The club at Barrow-in-Furness were in Division 3 (North) when I first followed the Rovers and then, rather than losing status via league position which could not happen at that time, they failed to get re-elected. This was in the early 70s and only in 2020 did they emerge from non-league to regain League 2 status. The same thing happened to Workington up the coast and they have never got back.
Like last season they started well this season since they have played all but 2 of their matches away from home, so their mid-table position is a worthy achievement. We have only played them once before recently at their ground and we lost and the fact that they have only rarely conceded more than 1 goal this season engenders a good deal of respect for their defensive capabilities. You might look at the number of penalties they have given away and conclude that they are very physical, but having seen several of their highlights videos, their fans might have grounds for feeling that they have suffered discrimination from referees. None of the incidents seem obvious fouls and two are situations where a Barrow defender has the ball at his feet and an attacking player comes at him with pace making an unsuccessful tackle followed by a spectacular fall! To my eyes the foul was on the part of the opposition player.
At the risk of stating the obvious, I do not think we can win unless we sustain and improve upon recent performances. Jones’s indecision is worrying as is the whole defensive organisation for opposition corners and whilst the midfield seems at last to be providing a more effective core, the forwards do not seem confident to get far enough advanced within the opposition box to threaten close-range shots. The few goals we do score are mostly from around the edge of the penalty box. The young loanees are particular prone to the premature shooting habit.
So we are rather the antithesis of the well-oiled machine, more of a prototype in development that has managed 3 successive recent trials. We do however have the proven designer, as It were, in the shape of the manager, but as we know he can only direct and shape development from the side-lines.
I think we may find Barrow at their own ground more formidable than Gillingham at home, so can we muster the extra effort to at least prevent defeat? If we can draw, that would be consistent with a gradual improvement. Losing would be assessed on the margin and manner of the loss and perhaps not to be seen as a major setback in the project.
So for the purpose of the DPL I’m going to be pessimistic and say we will lose 2-0.
DPL v Barrow
posted on 30/9/23
I'll be a little positive but fear the worst. So its1-1for me Ironside, Hurst, Close
posted on 30/9/23
I'm going to be optimistic today and predict 2-1 to Rovers. Marsh / Ironside.
posted on 30/9/23
1-1
Marsh 👍
posted on 30/9/23
I'll stick with what I said before my op. That is 1-1 with Ironside scoring. Seems to be a popular choice!
posted on 30/9/23
I hope the op went well.
It seems like the score flattered us.
I could not endure the boringly-delivered minimalist Hoden commentary and the Barrow local radio provided a more lively informative second half account for me.
What was apparent from them was that we had been quite lively in the first half. However it was also evident from how they described the second half that Barrow were really energetic and whatever level of skill we were able to bring to our game was insufficient to counteract their application.
I’ve often said before that work rate in lower divisions often gets the better of the level of skill their opponents can muster and it sounds as though it was the case today. We cannot expect to coast our way past the likes of Barrow.
posted on 1/10/23
Having now seen the extended highlights and some of the full match replay, it is difficult to believe that there is talent within this team which is superior to that visible within opponents such as Barrow who are probably a fairly typical side in this division.
On this form, our current position, hovering above the relegation zone, is about where we deserve to be.
We knock the ball around in defence with the opposition content to observe, probably confident that eventually there will be an optimistic punt upfield. When this happens there is not much more than a 50-50 chance that it will be successful and I can only attribute this to poor understanding.
It is also apparent that there does not seem to be a very high level of skill individually, not much evidence of the ability to beat an opponent.
It really is quite depressing and I fear that there is a danger of judgement being distorted by the assumption that our players are better than the League 2 average.
We let a team score 3 (soft) goals whose previous average was less than 1 a game. The only consolation is that we scored 2, twice as many as they normally concede.
Both of our goals were headers well out of reach of the goalkeeper and were largely individual efforts from our two top goal-scoring strikers.
posted on 1/10/23
Donaldo, all went well with the op - I did add a little on the Gillingham thread about it.
As far as the game at Barrow - uninspiring and boring against a mediocre team, and I gave up after about 30 minutes and watched a premier League game. Having watched the extended highlights, I thought they made us look better than we were!
Too many aimless long balls, too much playing around at the back and in mid-field as they do not seem to have the skills to go forward, and a lack of real energy and commitment.
I felt a little sorry for Jones as he could little about first and third goals, and was unlucky to slide out the area for the second, but should have stopped the shot as should have the wall.
Molyneux against the scorer for the first goal was a little on an unequal match, but Nixon too easily allowed the cross. As far as the third, route one can work!
After being so positive after the ease of my double eye op, Saturday was a real downer.