Just Back  (merged)

Awful performance. They looked exhausted whichis rediculous.
Crowcombe the only person who can take any positives.
Everyone get your anger and frustration out tonight and then let's wake up tomorrow and go again!

Only one word needed. Abysmal

It was poor, ineffective up front, the best team won.

Just back from where? You didn’t know where Barrow was until half time!

Rushed back to pick up the stream. Wish we hadn’t bothered. Shocking.

That was dreadful. Hurst has got it right tactically a lot this season but today was all wrong and far too negative and too slow to change it.

Anger? Im not angry

Its a reminder of what we are. We were very poor, it happens. Noones comes out with any credit, crocombe aside. Subs couldnt get in it, but no fault on them.

Also dont see whats “ rediculous” as you put it, about them being tired. They worked their balderdash off on saturday, a 4-5 hour journey today, they are humans. Tiredness is bound to come into the equation

Agree it was really poor all round. Not sure why. See what Hurst says.

Quoted from Fette Schlange

Just back from where? You didn’t know where Barrow was until half time!

Arrived just after the goal went in.

Well done to the 400+ who travelled and I hope those who couldn't get in the covered terrace get dried off soon!

Saturday must have took a lot out of us
Not the easiest place to go on on Tuesday night
But we deserved nothing out of the game
Waters is the type of player we could do with UTM

Bad day at the office. Don’t understand why when we took Taylor, Green and Morris off and brought on 3 young loanee smaller, younger and weaker players on and still pumped the ball forward? We go again Saturday.

And struggling to understand how four days can make such a difference. Got what we deserved. Nothing up front, midfield overrun. Only the usual decent defensive performance from our centre backs kept us in it. None of the players who came in gave Hurst something to think about for Saturday.
Barrow just wanted it more-were quicker to the ball and produced really good delivery from both wings particularly in the first half.
The referee was poor, giving one of the worst penalty decisions ever. Khan took the ball cleanly.
Only real candidate for MOM was Crocombe- not just for his penalty save but for his handling which just gets better every week.
Bring on the 5 hour journey home.
Oh and Barrows ground is a shocker. Never seen so much metal work obscuring the view.

Massively under par this evening, with no quality in our play on show.

Disappointing, and whilst I’m sure changes were justified because of 3 games is a week, the team looked unbalanced and seriously lacking.

The game should probably have been put to bed at half time by barrow. Rode our luck all night and we was totally ineffective in possession.

Safe journey home to you and the rest.

Flat all round. Unbalanced without a left back fit. If we want to get into the play-offs, we definitely need better than Taylor up front. He's ok but he's not strong enough to dominate defenders, unreliable in holding the ball up, average at best in the air, fairly slow and isn't a finisher. We can't carry him the whole game for just one or two clever flick ons, the output from the sum of his efforts isn't enough to be a nailed on starter. He works his nuts off, but it's starting to frustrate me that he's our first choice striker. We have much better quality in pretty much every other area of the pitch although those qualities didn't turn up tonight..but a bit more mobility up top could have pulled their defence around a bit..

Probably our worst performance of the season.

We outwork most teams but Barrow were prepared to fight just as hard as us and we couldn't get a grip. Taylor won very little, while Holohan and Clifton were often outmuscled.

The enforced changes didn't help. Efete actually had a solid game but he's never going to offer much on his unfavoured side, while Cropper looks like he's still getting match fit. A few players, Holohan and Green in particular, looked a bit off the pace which is surprising given our usual fitness standards.

The subs made us worse. Taking Khan off actually created the opportunity for the goal as the cross came from a position where he would usually be. Richardson was much slower to get across from his no. 10 position. It was a good finish from Waters but he was able to run across Smith far too easily for me.

I think the games we've been chasing at the end have shown us how bad our decision making can be. We find it so difficult to break into the final third - we seem to spend so long stroking it across our back line to no end - and when the ball finally drops for us we almost always do the wrong thing. I completely lost it when Richardson decided to turn back into three Barrow players when Hunt was available for a simple lay-off.

I'm not really sure where that performance came from, but I think when we're not able to outwork an opposition's midfield we're going to struggle as we have little guile to make the difference.

Merge please admin

Theres a fellow on social media trying to seriously argue that Barrow were the best team we’ve faced this season…. We were as poor as ive seen a Paul hurst team for a long while.

Come on Town
That’s out the system now
Do the business sat at a struggling Pool
The i player jinx strikes again
400 away fans amazing 👍

I can’t take this tired long journey can’t play on Saturday on Tuesday stuff. Barrow where away to Gillingham on Saturday 600 mile round trip live and train around Manchester and travel up to Barrow to play . We were outfought everywhere on the pitch.

Quoted from always grimsby

Saturday must have took a lot out of us
Not the easiest place to go on on Tuesday night
But we deserved nothing out of the game
Waters is the type of player we could do with UTM

Yes

Quoted from MarinerDevil

Probably our worst performance of the season.

We outwork most teams but Barrow were prepared to fight just as hard as us and we couldn't get a grip. Taylor won very little, while Holohan and Clifton were often outmuscled.

