Dear Mr Hornby

[Hadrian]

Poor Mr Starmer seems to have aged.

[Sea Dog Sam]

I can understand Desmond's frustration but maybe not his method of expressing it.

I watched the Stockport v Bolton FA Cup Replay.
Great game and Scott Quigley was superb! Earned him man of the match.
The Ref wasn't bad either. He's here on Saturday.

Can't blame Quigley for leaving the club for more money - if that was the case - he, himself, cited family reasons. If it was for more money I wonder why the BOD didn't equal Stockport's offer? It's not just about the money, it's about having belief in a player.

Quiqley's goal scoring record wasn't impressive before he arrived at Barrow.
In 11 appearances for Blackpool - his parent club - he scored 0 goals.
On Loan to Port Vale - 11 appearances 0 goals.
On loan to Halifax - 15 appearances 2 goals.

However, Ian Evatt obviously saw his potential.
20 goals in his first season for us - he was the division's top-scorer with 20 goals by the time the National League was suspended due to coronavirus. He took until late November to score his first goal when we returned to the F L but still finished with 15 before County signed him. Impressive, to say the least. We'll never know the truth - money or family reasons? If it was the former the BOD should have given the lad what he wanted! He'd proved his worth.

Offrande 'Ozzy' Zanzala arrived this season from Carlisle after, apparently, turning down a new contract.
Prior to signing for Carlisle he'd spent 3 seasons at Accrington Stanley where he scored 1 goal in 6 appearances on loan; 4 goals in 27 appearances in his first full season followed by 6 goals in 24 appearances. Arriving at Crew he scored 0 goals in 5 appearances for The Railway Men before moving onto Carlisle where he scored 5 goals in 22 appearances. He'd hardly set the world alight!

Mark Cooper, like Evatt with Quigley, must have seen his potential before signing him?
The difference being Quigley produced the goods. Zanzala hasn't!

All we've seen this season is a player who seems more keen to fall over - hoping for a free kick/penalty - than a player wishing to score! This is followed by arm waving and angry gestures to the ref. I remember him being substituted recently and he ran off the field faster than he had done all afternoon on it! A Carlisle fan on here, recently, suggested he needs a fellow striker to play off? Not sure about that. The stats prove otherwise.

Our strike force is impotent! Not sure how many goals Zanzala and company have scored but I do know Ollie Banks - a midfielder - leads the way.

We looked like a team that is hard to beat at the start of the season. Organised and able to keep the ball. But devoid of imagination and the ability to score goals. We now seem to be floundering and still incapable of scoring goals.

Crawley, this Saturday, is a pivotal game! It's followed by FGR and Sutton away. If we fail to collect 3 points on Saturday the nerves will begin to jangle. My nails have just started growing back after last season's close shave.

BOD - make a decision before it's too late. We need a Striker who can score Goals!

[andyg]

Not sure what you mean by making a decision before it's too late. Transfer window doesn't open until January I believe. The only strikers available would be the ones who are out of contract - and those at our level there is a reason for that - they are not very good or rather injury prone. and we've been there on numerous occasions over the last twelve months. Plus over half the L2 supporters on various forums are saying the same thing as us that they need a good striker.

I get the feeling that Quigley telling us he wanted to leave so late in the summer really messed up Copper's plans. I do feel a Quigley - Zanzala - Gordon combination would have been a good strike force. Wonder if the lad from Leeds who played against Burnley this week might be on Cooper radar? Although I get the feeling he would like to see a more experienced type of striker turning up at the club in the new year.

[Jim]

However, Ian Evatt obviously saw his potential.

Well he certainly did yesterday!

[blue nige]

Not sure what you mean by making a decision before it's too late. Transfer window doesn't open until January I believe. The only strikers available would be the ones who are out of contract - and those at our level there is a reason for that - they are not very good or rather injury prone. and we've been there on numerous occasions over the last twelve months. Plus over half the L2 supporters on various forums are saying the same thing as us that they need a good striker.

I get the feeling that Quigley telling us he wanted to leave so late in the summer really messed up Copper's plans. I do feel a Quigley - Zanzala - Gordon combination would have been a good strike force. Wonder if the lad from Leeds who played against Burnley this week might be on Cooper radar? Although I get the feeling he would like to see a more experienced type of striker turning up at the club in the new year.

