Barrow v Walsall match thread

[walneyroad]

You can't count FGR in that as he was sacked just before they went up which I still can't understand.

He took forest green up to the football league

Fair enough Adam, but having done that why was he sacked? And look where FGR are now as a consequence of that decision.

[blue blue boy]

I'm afraid for me I think a lot are barking up the wrong tree blaming MC and instead need to look at the board who, whilst clearly wanting the best for the club, have been shown to be woefully out of their depth. Things like the training venue fiasco etc are things that have a huge effect not only on performance but also on morale of players and managers alike. Doesn't exactly help get rid of the little old barrow tag.
OK recruitment hasn't been great but losing Quigs so late in the day didn't help and of course finding another quality striker was never going to be easy but the board need to ensure that the basic infrastructure is in place which includes having a bloody training ground sorted in advance of the start of the season!!
MC has a proven track record and hasn't just lost that overnight. I understand his personality isn't to everyone's liking but neither is that of Mourinhio or Simione etc.
Back the manager, back the team and for God's sake BOD if we stay up then have the house in order well in advance of the new season.

[blue nige]

I actually feel despondent, for all the effort , how the he'll are we going to score goals? Gordon tries hard but he lacks the physique for this league same with Harris, the board should have gone for a quality forward once Quigs went, one chance in August then January we didn't, before anyone says we can't afford it / they won't come here hey this is 2022 money talks, whoever was involved in deciding this decision has in my (and numerous others I talk to ) opinion made an absolute monumental mistake that look like it's going to cost us our league status which is totally catastrophic for our club and community, we've got tremendous support (can't believe we're getting 3 000 ) but after every home game I go home feeling I've had my pocket picked!,
I saw Cooper's interview he looks shell-shocked, he should be fronting this out ( even if he thinks different) this is a time for big shoulders and a bit of arrogance all I see is someone who looks a beaten man doesn't bode well ,the players need a strong figure!

[blue nige]

He doesn’t know his best team or formation. He’s too risk averse. He hangs players out to dry in public and erodes their confidence.

Do you want me to continue?

We obviously can’t afford to sack him and if we stay up by some miracle he will still be here until he gets a payout.

we'll lose a million pounds if we go down are you sure about that !

[Back of the net]

We obviously can’t afford to sack him and if we stay up by some miracle he will still be here until he gets a payout.

we'll lose a million pounds if we go down are you sure about that !

Well I’m guessing we can’t afford to pay him off, is there any other rationale as to why he’s still in the job ? At least the chairman has sorted out burgergate which is obviously more of an issue.

[Jim]

Came out thinking two points gone again. Average first half but a great goal from Rooney ( also a clear chance missed for Gordon whose confidence on goal seems shot). Second half we invited pressure, Walsall playing it around and we got away with one clear Walsall chance until the inevitable corner, header goal. Subs made a little difference for ten mins but we offer diddly squat I'm Afraid. Platt mom for me.

Mostly agree, except Platt gave away the free kick that led to the goal.

[AugustusCorpa]

Cooper clearly isn’t the motivator Kelly was last season.
With 12 games to go I can only see us winning 2 more at best. That obviously wouldn’t see us reach the 50 point mark.
Hopefully one of the other teams will be even crapper then us but i’m starting to think the Carlisle game will be the last time I see Barrow play in the football league.

[Jonty]

We had scored the goal, we went in at HT in a winning position, looking ok, job not done but same again and we would see it home. Inexplicably we failed to come out at the start of the second half and we paid the price for it. That’s what cost us the win today.

[blue nige]

Came out thinking two points gone again. Average first half but a great goal from Rooney ( also a clear chance missed for Gordon whose confidence on goal seems shot). Second half we invited pressure, Walsall playing it around and we got away with one clear Walsall chance until the inevitable corner, header goal. Subs made a little difference for ten mins but we offer diddly squat I'm Afraid. Platt mom for me.

Mostly agree, except Platt gave away the free kick that led to the goal.

if we continue to concede goals like that we don't deserve to stay up ,it's happened far too often!

[Jim]

I actually feel despondent, for all the effort , how the he'll are we going to score goals? Gordon tries hard but he lacks the physique for this league same with Harris, the board should have gone for a quality forward once Quigs went, one chance in August then January we didn't, before anyone says we can't afford it / they won't come here hey this is 2022 money talks, whoever was involved in deciding this decision has in my (and numerous others I talk to ) opinion made an absolute monumental mistake that look like it's going to cost us our league status which is totally catastrophic for our club and community, we've got tremendous support (can't believe we're getting 3 000 ) but after every home game I go home feeling I've had my pocket picked!,
I saw Cooper's interview he looks shell-shocked, he should be fronting this out ( even if he thinks different) this is a time for big shoulders and a bit of arrogance all I see is someone who looks a beaten man doesn't bode well ,the players need a strong figure!

