Barrow AFC.net

Strong rumours that Graham Alexander is set to replace Mark Hughes at Valley Parade. Would mean that two weeks after being sacked after drawing with us he would be facing us again.

Well we,ll just have to beat them next weekend and if we do and he is in charge it will be very interesting.

Cowley brothers mentioned on social media as taking the job then backing out within a few hours, rumour only of course but very strange if true.

MikeRenney wrote: ↑Sun Nov 05, 2023 10:13 pm Cowley brothers mentioned on social media as taking the job then backing out within a few hours, rumour only of course but very strange if true.

“Family reasons”

Bradford City’s story in the last ten years would easily fill a three part documentary. Despite having a relatively stable ownership and an operating budget that is probably double our own they continually under-perform.

They seem to have fallen into a downward spiral that they can’t get out of and their choice of manager seems to be the most obvious manifestation of this.

All I would say regarding Alexander is that if anybody heard his interviews after that MK Dons game and before he was sacked, he sounded almost like a broken man. If a month or so later he is going to inherit the weight of Bradford’s expectations you can only wonder the effect this might have.

Clearly there may be a bit of a bounce though, assuming Bradford appoint someone this week. So it may be a rather lively team we face on Saturday.

Graham Alexander just been announced

Certainly provides a bit of an edge to the game on Saturday.

https://therealefl.co.uk/2023/11/06/for ... mall-club/

Pre match preview; https://www.barrowafc.com/news/2023/nov ... pool-u21s/

Look like the Bluebirds are going to have to go and upset Graham Alexander's apple cart for the second time this season.No doubt Andy Cook will want to get one over on us and will do his best to be a thorn in our teams side.There will definitely be a new manager bounce in their team which may initially give them the edge.The Bluebirds will just have to weather their initial storm which no doubt will come and then go on to crush them by scoring goals which we are capable of.Let's take a massive crowd to Bradford and cheer the Bluebirds on to another win.It will be tough,but this team is capable.
Onwards and Upwards.

McMark wrote: ↑Mon Nov 06, 2023 10:16 pm https://therealefl.co.uk/2023/11/06/for ... mall-club/

Pre match preview; https://www.barrowafc.com/news/2023/nov ... pool-u21s/

Always thought Adams was a very astute (if a bit dour) kind of a guy. I actually didn't realise that they had to pay £500k rent up front each season and didn't own Valley Parade.

Reveals a great deal in a few words about Bradford and their culture. Clearly describing Bradford as a small club in Adams terms is not so much about the size of Valley Parade or the thousands of fans that turn up each week. It's specifically aimed at their organisation and strategy and identity as a club.

This was partly the same problem that we had in the earlier phases of our own journey particularly under Casson when funds started to become available to the likes of Paul Cox making us better on the pitch but this was not accompanied by a professional structure off the pitch. I still have visions of Steven Casson selling match day tickets and counting the money.

I do remember ranting at the time that if I was putting the money into the club as Casson was I would be damn sure to support this with defined objectives, roles, and accountabilities to measure how far along the "journey" that i was telling everybody about, we had actually come. Always thought this was Casson's great weakness especially as he was non-domiciled.

Perhaps if Paul Casson hadn,t come to Barrow we would be languishing in National League North.He was inspired when he offered Ian Evatt his first proper management job.We have a lot to thank him for.That was the start of Barrow AFCs revival with eventual promotion back into the EFL.

Agree entirely. Without getting too metaphorical the “journey” is like a book. It has several chapters before it reaches a conclusion. Paul Casson was a very important chapter therefore.

I really believe that Paul Hornby probably understood the progress we’d made when he engaged Casson with regard to taking on the club. But what the consortium have clearly brought to the club was an organisational skill set that wasn’t there before.

There is an irony as you point out in that Casson discovered Evatt perhaps his lasting legacy to the club. The irony to me is that manager selection until we reached PW has looked like a real weakness of the consortium.

That is why the advent of PW has finally put together an entity both on and off the field that is greater than the sun of its parts.

That’s what Adams is really saying about Bradford. Until you bring these parts together you’ll never be likely to achieve your goals.

Suffolk Blue wrote: ↑Tue Nov 07, 2023 12:02 pm I still have visions of Steven Casson selling match day tickets and counting the money.

And ‘the list’ for Rochdale tickets.

Methuselah wrote: ↑Tue Nov 07, 2023 1:27 pm Perhaps if Paul Casson hadn,t come to Barrow we would be languishing in National League North.He was inspired when he offered Ian Evatt his first proper management job.We have a lot to thank him for.That was the start of Barrow AFCs revival with eventual promotion back into the EFL.

HMMM yes and no !

Paul Casson , left us in good hands with Ian Evatt, and the current board, all done without a fuss..Thankyou Mr Casson