Barrow v Lincoln

[Chris Benoit]

I said to one or two people to the game that Flynn irritates me a little bit. As had already been said - his positional sense is dreadful and he can't cross for shit (or defend, or down a pint in one, or get a decent barnet). Nice guy off the pitch but we need footballers not nice guys - the same goes for Rutherford. Loan them out.

[mally]

I'm afraid the writing is on the wall as far as relegation goes because as is plain to see this team is nowhere near capable of staying in this league no matter what formation or mix of players DB uses,and i'm not blaming DB wholly for that,I would say its more to do with the budget that hes been given to work with.I think yesterday summed up perfectly just how big a mess the club is in when they couldn't provide any decent lighting in the x bar before and after the match while if you wanted to stay warm you had to sit there with your coat on or go down the soccer bar.I am now starting to take seriously the notion that we really are out of our depth in this league and that the Conference for us is true North.

[Steelworks End]

It is clearly our home form that is letting us down, with just one win and four draws it is the worst in the BSP; even currently bottom placed side Nuneaton can better this. Away from home, however, it is a different story as our three wins and two draws are on a par with seventh placed Macclesfield. Unfortunately, the majority of supporters only see the home games and this poor forrm at Holker Street must be a factor in the slump in attendances this season; not even the diehard moaners want to see the team failing to win.

As mentioned above, Lincoln have had a good run of late whilst we are short of confidence at home - was this one of the reasons why we lost yesterday (I wasn't at the game) or is there a deeper seated problem? The statistics on the BBC website show that, whilst the Imps had more of the possession, Barrow had more shots on target. Statistics do not tell the whole story, of course, but on the face of these we couldn't have been too bad and perhaps we should have made home advantage count in our favour.

One telling statistic, though, is that we had six corners to Lincoln's one. And we all know how good we are at defending corners, don't we?

[mally]

IMO,its not a case of a deeper seated problem or a lack of confidence at home,the truth is we are just not good enough for this league.It doesn't matter which way you twist it-or how much spin you put on it-from the boardroom to the players we just do not have the money to compete and never will have unless there is some sort of radical change within the club in the very near future,its as simple as that.

[Reg]

To answer Steelworks End, we just looked woefully short of confidence to me yesterday. At the start of the game, it was like nobody wanted to take responsibility with the ball and we gave it away cheaply way too often.

Whether they're just short of confidence, or scared of making an individual error, who knows. I don't think it helps when Bayliss talks about them the way he did after the Stockport game. As a fan, we want to hear stuff like that because it's what we're saying on the terraces but the paying peanuts and getting monkeys comment isn't something anyone would want to hear being said about them in their workplace.

I don't think our squad is as bad as Mally is suggesting. I think our weakest links aren't as weak as they have been in years gone by. This squad has more than enough talent in it to stay up. Our problem is a mindset thing, not a physical thing.

[bobbie moore]

Agree re confidence in Reg post ...i think it started to go at Nuneaton where we were the better side but missed a penalty that would have IMO would have demoralised them and we would have gone on to score more but instead our heads dropped Nuneaton gained in confidence and we gave away another defendable goal.We then played terrible at Guiseley but got out of jail,Stockport where we played as if it wasa training session and although bit better at end of Lincoln game i feel the team is totally lacking in confidence. One good win would do us good hopefully tuesday

[mally]

Reg,you say "our weakest links aren't as weak as they have been in years gone by",but,this is our fifth season in the conference now and this has got to be our weakest and shakiest defence in those five seasons.And,where is the talent.because it certainly wasn't on show yesterday-for example just look at how many comments the midfield attracted because of their lack of bite.

[Steeley]

Love it how people always say 'we were better than them' and our opposition are always 'not a good side' and will do shit this year but if they were that bad we wouldnt be losing all the time! We need to realise that this year anything but relegation would be a huge success. We have no penetration, concede a shitload of goals and our midfield is constantly outnumbered and outran. Im not a huge fan of YJO but were crying out for him. Hopefully he hasnt been told to sit in Andy Nicholas corner.

On the subject of our full backs. I prefer Flynn to peo at right back, and Hessey over Skelts but i think we need Hessey in the middle. Just need to tell skelts to stop launching very gentle long balls aka 'The Skelton Lob' as thats all he seemed to do early on in the season.

