks tonight- so positives- they will hopefully be available for Bradford.

[behind the goals]

Cooper can`t lose stay he gets payed sacked he gets payed, after 1 win in 12 league games his job must be on the line, the only thing we learnt tonight is we all know who the bottom 2 will be the other bottom sides can rest easy now and look forward to next season, and I agree with spirit of 1990 our return to the EFL is nothing short of a disaster, we struggled for years in the League and we continue to do so.

[EL CHAS]

Brown and Arthur offered nothing going forward and Hutton ,who knows how to take players on and cross the ball, left on the bench. Woeful.

[Matty]

I must be in the minority that thought Arthur was alright, defensively at least. Much better option than having Jason Taylor back there.

[liverpoolann]

Two very poor teams tonight .We played crap on front of big crowd again.Too slow too much sideways movement desperately missed Banks.Zinzala I think is a good striker for team in next league down.Doesn’t seem fit enough for 90 mins in this one.Doesn’t get a lot of decent service but nothing sticks to him when does get a rare pass to his feet.We are too reliant on gotta and stevens at moment.Yes they have pace but are still young and can be inconsistent.Gordon always works his socks off and needs more support.Jones good shot first half but I think he is too slow .Could easily have lost tonight.Need a good performance next game to keep the crowd attendance up.Won’t judge Cooper yet see who he brings in.Annoying we play better against better sides and struggle with weaker ones.Got to keep the faith.

[Middleton Nick]

Well, what can you say about that. Oldham are the worst side I have seen at Holker St. along with the officials. As for us......... a very laboured performance bereft of any confidence. Tonight was a night to put three points on the board and ease our precarious position but we were dreadful.
I'd swap our FA Cup run for a league win. We are being dragged into the mire.
I would put James on the team sheet before Zanzala.

[Jonty]

Horrendous game between two horrendous sides. Which set of fans were signing "What the [SwearFilter] hell was that?" at the end of the game. Quite apt for the whole night.

I thought their backing was good first half - Things changed second half and a few frustrated chants (aimed at their board I think) and when they took off their number 10 off (which lead to a round of boos) and their keeper started faffing about with short goal kicks the backing turned to frustration and in the end they booed them off. Oldham players went to applaud them at the end but were met with a chorus of boos.
Few boos from our own tonight as well.

[spirit of 1990]

I must be in the minority that thought Arthur was alright, defensively at least. Much better option than having Jason Taylor back there.

I thought the same, Arthur isn’t the answer but he played ok tonight. He actually fired in a few balls towards the box…which at least was better than passing across the half way line constantly.

[boyliegladbach]

Heard a drum for 90 mins, occasionally heard fans from both teams singing over the racket.
Ban the [SwearFilter] things.


We were shit,
Zanzala shit,
Things can only get better

[Adam29]

Brown and Arthur offered nothing going forward and Hutton ,who knows how to take players on and cross the ball, left on the bench. Woeful.

Injured in the warmup

[McMark]

Thought we did ok first half after a shaky start where they looked the sharper of the two sides and created plenty without any cutting edge and that turned out to be the story of the game tbh. Their keeper pulling off two good stops from a Brough header and a deflected shot by Gordon I think the supposed penalty shout was rather over optimistic in my view.
We shuffled the cards second half for what on paper looked like a more attacking formation the introduction of Zanzala and Kay. We carved out an opportunity for Gotts who again forced their keeper into a half decent save. But from then on in we just lacked ideas of how to break down a dogged defence. Josh Gordon as always worked his socks off and got no protection from the man in the middle Speedie who I thought was poor overall. We are really struggling with a few players Mike Jones just doesn’t look fit and Gotts and Stevens try and cover his deficiencies. Festus Arthur started off ok but became a series of unfortunate events as the game went on Connor Brown Similar heart in mouth moments. Kay was just a rabbit in the headlights from his introduction and Zanzala the harder he seams to try the worse it gets.He produced two clearances of note defensively so the guy is trying but sadly it’s not to be. White also try’s to cover for weaknesses elsewhere and it impacts on his game. A real dilemma for those paying the bills who do we keep and who do we take out of the squad second half of the season to accommodate some much needed new blood it won’t come cheap both ways but if we want to continue the football league dream the board need to give Mark Cooper their full backing in making what hopefully will be the right calls. Many sleepless nights to come for supporters and directors alike

[capman]

I am sorry we were like we have benn all seasonThe players need to start earning their kind because at the end of the day one winner and 12 is shit don’t give a [SwearFilter] what anybody thinks anymore they need to take responsibility for it now

[boyliegladbach]

Waiting for the same old interview off the jolly geordie with no pressing questions about how shit we are, but hey we kept a clean sheet.
One win in 13 league games?
Can't score goals

I'd love to to be asking the questions.

[kikka]

A truly awful game to watch ... Oldham seemed to want it more from the outset. Thankfully, they lacked the ability to actually create any chances ... but were obviously very capable of harrassing to the point of fouling at almost every challenge ... a situation made worse by a weak referee who ( unusually ) appeared to unjustly favour the away team.

The Barrow players played as if they all had hangovers ...or as if they knew something that the crowd (who were desperate to see a win after the recent encouraging performances in the cup , the win against Swindon ... and, strangely, the accompanying slide down the table over the last 6 weeks ) did not . The number of backwards or sideways passes ... ( so typical of a side doomed to relegation , or a side bereft of confidence ) was sad to see ... as was the number of times we underhit or over hit passes ...or simply gave the ball away . The need for ( at least one ) cool and positive head in front of goal was plain to see.

We obviously need an influx of positivity and confidence as much as anything else ... I hope the next week or two provides that. The attendance was surprisingly good but the fans ( not to mention the Directors ) deserve a better return for their investment.

[mr_grey]

Zanzala has got to go. He may or may not be the highest paid player, but he’s definitely the worst. I had to leave before the end when he missed another sitter for fear of self combustion. I don’t think I’ve done that before over 50 yrs even when we’ve been thrashed. Yes Oldham parked the bus and with Hutton out we had no penetration down the right. However, after
8 FL games without a goal in open play, if we don’t start scoring we will go down . Simples.

We offered him so much more than Bradford city according to press reporrts so let's see who have the better strikers on new years day