The enforced changes didn't help. Efete actually had a solid game but he's never going to offer much on his unfavoured side, while Cropper looks like he's still getting match fit. A few players, Holohan and Green in particular, looked a bit off the pace which is surprising given our usual fitness standards.

The subs made us worse. Taking Khan off actually created the opportunity for the goal as the cross came from a position where he would usually be. Richardson was much slower to get across from his no. 10 position. It was a good finish from Waters but he was able to run across Smith far too easily for me.

I think the games we've been chasing at the end have shown us how bad our decision making can be. We find it so difficult to break into the final third - we seem to spend so long stroking it across our back line to no end - and when the ball finally drops for us we almost always do the wrong thing. I completely lost it when Richardson decided to turn back into three Barrow players when Hunt was available for a simple lay-off.

I'm not really sure where that performance came from, but I think when we're not able to outwork an opposition's midfield we're going to struggle as we have little guile to make the difference.

This. We have failed to look after the ball in the final third all season. Unless we can get the ball into Taylors feet he has no chance against two big CB's. Hurst seems to think that putting him on the field is job half done. If we can't match the physicality of teams like Barrow then we have to move the ball quicker and play to the strengths of the other forwards like Khan and Richardson.

Waters is a skilful and confident player who Barrow look for. The pass was deliberate and well executed. Playing Taylor in all games makes it easy for opposition coaches to match us up and stifle our play.

Have always thought Billy Waters should be playing for us, especially with his local connections.

I think this shows that we're firmly midtable right now.

https://twitter.com/sjwillerton/status/1585016109635620864/photo/1

I can’t remember the last time we were as bad as that, certainly not this season. We barely strung two passes together, we got nowhere near their goal all night, at no point did we look remotely threatening.

I thought Michee did well playing out of position, Morris did ok, Crocombe made that excellent pen save but apart from that we were abject. Harry looked spent, Khan was irrelevant and nothing came off for Holohan. We looked leggy in the middle of the park and I think Hursty made an error in not changing it earlier given it clearly wasn’t happening. We were poor before the goal and abysmal after it.

We have to say, on the evidence of the season so far, that that is a blip. We now need a response on Saturday and stop it turning into a slide. This is the same Tuesday as the Wealdstone game last season. It better not be a repeat!

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

Yes

We could quite easily have beaten Northampton, Salford and Bradford given slightly different circumstances and could easily have taken fewer points from games against Rochdale and Walsall. I think that stat is a quirk as much as anything, we’ll score plenty of points against the promotion chasing teams.

OK, no massive rant here, because as much as I loved the match Saturday, the same issues were present tonight as were visible then.

1. We are solid and have a good shape in midfield with Green, Holohan, Clifton, Morris occupying the 3 centre mid spots on rotation etc. But 3 in midfield means less of a threat from an attacking perspective unless you have a real threat from your striker.

We don’t.

Taylor works hard but it was telling that when we needed a goal, we took him off. He is not going to solve our lack of goals in this or any other formation at this stage of his career.

2. Both fullbacks on Saturday looked vulnerable and were got at and in behind by Bradford. Tonight, Cropper and Efete also looked vulnerable and this is where their threats looked more likely as well which is the same as Saturday.

Why? Connected to a lack of genuine wide players imho as Khan more a number 10, Clifton is not a wide player and this is the reason Hurst picks Kiernan  when fit as he is and he does consistently track back and support the full backs who are not great defensively 1 on 1.

3. Hurst does prefer hard working and physical midfield players and has a mindset of protect the goal and build from there. You can’t argue with that and the principle of keeping it tight.

However, more technically gifted attacking players are just not being selected because of this cautious approach and hence, Hunt, JMD, Wearne and even Richardson not trusted to start as Hurst is clearly worried about being unpicked when we don’t have the ball - which is a genuine risk.

Getting the balance right between having an attacking threat, whilst also being defensively solid, is a balance I know and a balancing act.

I just feel that Hurst hasn’t hit that balance quite right yet and as a result, look at how few goals we are conceding, but then look at how few we are scoring.

Got to find space for more our more attacking flair players, whilst not becoming a side that ships goals somehow.

Over to you Paul, as do think you have more talent in the squad than we are seeing in some of our tight but cautious displays.

Extremely disappointed with tonight’s performance. I listened to Pete Wild’s interview with Radio Cumbria on the way home - he basically said he warned his players they would need to out compete us and not let us dictate the play and they succeeded in doing that. Can’t argue with that assessment.

He also said it was Barrow’s best 90 minutes of the season. That combined with one of our worst meant there was only going to be one outcome.

Write this off as a bad day at the office and go again on Saturday.

Quoted from Mariner_09

I can’t remember the last time we were as bad as that, certainly not this season. We barely strung two passes together, we got nowhere near their goal all night, at no point did we look remotely threatening.

