Barrow v Forest Green Rovers, match thread

[AugustusCorpa]

Typical, BBC Northwest at game last night to see defeat

[Barrow afc 2018]

I’ve said it for long enough now, it’s absolutely baffling why White is being picked to start games at HS, even more baffling when we are playing a team like FGR. The opposition managers must look at that team selection and rub their hands together. From the moment that game kicked off we should have been at them….instead we get sideways and backwards passing. Fantastic strike by Stockton but that aside it was probably our worst performance of the season over the 90 minutes.

Agree 100% Ian but over the years it’s so typical of Barrow all down to mentality and desire, in the end they were up for it we weren’t over to you PW.

Instead of playing with a bit of swagger reflecting our league position we appeared scared to lose reflecting in the starting lineup. Now we’ll be tested for character and mental strength, can we do it course we can.

[Jim]

Sorry for being so long winded

I don't mind long winded, Andy, but a couple of paragraph spaces might make it easier to read!

[behind the goals]

If you take out our run of 7 straight league wins we have only won back to back games once that was the first 2 games v Tranmere & Sutton so maybe finishing in the play-offs might not be on.

[Main Stand SeasonTct]

I’ve said it for long enough now, it’s absolutely baffling why White is being picked to start games at HS, even more baffling when we are playing a team like FGR. The opposition managers must look at that team selection and rub their hands together. From the moment that game kicked off we should have been at them….instead we get sideways and backwards passing. Fantastic strike by Stockton but that aside it was probably our worst performance of the season over the 90 minutes.

I have to agree regarding Tom White. His first instinct when getting the ball appears to be to turn and face his own goal with the ball. His attacking instincts are poor. I can remember when he came on loan to us the season we won the national league and the manager at the time Ian Evatt highlighted that Whites attacking instincts need to be improved. Unfortunately they haven’t

[andyg]

Sorry for being so long winded

I don't mind long winded, Andy, but a couple of paragraph spaces might make it easier to read!

Point taken was in a hurry as had to go out!
On another issue hope to be a Salford this Saturday can I get tickets for the away end on the day of the match?

[Van Der Nipper]

I don't mind long winded, Andy, but a couple of paragraph spaces might make it easier to read!

Point taken was in a hurry as had to go out!
On another issue hope to be a Salford this Saturday can I get tickets for the away end on the day of the match?

Depends on what is left of our allocation come Saturday,over 600 sold as of last night.

[McMark]

Point taken was in a hurry as had to go out!
On another issue hope to be a Salford this Saturday can I get tickets for the away end on the day of the match?

Depends on what is left of our allocation come Saturday,over 600 sold as of last night.

700+ gone now the seating allocation went quickly as it was only 200. So be less than 600 standing tickets remaining.

[Cromwell58]

The pitch is shocking you could tell by the way our passing was falling short, if the team practise on a plastic pitch where the ball travels faster then play on cow patch we will have problems. The pitch held up till before Christmas but with the majority of home games to take place I fear all the good work will go for nothing. Salford have a decent pitch so lets see how we get on.

[McMark]

The pitch is shocking you could tell by the way our passing was falling short, if the team practise on a plastic pitch where the ball travels faster then play on cow patch we will have problems. The pitch held up till before Christmas but with the majority of home games to take place I fear all the good work will go for nothing. Salford have a decent pitch so lets see how we get on.

Salfords isn’t much better tbh. Plus it had a game on it last night.

[blue nige]

The pitch is shocking you could tell by the way our passing was falling short, if the team practise on a plastic pitch where the ball travels faster then play on cow patch we will have problems. The pitch held up till before Christmas but with the majority of home games to take place I fear all the good work will go for nothing. Salford have a decent pitch so lets see how we get on.

What about the pitch at wimbledon ?

[McMark]

The pitch is shocking you could tell by the way our passing was falling short, if the team practise on a plastic pitch where the ball travels faster then play on cow patch we will have problems. The pitch held up till before Christmas but with the majority of home games to take place I fear all the good work will go for nothing. Salford have a decent pitch so lets see how we get on.

What about the pitch at wimbledon ?

Everyone knows it’s played on grass at Wimbledon it always delivers a fair bounce and it’s a court I will have you know. The LTA wouldn’t have anything else Change ends please!

[SKIPPER]

Typical, BBC Northwest at game last night to see defeat

Thankfully they were more interested in getting in the presenters' failed crossbar challenge rather than highlighting the defeat.

[Cokey]

This is only my own opinion, I'm far from a 'football expert'.

I think the formation we play (it's dubbed 3-5-2 by many, but looks more like 5-3-2 to me) works well when we're up against it, as you're pretty solid defensively and take what you can on the counter.

However, when you're perhaps hoping to take the initiative/dominate the game, it's far from ideal.

I think sides have realised that our wing backs aren't as strong defensively as some other sides, so this is how they're targeting us. Also, if they push their own wing backs/wingers high up, it forces our own to drop back in defensive mode and eliminates our own wing threat, as Dabo did right before FGR's first goal.

In games where we're looking to dominate, rather than be more defensive, I'd consider going to a solid back 4, maybe even bringing Rory Feely or Mazeed Ogungbo back in, and utilising our wingers high up the pitch. Newby on one wing, Whitfield on the other.

Hopefully this would create more opportunities for the likes of Stockton, Telford or Acquah.

We know who our creative players are, and we know who our players capable of scoring goals are, it's just fitting them into a system where we're creating more chances for them, whilst still remaining strong defensively.

I just think we need a 'Plan B' in the games we're looking to dominate. We are too predictable at the moment, which has made it easier for the opposition.

[Suffolk Blue]

I agree with just about all of this Cokey. But I wonder if there is another factor at play also.

I’ve rarely come across a manager that studies his opposition more than PW. His knowledge of the clubs, the managers, the systems and the players in League is really impressive. He’s used his knowledge to good effect many times

However I wonder whether he might on occasion over-analyse the opposition. Didn’t see the FGR game but it sounded like a full- blooded gutsy performance (by them). Sometimes that is enough. As has been said before, at this point in the season hearts and heads are almost as important as style and systems. Getting teams over the line is something that PW for all his many talents has yet to do.