Harrogate v Barrow match thread

[andyg]

Okay, the season didn't start til September - we had 2 wins by the middle of December, and we've already got half that number.

Do you think this side is better or worse?

Not a lot between them, IMO. Dixon is a better goalkeeper than Farman; Quigley is a better striker than any we've brought in although Zanzala is a decent replacement; Hutton is a good replacement for Brad Barry; Gordon is pretty nippy but doesn't seem to achieve all that much; Ellis is good in the air but has given 2 goals away by backing off because he's scared of being one on one with a forward as he's pretty slow. Not as good as Tom Davies IMO. The only significant area of improvement is midfield where White is significantly better than those who played last season plus Banks is playing well. Unless we get a decent goalscorer to play with Zanzala or Sea makes a dramatic improvement, I'd be surprised if we finish higher than the bottom 6 and will keep my fingers crossed that we're out of the relegation zone. We've now had 2 games against Exeter and Harrogate which should have been 6 points as neither side did anything against us but by a combination of a lack of fire power and in the Harrogate match terrible defensive mistakes we've ended up with 1 point. We'll play better teams than those 2 and will be in trouble if we can't win games where the oppoitin do next to nothing.

Dixon made a few errors last season think they are the same standard. Agree midfield better plus need another forward if possible. Maybe Arthur will come through and Platt and Devitt may start avoiding injuries!!!!

[russell_anderson]

Not a lot between them, IMO. Dixon is a better goalkeeper than Farman; Quigley is a better striker than any we've brought in although Zanzala is a decent replacement; Hutton is a good replacement for Brad Barry; Gordon is pretty nippy but doesn't seem to achieve all that much; Ellis is good in the air but has given 2 goals away by backing off because he's scared of being one on one with a forward as he's pretty slow. Not as good as Tom Davies IMO. The only significant area of improvement is midfield where White is significantly better than those who played last season plus Banks is playing well. Unless we get a decent goalscorer to play with Zanzala or Sea makes a dramatic improvement, I'd be surprised if we finish higher than the bottom 6 and will keep my fingers crossed that we're out of the relegation zone. We've now had 2 games against Exeter and Harrogate which should have been 6 points as neither side did anything against us but by a combination of a lack of fire power and in the Harrogate match terrible defensive mistakes we've ended up with 1 point. We'll play better teams than those 2 and will be in trouble if we can't win games where the oppoitin do next to nothing.

Dixon made a few errors last season think they are the same standard. Agree midfield better plus need another forward if possible. Maybe Arthur will come through and Platt and Devitt may start avoiding injuries!!!!

Ian Evatt obviously doesn't agree as Dixon is the Bolton first team goalkeeper in a league higher and as a huge fan of Evatt's judgement of a player I tend to agree with him on most occasions. One thing that Farman certainly is superior with is his kicking.

[Sea Dog Sam]

Farman was to blame for both of Harrogate's goals. He's a great shot stopper (but should have done better with their second) and his distribution is good. His weakness is his inability in the air. He punches rather than catches the ball. However, I still rate him above Joel Dixon. Just hope his performance yesterday was him having a bad day at the office.

Hutton was excellent again. Zanzala is getting better game by game. Josh Kay flits in and out of games and needs to be more consistent. However, he's the only player we have who has any creativity. I thought we were the better team yesterday and deserved at least a draw. No panic. We'll hold our own in this division, of that I'm sure

[Moribund]

Okay, the season didn't start til September - we had 2 wins by the middle of December, and we've already got half that number.

Do you think this side is better or worse?

Not a lot between them, IMO. Dixon is a better goalkeeper than Farman; Quigley is a better striker than any we've brought in although Zanzala is a decent replacement; Hutton is a good replacement for Brad Barry; Gordon is pretty nippy but doesn't seem to achieve all that much; Ellis is good in the air but has given 2 goals away by backing off because he's scared of being one on one with a forward as he's pretty slow. Not as good as Tom Davies IMO. The only significant area of improvement is midfield where White is significantly better than those who played last season plus Banks is playing well. Unless we get a decent goalscorer to play with Zanzala or Sea makes a dramatic improvement, I'd be surprised if we finish higher than the bottom 6 and will keep my fingers crossed that we're out of the relegation zone. We've now had 2 games against Exeter and Harrogate which should have been 6 points as neither side did anything against us but by a combination of a lack of fire power and in the Harrogate match terrible defensive mistakes we've ended up with 1 point. We'll play better teams than those 2 and will be in trouble if we can't win games where the oppoitin do next to nothing.

