The Commentators

[mall]

Goodwin is alright. It took me a while to get used to him but,he's ok.
Its worth remembering though that John played in the era days when the Greengate and British Legion teams were all powerful locally and most of those players treat barrow soccer as a joke.

[BoltonBlue]

Quite enjoyed the iFollow/RC commentary this season so far, the platform is great & have watched every game. Each to their own however.

[LCBAFC40]

You can watch any sport and people either like or dislike the commentry so you could replace someone who you like to listen to but others don't - point is you will never please everyone! I personally think the commentary is good but don't forget most of us would never listen to it as we'd be at the games (if allowed) anyway and its better than listening to some of the absolute dribble some people talk and shout at the matches

[SayitagainSam]

I really like and enjoy John Goodwin's summaries which inter-twine nicely with Adam's first-class game commentary. But I thought yesterday that Goodwin was over-complicating situations instead of keeping them simple. Too many words on occasions. The reason I like Goodwin is that he has an OPINION, whether you like it or not, agree or nor and I usually do agree. I have no problem at all if he makes some controversial remarks. After all he is entitled to HIS OPINON. That's what he's paid for. Whereas IMO, I find that Mark Boyd has little or NO OPINION. His summaries add nothing to the game for me and I often turn the sound off when he's commentating. He seems like a really nice guy, but pussies around so as not to offend anyone and he seems to merely latch himself onto Adams coat-tails instead of initiating new and different aspects of the game.

[Main Stand SeasonTct]

Compared to our friends 'oop North' Adam and John are a breath of fresh air.Phillips and Lummy make me want to throw up at times with their OTT bias,description of the current Carlisle squad (far superior to anyone else in L2),not to mention their FANTASTIC supporters. There is also an undisguised delight in their voice at our failures - a constant unending mention of how many points we are off relegation and how many games it is since we won.

The commentators for both Cumbrian clubs do a great job IMO. At a time where the BBC are making numerous cuts we have to be grateful for what we have. Some League two clubs are not afforded the coverage we get from the BBC. As for the Phillips and Lummy they have every right to praise Carlisle. They are top of the league and at this moment in time deserve to be. As for praising the fantastic support i have no doubt if it were not for covid they would be attracting crowds in excess of 6500 a week

[MisterPleasant]

Who are the commentators in Barrow matches, the main one is O.K.ish but the second guy is absolutely awful he spends the whole game saying how bad Barrow are and what they should do if he was playing, completely runs all the players down right from the kick off he is an absolute disgrace picks on individuals and saying they should have done this or that, he's not there to do that but to comment on periods of play, please can we get somebody decent in to do the job correctly, spoilt the whole game for me anyway.

Let me tell you, the BBC RC commentators are an absolute godsend for those of us who can't get to matches on a regular basis even in normal times. Adam Johnson ("the main one") and John Goodwin ("the second guy") - for those are their names - do a superb job. Adam has clearly done his research on the opposition before each game and gives an informed and descriptive commentary. John tells it like it is - if someone's playing badly or could have chosen a better option he says so. Do you not do that at a game?

Is it not somewhat duplicitous that you criticise John Goodwin who "runs all the players down" then you come on here and do exactly the same thing of the commentary team? Well done.

[Sefton Aubergine]

I don't always agree with what is opinionated during the commentary but it certainly doesn't annoy me. One thing that is clear is that their opinions are driven by wanting the best for the club... Go on Youtube find the Torquay game from last season and listen when Quigley scores the second and winning goal with the lob over the keeper. You will never again doubt their motives and the commentary should never bother you again.

[Middleton Nick]

For those who don't like the commentators or their opinions, just turn the commentary off. It's not compulsory.

[Paulmichael]

Goodwin has an opinion and isn't afraid to share it, I personally like listening to him

[db1967]

Unfortunately the supporters who normally goto home games have never had to suffer Mr Goodwin before. Adam is fantastic but people are watching in silence at the moment because of JG, me included.

On the plus side if this is all we’ve got to moan about things are looking up!

[Hadrian]

John Goodwin is excellent, a good foil to Adam's great commentary which he has really grown into. Much more of interest to say then the away co-commentator.

Bear in mind, too, it is a radio commentary that iFollow piggy-backs onto their stream, not a commentary for TV.

James Phillips is equally good at Carlisle, lively, informed and opinionated. He was great at Barrow ten years ago, too and the first to predict promotion, many weeks before any of us believed it possible. (Funny Tweet from him last night trying to coax his lovely daughter to chant 'Barrow' when we had just won.)

As noted above, for those who can't cope with others' opinions there is always a mute option.

[spirit of 1990]

I personally think the pairing of Adam & John works very well. Adam does a cracking job of the commentary and John chips in with his critical, or complimentary comments as he see’s the moment unfold....exactly what he’s there for.

[jaycarter]

I don't think the summariser who evidently is paid to go the whole game constantly criticising all throughout the game, he needs to be replaced by someone who does not do that, he spoils the game in my opinion and I will do what Mr Lennon suggested and turn the sound off till he goes, as far as the commentator he is fine.

[Adam29]

Have to say I do love this forum

When we lose - multiple pages stating that the team is poor

When we win - multiple pages about our commentary

I’ll happily declare myself the worst commentator in the world if it means we stay up this season

[pjdaly]

I don't always agree with what is opinionated during the commentary but it certainly doesn't annoy me. One thing that is clear is that their opinions are driven by wanting the best for the club...

That for me is the key point - - - sometimes the criticism can be borne of wanting the team to do well so John Goodwin is fine as far as I'm concerned. We all know Adam is totally behind the club and the team but I certainly don't sense any anti-Barrow agenda from John Goodwin. Yes, there's a need to try and get the balance right but I can't say I've found JG too much to bear when it comes to offering criticism. And to redress the balance, I was pleased yesterday that he picked out Connor Brown for a special mention as one of our players of the season, given that Brown was replaced by the new guy (who played well) despite doing well himself in most games this season. To me, that was John Goodwin offering much merited praise for a player sidelined for yesterday's game. Well done for not forgetting Brown's contribution.

I think we also have to be able to laugh at ourselves a bit (if you can't do that it's very hard being a Barrow fan year after year after year). Some might not have liked it but that bit when he followed up the remark that both teams were playing chess, moving around and cagily waiting for a space to open up, by adding "the trouble is our pieces don't know where to go" was wickedly amusing and broke a bit of tension for me.

I have to say that back in the day it was Andy Wood who bugged me; of course it was sound only then and there were several occasions when Barrow scored that his voice was so flat and passionless that when he said we had scored I assumed he was about to add that the flag had gone up and it had been ruled out, such was the lack of life in his voice. If listening only, without the benefit of pictures, there is never any danger with Adam of not being instantly aware that we have scored!