If we signed someone from Conference North, they would at least put some effort in or show some passion more than Zanzala!, as someone previously stated when Zanzala recently got subbed he sprinted off and a few people around me joked that they didn't realise he could run that fast, says it all really!

[Sea Dog Sam]

Not sure what you mean by making a decision before it's too late. Transfer window doesn't open until January I believe. The only strikers available would be the ones who are out of contract - and those at our level there is a reason for that - they are not very good or rather injury prone. and we've been there on numerous occasions over the last twelve months. Plus over half the L2 supporters on various forums are saying the same thing as us that they need a good striker.

I get the feeling that Quigley telling us he wanted to leave so late in the summer really messed up Copper's plans. I do feel a Quigley - Zanzala - Gordon combination would have been a good strike force. Wonder if the lad from Leeds who played against Burnley this week might be on Cooper radar? Although I get the feeling he would like to see a more experienced type of striker turning up at the club in the new year.

Quigley/Zanzala partnership? Interesting. But we'll never know, alas.
I would prefer us to sign somebody with a proven track record. If it comes to the crunch we'll need experience in a relegation battle. We seem to be becoming a nursery for Leeds not sure about this. Stockport fielded an on loan Aston Villa youth player last night - from the same squad who won the FA Youth Cup. A team mate of Dimitri Sea's apparently. No disrespect to Leeds but that Aston Villa cup winning team has pedigree. Watching them play at Holker Street was a delight. Maybe worth a call to Steve Gerrard?

[HenneysKnee]

We seem to be becoming a nursery for Leeds not sure about this.

So you’d rather we didn’t have Gotts and Stevens?

[Desmond2-2]

We seem to be becoming a nursery for Leeds not sure about this.

So you’d rather we didn’t have Gotts and Stevens?

Gotts and stevens have done really well, but they still don’t have the experience I think we are starting to lack, in midfield, hopefully Mike Jones back soon which is a big plus. Attacking wise, I’ve never seen us so lightweight. There are strikers out there, wether national league or Scottish league, who would jump at the chance. The tactic of launching the ball up for Zanzala, Gordon etc to compete against 6 foot 4 centre backs is becoming absolutely fruitless to our team.

[MisterPleasant]

Not sure what you mean by making a decision before it's too late. Transfer window doesn't open until January I believe.

Minor detail. The board should get the rules changed. "All clubs' transfer dealings to be restricted to January.....except for Barrow who can acquire players whenever they like." Dunno why it hasn't been thought of before.

[Ziggerzagger]

Would have been better signing Jason Walker till the end of the season before he signed for Holier old boys,at least he knows where the net is and played for his badge

[Back of the net]

Would have been better signing Jason Walker till the end of the season before he signed for Holier old boys,at least he knows where the net is and played for his badge
[l
Holier old boys -come on you Saints pray for a 30 goal a season striker.

[Hadrian]

We seem to be becoming a nursery for Leeds

Other way round, surely?

[Falstaff]

Would have been better signing Jason Walker till the end of the season before he signed for Holier old boys,at least he knows where the net is and played for his badge

Holker OB play five divisions below Barrow. Are you really suggesting the Walker could do a job in League 2 now? What's Andy Cook up to these days

[Falstaff]

Perhaps the way forward, at least as far as the rest of this season is concerned would be to get a loanee striker from a higher division club who needs experience, such as the lad from Villa. Or a more proven player who's not getting a game currently and would benefit from getting game time a division or two down. I'm sure MC is considering all options.

[Hitthebar22]

Who doesn't want a forward player who is fit, available, affordable and will regularly score goals?
Have to trust Cooper on this. It's nothing to do with the board until someone is identified as being suitable. I hope he's lining someone up. Hope is not a strategy and maybe he'll be working on it already. Cooper has identified giving away silly goals as an ongoing problem, and it would be unsurprising if he strengthened defence first or as well.
As for Zanzala personally I think he's reasonably skilful, with a suspect attitude, and is just not physically strong enough to compete in his positionin this league.