Farman is better than Dixon (but you're probably basing your opinion on one mistake), early signs are that Zanzala has more in his locker than Quigley, Gordon is better than any other forward player we had last season after Quigley, Hutton is streets ahead of last season's Brad Barry, Ellis is a beast and better than a crocked Tom Davies, and Sea is clearly improved. George Williams also looks to be a much, much better footballer than Biggins or whoever else we had attempting to play attacking midfield last season. Plus we have an idea of what we're doing.

Other than that, I agree Banks and White are better players this season.

No way we will be bottom six unless it all goes wrong away from the football side of things.

[Main Stand SeasonTct]

The jury is still out on Paul Farman for me. Great length with his goal kikcs and good shot stopper. Needs to command his area better for me and appears reluctant to come and catch a cross or corner.

[Jonty]

That was a horrible ball for the keeper to deal with coming down almost vertical and he has misjudged it.

[spirit of 1990]

That was a horrible ball for the keeper to deal with coming down almost vertical and he has misjudged it.

Absolutely right Jonty.

I think he’s being judged a bit too harshly on that goal, the deflection height and spin of the ball with quite heavy rain dropping vertically into his face cant have helped.

[blumooncrab]

I’ve not been overly impressed with Farman . Yesterday was a horrible schoolboy error ; he’s got a big kick but technically Dixon has a better kick , good distance and more accurate distribution.

Yesterday was a nightmare second half where for the first time we seemed to run out of steam. Hope MC can nip this in the bud as we should have had 3 points.

[Suffolk Blue]

My perspective is a little different. For me comparisons with last season are a bit of an illusion. I see last year as a total write-off. As near to a disaster as was possible without being relegated. We had a mid table budget and damn near blew it. No consistent strategy, badly constructed squad, thank God for Rob Kelly who managed to put the bits of several jigsaws together to produce something that worked. I’m surprised that more players didn’t leave. We were a collective shambles.

Anybody that thinks we are not now a better unit or squad is either blind or nuts. The truth is as MC has hinted we have lost a seasons development. We are starting again. Don’t expect miracles just progress. For those that see our form as bottom 4 currently just get a grip. And perhaps take a closer look at some of the dross around us

[McMark]

My perspective is a little different. For me comparisons with last season are a bit of an illusion. I see last year as a total write-off. As near to a disaster as was possible without being relegated. We had a mid table budget and damn near blew it. No consistent strategy, badly constructed squad, thank God for Rob Kelly who managed to put the bits of several jigsaws together to produce something that worked. I’m surprised that more players didn’t leave. We were a collective shambles.

Anybody that thinks we are not now a better unit or squad is either blind or nuts. The truth is as MC has hinted we have lost a seasons development. We are starting again. Don’t expect miracles just progress. For those that see our form as bottom 4 currently just get a grip. And perhaps take a closer look at some of the dross around us

Agree some people need to put things into perspective on here!

[saltcellar]

Not sure what happened with their first goal, all I can think of was the big defection, coupled with the height and spin totally caught Farman out.
Their second….I thought Ellis backed off too much, that mistake apart he was pretty solid. White seemed a little quiet but Banks was everywhere, I liked him last season but he’s getting better & better. Hutton puts some cracking crosses into the box, unfortunately most of the time there isn’t a player on the end of them.
I think Sea could become a useful player but at the moment he’s still very raw and learning, he should be (in an ideal world) behind Zanzalla and a n other in the pecking order.
Although Zanzalla was tiring he was almost certainly dragged off for picking up a totally unnecessary yellow and then getting spoken to…he then took a leaf out of Kay’s book and walked around muttering to himself and looking like he was hard done to. No need.

Ellis did not have much option but to back off when you re-watch the highlights.
Harrogate had 4 players forward, Barrow only had 2 defenders back, Ellis and Brown.
Had Ellis committed himself the ball would have been passed leaving 3 players against Brown.
Farman should really have done better to keep the shot out.

