Rochdale v Barrow: Match thread

[Suffolk Blue]

We looked a team lacking in confidence. Noticed the players becoming frustrated and having ago at each other for individual mistakes - never a good sign.

I've gone through that phase myself of thinking that something dreadful is wrong without working out quite what it is. I've also passed through the "it always happens to us" phase and the "this is why nobody ever takes us seriously" phase.

But in actual fact I think SDS has hit the nail on the head. Strange as it may be that team that was playing so well and with so much self-confidence can simply stop doing so and then start to play with a total lack of confidence, I think it pretty much sums up the current position. You can't really argue that we have been blighted by mass injuries or suspensions and Bennett hasn't played all season. So we are roughly the same team that had us all purring in August.

Frustrating as this may be to PW he needs to understand that breaking this current mental malaise is his responsibility just as much as setting them up tactically or ensuring they are well conditioned. This is mainly a psychological challenge and modern-day managers have to be skilled aspect of the game too. PW needs to find a way of breaking this current cycle. I'm not sure he's encountered this type of issue before and there are aspects of it that feel (at least to me) quite Barrovian. But if he is to become a better manager, he needs to be able to respond to this type of challenge.

[andyg]

Yes agree to a point that Wild needs to find a way but there is another aspect to all this the players themselves. They need to take personal responsibility on the pitch. For those who have played regularly at whatever level once the player crosses the white line there is only so much a manager can do. The leaders of the team need to come to the fore and simply lead hopefully by example but also by encouragement when things do not go right. So who are our leaders? I can't answer that but we do need noisy senior professionals urging and helping other to get through this bad patch asap.

[Hadrian]

Interesting to look at possession stats in this season's League games, according to BBC and Sky Sports (same source, one imagines the PA).

We have only won one of the four League games where we have had a majority of the possession throughout the game. Average possession: 54.25%

We have won six of the eight League games where we have had a minority of the possession throughout the game. Average possession: 41%

(Against Tranmere, possession was shared.)

My impression of the team in August and September was that they put a huge effort into unsettling defences in their own defensive third. I have only seen two of the last four League games but in those that I have seen I would suggest that against both Orient and Mansfield we worried the opposition, looking the more impressive, indeed expansive, side until they scored, at which point our team sagged somewhat and our opponents further changed their style of play to frustrate ours. (From what I have read of those two sides, they had anyway modified their usual style of play to visit Holker Street, a compliment, I guess.)

[behind the goals]

Can some of the younger forum members explain what is a Modern Day Footballer/Manager hear it all the time, end of the day you win by scoring more goals than the other team.

[Suffolk Blue]

Can some of the younger forum members explain what is a Modern Day Footballer/Manager hear it all the time, end of the day you win by scoring more goals than the other team.

I take your point. I'm sure Bill Shankly GRHS were he here would say that this was a load of psycho-bollox. But then he might also suggest by the standards of his day that professional sportsman claiming to have mental health issues was totally laughable and God knows what he would have made of issues such as the treatment of gay footballers or gender identity.

Like it or not the times we live in are a bit different these days and a positive mental attitude both individual and collective can have as much an impact on performance as ability. I think thats why we hear so much these days about "losing the dressing room". The problem for our "modern day" manager is that the type of issues we are talking about happen outside of his direct sphere of influence. It tends to be a reaction that happens within the squad. So it will probably be as baffling to PW as it is to us. Thats why it is a challenge.

In so far what was happening in August it occurs to me that our expected goals tally at that time was not that great. Our conversion rate of those chances however was much higher. We were also scoring goals at critical points in games when the impact of scoring had more effect. Suggests our exalted position was higher than perhaps our overall performances would normally warrant. Further that once that X factor started to fall away (inevitable you might suggest) it would not take much for our results to tip the other way. But it also may suggest that just as we weren't as good as we might have thought, neither are we actually as bad as recent performances might indicate. Thats what PW has to get to grips with.

[AyrToBarra]

I'd love to have known Bill Shankly's thoughts on Instagram and Tik Tok! Football is 24/7 now thanks to the explosion of media channels, not a good development in my view.

Dealing with the mayhem caused by players/fans/players v fans on social media when things go belly up must form a part of the managerial job these days even at lower levels. Especially when you're dealing with young lads with varying degrees of sensitivity.