Barrow (Away) Reports

[stalybridge sheepshagger]

Originally Posted by LePog

What a shambolic response! League as poor as it has ever been, teams like Macc and Dover who also had to fully overhaul their squads on a fraction of our budget ahead of us/1 point behind. The amount of games we have been fortunate to win, the aesthetically horrendous performances etc and the people who knew the scraping 1-0 wins wouldn't be sustainable are being proven correct. How many goals have we scored away from home all season? 8 isn't it?!

Keates has done a reasonable job, nothing more and nothing less so far. Defensively has got us solid (no doubting that) but with our lack of goals, threat or general attacking idea I would be mortified if we were shipping goals. Said it before, to start the season with 3 or 4 strikers and not one of them having significant pace or imposing physical threat was nothing short of scandalous.

Really can't argue with the above. Keates has certainly improved the side from last seasons inept bunch and strengthened the defence. This is a very poor league this season, there is no outstanding money teams as there have been in the past with the likes of Crawley, Fleetwood, Luton, FGR, Grimsby etc, so with a squad like ours we should be cantering away at the top. It all boils down to the front line, whilst we're solid at the back, we possess no threat whatsoever up front. Additionally, whenever we come up against teams with decent managers such as Askey at Macc, or Challinor at Fylde, they even know how to unpick our defence. With Tranmere now putting their bad start behind them and firing on all cylinders, we need to start scoring more goals quickly and get away from the pack. That final game of the season at home to Fylde is beginning to look like a winner takes all match

[Lord Derfyl Cadarn]

We never win when Carrington starts in midfield

[JonWrexhamfc]

Got to be beating Barrow, no excuses. More points dropped against a side the opposite end of the table. 3 points at Gateshead otherwise you can kiss the title goodbye.

[standman]

Originally Posted by Connah's Quay Red

Going down.

Disastrous. We all expected to win the league handsomely after the summer.

Low blow for all our fans who expect the world and never get it.

Happy to stay anorther 10 years? Or do you agree we need strengthening?

[TaidTom]

Originally Posted by LlayDragon

Another 2 points dropped.

Pearson injured.

Merry Christmas.

[TaidTom]

Originally Posted by JonWrexhamfc

Got to be beating Barrow, no excuses. More points dropped against a side the opposite end of the table. 3 points at Gateshead otherwise you can kiss the title goodbye.

ok

[TaidTom]

Originally Posted by LePog

What a shambolic response! League as poor as it has ever been, teams like Macc and Dover who also had to fully overhaul their squads on a fraction of our budget ahead of us/1 point behind. The amount of games we have been fortunate to win, the aesthetically horrendous performances etc and the people who knew the scraping 1-0 wins wouldn't be sustainable are being proven correct. How many goals have we scored away from home all season? 8 isn't it?!

Keates has done a reasonable job, nothing more and nothing less so far. Defensively has got us solid (no doubting that) but with our lack of goals, threat or general attacking idea I would be mortified if we were shipping goals. Said it before, to start the season with 3 or 4 strikers and not one of them having significant pace or imposing physical threat was nothing short of scandalous.

Lost credibility as soon as you made that comment.

[Foxy]

It was a bad time to play Barrow. They have recently appointed a new manager, have some new loan players and a decent run of form. A point is OK in terms of looking towards the play offs, which was always the best we could hope for.

[TomWFC]

Despite our valiant efforts over the course of the season thus far, especially from a defensive perspective, my worry is that we just do not possess that ruthless winning mentality that all champions of this league ultimately possess.

This could be for a number of reasons, based on lack of attacking talent but also that psychological/mental edge. We deserve credit for generally being hard to beat, but when you think back and ask how many times have we grabbed a game by the scruff of the neck and dominated? How many times have we truly taught another team a footballing lesson? How many times have we looked a mean, ruthless & no let-up kind of team that wins games comfortably?
I suspect the answer to the above is none. I believe we just don’t have that horrid win-at-all costs mindset - we haven’t the balls for it.

This I feel is why we will not be promoted as champions this season. Play-off challenge isn’t out of the question, however changes in both personnel and mindset is required.