[barrowaberdeen]

I tend to agree with Reg although defending set pieces is something Bayles should be coaching better into them, and something people like Hessey should be allowed to command. We are certainly poor at set pieces, but people forget how cumbersome Jonah and Macca were sometimes made to look in our first season up, and let's not forget the 'Bolland duck' which so drove half this forum mad.

What worries me is we have drawn or got beaten with sides I feel we are better than.

Telford were clueless and lacking confidence but got a point.

Hyde vs Barrow was in my top ten awful games of all time. If we had shown any invention we would have won.

Nuneaton were utter rank, but we didn't close the game and we conceded from a header.

Only Newport for power and Dartford for organisation and heart I felt were a bit better than us from what I've seen. i missed Wrexham, who are usually decent for this league, and by all accounts Stockport were just committed and organised.

It's a matter of application and agression in the central defensive positions and especially central midfield. Someone has to win headers at the back, and someone has to win second balls in midfield and intimidate others, it really is that simple. If we do that, I think we'll finish half way up the table, I really do. It's a decent, quite talented squad which is underperforming in terms of organisation and grit.

Adam Boyes excepted- player of the season so far by a country mile for me.

[Jim]

I agree with Barrow Aberdeen, although with regard to the bit about Bayliss coaching them to defend set pieces, both Bayles and Hoskin have said in interview that they have practised and practised defending set pieces but in the match players don't do what they have been told. Hoskin said something on Saturday about having tried coaching, practising, changing formation and tactics, perhaps it is time to look at changing personnel.

[Jonty]

I don't think he can get any more out of them. Every one of them gives 100% every game

and this is a problem because unless we can put a run of results together soon- and I mean wins, not draws, then we are going to find it very difficult to get out of the position we are in.

Tuesday is a massive game and could shape the rest of the season.

[Reg]

I don't think he can get any more out of them.

I disagree.

If you were to agree with that statement, you would have to think we're a bottom four squad and I don't think we are.

We try hard insomuch that we run around a lot but do we try hard when it comes to defending set pieces and scrapping for second balls etc..?

We can definitely improve in some areas, no way is bottom four the limit of my expectation from this group of players.

If you don't think Bayliss can get any more out of them, you would have to think that he wasn't the right man for the job. I'm not thinking that yet.

[Jonty]

I don't think he can get any more out of them.

I disagree.

If you were to agree with that statement, you would have to think we're a bottom four squad and I don't think we are.

We try hard insomuch that we run around a lot but do we try hard when it comes to defending set pieces and scrapping for second balls etc..?

We can definitely improve in some areas, no way is bottom four the limit of my expectation from this group of players.

If you don't think Bayliss can get any more out of them, you would have to think that he wasn't the right man for the job. I'm not thinking that yet.

#

I hope you're right, because as a squad they are as honest and hardworking as any since promotion and i really want them to do well for Bayliss, as much as anything.

[andyg]

Seen a few games this season and got to say I've been totally frustrated with the team after watching the Stockport and Lincoln games. As many people on here have said it is not the lack of commitment from the players it is the careless errors we make that are so frustrating. There was simply no excuse for the first two goals at Stockport - we simply switched off at the back. The same could be said for Lincoln's second where our lack of challenge in the box (or lack of bravery) cost us at least a point.

Saw us beat Tamworth in the league and we looked organised - rode our luck a little but didn't make too many glaring errors. At Macclesfield i felt we were beaen by a decent side - but once again fell asleep at the back for the first goal. However, it must also be said that our midfield does not always protect our back four efectively enough. Too many times deep and straight runs from deep cause us problems and somebody sitting in front of the back for would help solve this issue (it doesn't, I know, solve our pathetic defending at set plays thought).

It's about making less mistakes than the opposition at this level. Lincoln and Stockport have shown us this - we can be were they are but I'm not at all confident we will.

[snortypig]

To answer Steelworks End, we just looked woefully short of confidence to me yesterday. At the start of the game, it was like nobody wanted to take responsibility with the ball and we gave it away cheaply way too often.

Agreed.

We were shot-shy when in good positions in and around their box. No-one seemed to want the responsibility to pull the trigger and just looked to play another pass.
C'mon lads, gamble a bit - take that shot, make their keeper have to deal with it.