Barrow V A team called Brackley

[John Very Little]

One thing that baffled me though was why take Gareth Arnison off, a proven scorer at this level, when you're 1-0 down at home to put Cliff Moyo on? Arnison might not have had a good game like the rest of them but surely is our main goal threat?

Many of us were puzzled with this but I presume the thinking was to put Moyo on the wing and move Meechan upfront in place of Arnison but I'd have just swapped Meechan for Moyo as Arnison would have been more of a threat than Meechan.
Felt a little sorry for the forwards who had limited chances to do anything.

[Kieran]

Very very very very poor game today. Neither side looked any good, they shaded it due to being better organised than us. We wouldn't have scored had we played all week, zero creativity and Meechan isn't a wide man. We were just swinging boots at everything today, and not even doing that very well. Not a single player looked like they wanted to get on the ball and make something happen. Early days still, hopefully we'll improve and the conditions didn't help today.

There is just a very depressing atmosphere throughout the entire club, and I don't know what can change that. Wholesale changes are needed in my opinion, particularly away from the playing side.

[spirit of 1990]

Wholesale changes are needed in my opinion, particularly away from the playing side.

Go into detail Kieran please.

I'm not for one minute saying things are all rosey because they ain't, but give us something more than that because it seems to me that it's the same people who complain all the time but them same people can't come up with a decent alternative.

That isn't having a go at anyone, but it's no good saying something isn't working without coming up with a way to fix it!

[ant]

Very poor game provided by both teams.Brackley nothing special.just got to accept this was the first game of the season and things will improve.Boring sums it up.

[tictactoe]

First game so not going to be over critical but things can only get better.

[Reg]

That isn't having a go at anyone, but it's no good saying something isn't working without coming up with a way to fix it!

It's borne out of frustration Ian.

My way of fixing the problem would involve taking voluntary relegation to a division we could afford to be in whilst servicing the debt. Of course, gates would drop to an extent but by how much exactly?

I would wager not by a huge amount.

Most of the people who come to watch the club in BSN would come to watch the club in The Evostick North or whatever it is called these days(the on 2 below where we are now).

We need a long term strategy to get out of this mess. All we're doing right now, is firefighting and we're not doing it very well.

If we dropped to a league we could afford to be in, we could pay the debt off relatively quickly, whilst also giving supporters something to look forward to.

I would rather have come to a home game today against Mossley, paid the same amount to get in, knowing that the money I spent was being used to help push the club on AND helping to pay off previous mistakes.

Instead, I came to a game paying money knowing that the club is going backwards, knowing that the money I spent is mostly going to players that have almost no chance of helping the club progress.

We can't afford to go up. We're not good enough to go up. The whole season sprawls out in front of us and we all know that nothing good is going to come of it.

Surely, the whole place would have a more positive feel about it if we had something to play for whilst also knowing that we were climbing out of the huge hole we fin ourselves in?

To me, it just feels as though we're [SwearFilter] into the wind and the ways things are going, it looks as if I'll be feeling that for years and years to come unless there are significant and brutal changes to the way the club sees itself.

[Si_Nichols]

Poor game played in poor conditions which was deservedly edged by Brackley who looked a more organised outfit. It seems the forum has predictably gone into meltdown whilst I have been on a heavily delayed journey home thanks to a TPE driver not turning up for work.

Personally I thought we looked okay at the back. We had nothing going forward at all however. We lacked creativity in midfield which was not a huge surprise given the starting personnel but what was surprising was we also lacked passion and bite which I never thought I would say of a midfield featuring Hulbert, Davies and Meechan. Arnison and Bowen didn't get a lot of support or opportunities but they were poor with what they did get and didn't work hard enough to do anything themselves.

We got the worst of the weather conditions (rain eased off in second half) and the officials didn't give us much all game. These are minor points however as we were second best to a well organised though not that impressive Brackley. It is however the first game of the season and we need to remember that this is effectively a completely new team. Lets make a proper judgement when we are in October and can have a proper idea of how we are doing.

Crowd of 884 was about 100 more than I expected especially given the weather and I hope that most of them do give the team a few chances before deciding not to come for the rest of the season. Despite the result still an enjoyable day out with the Exiles and others and a chance to turn it round on Tuesday at Alty hopefully.

[Esso Blue]

Hello Reg,

Your strategy this season and last seems to say that we should continue to drop down the leagues whilst expecting that we will maintain the attendance and the admission prices. Is that realistic? Our first game this season has shown a reasonable attendance but we've had to drop some prices. I can't say whether our income has dropped but we'll certainly get less of the, admittedly meagre, TV money and I'm pretty sure our sponsorship and corporate income will reduce. Dropping down leagues will see this reduce further so we'll have to increase attendances simply to stand still. It's a vicious circle.

I agree that things need to change. I'd prefer an approach that sees us work on the commercial side and generate extra income at the level we are at.

From what I see, I think we have a serious cash flow issue. On a day-to-day basis I believe we can sustain football at this level and perhaps above. The issue seems to be about repaying existing debts, with no significant investment coming in.