Regarding the Quigley replacement, I think that was supposed to be Zanzala. He just hasn’t worked, but it was a reasonable signing at the time, given our financial limitations.

[HenneysKnee]

Cooper clearly isn’t the motivator Kelly was last season.
With 12 games to go I can only see us winning 2 more at best. That obviously wouldn’t see us reach the 50 point mark.
Hopefully one of the other teams will be even crapper then us but i’m starting to think the Carlisle game will be the last time I see Barrow play in the football league.

You won’t need 50 points to stay up this year FWIW; but yer a couple of wins would make a huge difference. The league table looked miles healthier at half time today

[Middleton Nick]

I actually feel despondent, for all the effort , how the he'll are we going to score goals? Gordon tries hard but he lacks the physique for this league same with Harris, the board should have gone for a quality forward once Quigs went, one chance in August then January we didn't, before anyone says we can't afford it / they won't come here hey this is 2022 money talks, whoever was involved in deciding this decision has in my (and numerous others I talk to ) opinion made an absolute monumental mistake that look like it's going to cost us our league status which is totally catastrophic for our club and community, we've got tremendous support (can't believe we're getting 3 000 ) but after every home game I go home feeling I've had my pocket picked!,
I saw Cooper's interview he looks shell-shocked, he should be fronting this out ( even if he thinks different) this is a time for big shoulders and a bit of arrogance all I see is someone who looks a beaten man doesn't bode well ,the players need a strong figure!

Regarding the Quigley replacement, I think that was supposed to be Zanzala. He just hasn’t worked, but it was a reasonable signing at the time, given our financial limitations.

Beg to differ Jim. His record of goals was poor and he wasn't good enough to polish Quigley's boots. He was one of our worst signings amongst others.

[blue nige]

I actually feel despondent, for all the effort , how the he'll are we going to score goals? Gordon tries hard but he lacks the physique for this league same with Harris, the board should have gone for a quality forward once Quigs went, one chance in August then January we didn't, before anyone says we can't afford it / they won't come here hey this is 2022 money talks, whoever was involved in deciding this decision has in my (and numerous others I talk to ) opinion made an absolute monumental mistake that look like it's going to cost us our league status which is totally catastrophic for our club and community, we've got tremendous support (can't believe we're getting 3 000 ) but after every home game I go home feeling I've had my pocket picked!,
I saw Cooper's interview he looks shell-shocked, he should be fronting this out ( even if he thinks different) this is a time for big shoulders and a bit of arrogance all I see is someone who looks a beaten man doesn't bode well ,the players need a strong figure!

Regarding the Quigley replacement, I think that was supposed to be Zanzala. He just hasn’t worked, but it was a reasonable signing at the time, given our financial limitations.

Cooper didn't sign Zanzala it was already in place ( again what was this signing based on ? ) not even the same type of player we actually needed it looks like he was signed because he played against us last season and did OK! talk about unprofessional!
Whilst Quigs get mentioned people on here saying he left late so we couldn't replace him he left on 15th of July!

[bamber678]

What responsibility does he need to accept? Was it him that gave a free kick away or didn’t challenge the ball?

He doesn’t know his best team or formation. He’s too risk averse. He hangs players out to dry in public and erodes their confidence.

Do you want me to continue?

He plays the same team most weeks and makes tweaks where needed (Gotts at RWB for example today and Tuesday) due to injury, suspension or becoming out of form. Be brilliant if we went the full season with the same 11 players all in form but unfortunately football isn’t as simple as that is it. We’ve been ravaged by pointless suspensions and unfortunate injuries

[russell_anderson]

Very disappointing perfomance as we were second best for all of the second half. Having said that, had Gordon not missed a sitter in the second half which would have made it 2-0 we would probably have sneaked an undeserved win. It's difficult to see where a win will come from as it's been obvious all season that we don't have a striker worthy of the name. Harris did absolutely nothing again and Gordon runs around a lot but achieves very little. I think he'd make a better wing back than a striker as tackling is his best asset.
I can't see that we could have made a better managerial appointment on paper than Mark Cooper but he does make some strange decisions at times one of the main ones being regularly taking off Tom White who was my MOM today and has been one of the most hard-working and consistent players all season. He did try playing 2 up front today as most people on here have been wanting but playing 2 poor strikers doesn't seem to be much better than playing 1 poor striker!
The writing was on the wall when we couldn't keep our 2 best players, Rooney and Quigley, and although Rooney isn't the same player as he was 2 years ago he is still a class above anybody else in terms of quickness of mind, the ability to control a ball and the guile to get into scoring positions outside the penalty box.