[bluedevil]

Only just had time to read through most of this
For the people who wonder why there is more Carlisle discussion
Because there is no barrow interaction. I got 2 text messages from barrow fans and zero tweets

Pre match there are countless amounts of Carlisle fans getting involved in the show texting in opinions of team news tweeting their thoughts

If barrow fans aren’t getting involved in the show then physically other than the little bits where they come across to me what physically can I do?

I post the ways to get involved in the show
I put our appeals for supporters to come on the show
But people don’t come forward so literally there is little I can do about that

Bit of a rant yes but I’m fed up of constantly seeing the same moans and groans.

Carlisle fans moan there’s too much barrow talk
Barrow fans moan there’s too much carlisle talk

Which one is it? Makes me think it’s quite balanced then

I don't think there were any Carlisle fan contributions while I listened to pre match yesterday (from about 14.20). From what I recall, it was a 3-way discussion about Carlisle team, players, tactics etc (and then white lines) involving James Philips, the co-presenter and (I assume) Paul Newton in the studio - all fully involved Carlisle fans*. Regarding yesterday, for example, we did not get the same 15-20 minutes discussion between you, your co-presenter and Paul Newton. about the Barrow team, players, tactics, analysis of the season so far, etc. No doubt they will do better on Tuesday night as they haven't got anything else!

* Even if Paul Newton is originally a West Ham fan he is based in Carlisle and presumably, even if he has not 'adopted' Carlisle, at least knows more about them than Barrow. It just comes across to me as a Carlisle-based programme with a Carlisle slant and IMO they should try to be more balanced.

I wasn't aware that Paul Newton was a West Ham fan, but I do know he's originally from Blackpool and does have a soft spot for the Tangerines. However he's lived in Carlisle for years and is an avid Carlisle fan, infact he once wrote one of the fanzines for the club back in the day when they were very popular, somebody was also telling me he was/is a very good bass guitarist.
Personally I think the coverage is about fair, afterall were both league clubs, we're both in the same division, and judging by results over the last year and a bit, not to dissimilar in ability and styles. Looking forward to our..............err 'derby' games.
Now, how can I get a ticket for Holker Street????

[russell_anderson]

My perspective is a little different. For me comparisons with last season are a bit of an illusion. I see last year as a total write-off. As near to a disaster as was possible without being relegated. We had a mid table budget and damn near blew it. No consistent strategy, badly constructed squad, thank God for Rob Kelly who managed to put the bits of several jigsaws together to produce something that worked. I’m surprised that more players didn’t leave. We were a collective shambles.

Anybody that thinks we are not now a better unit or squad is either blind or nuts. The truth is as MC has hinted we have lost a seasons development. We are starting again. Don’t expect miracles just progress. For those that see our form as bottom 4 currently just get a grip. And perhaps take a closer look at some of the dross around us

We will see who is blind or nuts at the end of theseason, SB. Let's hope it's me and not you!

[cottingham bluebird]

Thought farman kept us in game in first half made 3 great saves right in front of us in first half just people remember mistakes more than the good things he did

[Suffolk Blue]

My perspective is a little different. For me comparisons with last season are a bit of an illusion. I see last year as a total write-off. As near to a disaster as was possible without being relegated. We had a mid table budget and damn near blew it. No consistent strategy, badly constructed squad, thank God for Rob Kelly who managed to put the bits of several jigsaws together to produce something that worked. I’m surprised that more players didn’t leave. We were a collective shambles.

Anybody that thinks we are not now a better unit or squad is either blind or nuts. The truth is as MC has hinted we have lost a seasons development. We are starting again. Don’t expect miracles just progress. For those that see our form as bottom 4 currently just get a grip. And perhaps take a closer look at some of the dross around us

We will see who is blind or nuts at the end of theseason, SB. Let's hope it's me and not you!

Russ I know you only have the best intentions fior BAFC and like me have the benefit of age, wisdom and memory of past seasons. And the next unforeseen mess is always just around the corner. But I saw enough even in defeat at Stevenage to convince me that in certain aspects we were much superior to last season.

Even as a sceptic I think we’ll be a slow burner this season as long as Cooper stays.