There are 2 approaches
- cut your costs whilst maintaining as much income as possible
- generate more income whilst restraining your costs

It's a bloody difficult choice and I'm sure the BoD are under pressure. I want to support them. I also want to see them welcome offers of support rather than feeling threatened by them.

[Kieran]

Wholesale changes are needed in my opinion, particularly away from the playing side.

Go into detail Kieran please.

I'm not for one minute saying things are all rosey because they ain't, but give us something more than that because it seems to me that it's the same people who complain all the time but them same people can't come up with a decent alternative.

That isn't having a go at anyone, but it's no good saying something isn't working without coming up with a way to fix it!

Honest answer, I don't know how to fix it. But the current BoD sure as hell aren't doing much to fix largely their own mess, in fact they are making it worse. If we had an alternative I'm pretty sure I'd vote for them, they can't do much worse than the current lot have been doing.

We're a shambles, an absolute shambles off the pitch. I know some people don't like that being said, but it doesn't make it any less true.

I take absolutely no pleasure from making posts like this, in fact I'm seriously worried about the future of our club. We're drifting further and further towards disaster, maybe people will only wake up when its too late.

[Paul]

Jesus! It's the first game against a highly fancied side with a brand new team. Massive over-reaction to today.

Totally agree.

First game, let's see how we're doing in one/two months time.

Bad conditions lead to both sides having no sort of foothold in the game - coupled with our newly assembled side playing their first league game together.......let's give it a chance!!!

One game in bad conditions with a completly new squad against a settled, estabablished team at this level, give it a chance ffs!

Yes I agree, they are a newly assembled side, but what you seem to forget is that the vast majority of that team today have played a part in nearly all pre season friendlies, that's 10 games - 1/4 of a season if you like. Yes , I hear you say, they're not competitive games, but surely they've had enough time to gel as a squad, know each others strengths/weaknesses etc. That's what pre- season's for surely.
Today they looked like a team of strangers, lacking any drive, passion, creativity, organisation, skill etc. A very dour game with nothing positive to take from it as far as I'm concerned.
Just my honest opinion of the worst opening game of the season for many, many years.

[Reg]

Hello Reg,

Your strategy this season and last seems to say that we should continue to drop down the leagues whilst expecting that we will maintain the attendance and the admission prices. Is that realistic? Our first game this season has shown a reasonable attendance but we've had to drop some prices. I can't say whether our income has dropped but we'll certainly get less of the, admittedly meagre, TV money and I'm pretty sure our sponsorship and corporate income will reduce. Dropping down leagues will see this reduce further so we'll have to increase attendances simply to stand still. It's a vicious circle.

I agree that things need to change. I'd prefer an approach that sees us work on the commercial side and generate extra income at the level we are at.

From what I see, I think we have a serious cash flow issue. On a day-to-day basis I believe we can sustain football at this level and perhaps above. The issue seems to be about repaying existing debts, with no significant investment coming in.

There are 2 approaches
- cut your costs whilst maintaining as much income as possible
- generate more income whilst restraining your costs

It's a bloody difficult choice and I'm sure the BoD are under pressure. I want to support them. I also want to see them welcome offers of support rather than feeling threatened by them.

I think in Evostick North charging the same prices as we did today, we would have a hardcore support of around 500, probably more, whilst having significantly lower costs.

The quality of football in this league is poor, there aren't many big name teams that draw floating fans.

Is there really much difference when it comes to whetting appetites of floating fans between playing Guiseley or Mossley?

Increasing revenue off the field is fin in theory but a hard trick to pull off in practice. I don't think it's something that can be done quickly and certainly not whilst the clubs reputation is as bad as it currently is.

IMO, cutting costs is the quickest an most effective way of stopping the bleeding.

Ignoring the moaning on here(of which I accept I'm a principle contributor)we're a hardy bunch.

Sell it correctly and I think most reasonable people would accept taking a few steps backwards if they could see a solid plan to take the club forward again with realistic projections and achievable goals.

Right now, we don't have any projections. I don't see any long term plans being put in place and I don't see any positive achievable goals to pull people together.

As I said earlier, we're fighting a losing battle against fires that are breaking out all over the place.

Cut right back to a point where you're not constantly looking over your shoulder and then put long term plans in place to get back to where we are now but arriving as a club that is growing and sustainable, rather than the absolute mess that we currently are.

[Esso Blue]

Honest answer, I don't know how to fix it.

The answer is not simply to criticise the people who are trying to do something. You might not like everything they do but they are trying to fix it.

It may come down to a lack of alternatives and I agree that some new blood would be a good thing. I definitely don't agree that a wholesale clear out would be a good idea.

[Kieran]

Honest answer, I don't know how to fix it.

The answer is not simply to criticise the people who are trying to do something.

Really?? Don't talk nonsense.

[Van Der Nipper]

Honest answer, I don't know how to fix it.

The answer is not simply to criticise the people who are trying to do something. You might not like everything they do but they are trying to fix it.

Do you honestly beleive they are trying to fix it??

[Esso Blue]

The answer is not simply to criticise the people who are trying to do something.

Really?? Don't talk nonsense.

I enjoy insightful responses.