I thought Michee did well playing out of position, Morris did ok, Crocombe made that excellent pen save but apart from that we were abject. Harry looked spent, Khan was irrelevant and nothing came off for Holohan. We looked leggy in the middle of the park and I think Hursty made an error in not changing it earlier given it clearly wasn’t happening. We were poor before the goal and abysmal after it.

We have to say, on the evidence of the season so far, that that is a blip. We now need a response on Saturday and stop it turning into a slide. This is the same Tuesday as the Wealdstone game last season. It better not be a repeat!

Can't remember the last time we were as bad as that? Of the matches I went to last season...Wealdstone away, Southend away, Weymouth away and Solihull away all for sure and maybe Maidenhead away and Dagenham away too. We're gonna play bad sometimes, I don't think we need to be too worried especially off the back of such a high tempo match on Saturday too. Worth noting that Bradford conceded late tonight.

Credit has to be given to Barrow as they outfought us and not many teams have done that last season. Good to see a lot of praise being given to Waters for them who was a constant threat and is a player that continually impresses me. I thought Whitfield also looked a threat.

I thought the subs we made weren't great tonight, a distinct lack of experience once Pepple, Hunt, Richardson and Simmonds were on. I'm not sure why Wearne and Orsi are being overlooked so much for People and Simmonds. Was JMD not fit too?

Glennon phoned in sick this morning, Kiernan was missing for personal reasons and JMD and Orsi were both injured in training.

I only managed to catch the last half an hour of the game through being at work but that half hour was so hard to watch. I don't think I recall a time we've been as poor as that. We had a corner in the first few minutes of me tuning in but I don't think I recall us actually play a single pass in the final third for the rest of the game. Clifton dribbled in and had a shot from distance and the ball got lumped up for Canavan to head clear a few times.

I was at Wealdstone last year and that was a poor showing but this topped it by far. For me, what makes it worse is the fantastic performance we had on Saturday. Granted enforced changes will change the momentum a little but to be at polar opposites in performance in just a few days is hard to take. As someone else mentioned, hopefully this isn't going to be history repeating itself. I have trust in PH and the team that they'll pick themselves up get back to it again in quick time, hopefully at Hartlepool on Saturday as I have quite a few Hartlepool supporting mates.

Last night also showed why Kiernan is more important to us than some believe. He really stretches the game which we never did at any point last night.

Quoted from always grimsby

Saturday must have took a lot out of us
Not the easiest place to go on on Tuesday night
But we deserved nothing out of the game

Yes a Saturday  then Tuesday game can take it out of some players more than others .

Quoted from Rick12

Yes a Saturday  then Tuesday game can take it out of some players more than others .

It was exactly the same for them.  They were away at Gillingham on Saturday, a longer road trip than ours last night.

I think PH admitted (in so many words) he got it wrong last night
Should have made 2/3 changes - but tbh would any of us rested Holohan, Harry, Green after Saturday?
He also lost Orsi and JMD in training; Morris only played 45 after a few weeks out
Taylor looked a little jaded and Khan was ineffective

He prefers a 4411 and with that in mind I don't think we have anyone who can play the Taylor role among the subs

Harry at LB and bring Hunt into midfield would have been least disruptive

All in all a bad night at the office - so many were just off it

Go again Saturday

Just really, really poor all round (Crocombe aside).  Unbalance for sure but that doesn't account for losing every battle on the pitch and every second ball.  

What worked so well on Saturday (and for all of our better performances this season) was simply having more energy than the opposition.  Last night we didn't have that, despite packing the side with high-energy players.  

Long journey, quick turnaround, all of that yeah let's consider it.  But as Herve points out Barrow had a monster journey on Saturday.  Need to figure out what went wrong, dust ourselves down and go again on Sat.  

That league table via Twitter is interesting, but really should have beat Bradford.  Swindon and Northampton far from outclassed us and against Orient we looked a side that had less pre-season than everyone else (which was the case).  It's fine margins but I don't think it's a case that we're only capable against the lesser sides of the division.  

Still feel we're in a very good position for this point of the season.  Let's take it as a wake up call against complacency.  

Quoted from 123614

It was exactly the same for them.  They were away at Gillingham on Saturday, a longer road trip than ours last night.

Didnt realise about them .Thanks. Maybe there manager used squad rotation which in hindsight Hurst should of done ?.

We are doing ok, establishing a foothold in League 2 but there will be setbacks. Barrow out Grimsby'ed us it seems and did to us what we have done to others.

I think we are still developing as a side in the EFL and most would have been happy with where we are right now. We have shown we can compete and what is evident is that without a bit more guile and firepower, we are a little behind the teams immediately above us. We have matched them, but not had the goals to get better results.

That is the problem PH and the board have to solve for us to move into the higher reaches of the league and it will need looking at in Jan.

Quoted from ginnywings

We are doing ok, establishing a foothold in League 2 but there will be setbacks. Barrow out Grimsby'ed us it seems and did to us what we have done to others.

I think we are still developing as a side in the EFL and most would have been happy with where we are right now. We have shown we can compete and what is evident is that without a bit more guile and firepower, we are a little behind the teams immediately above us. We have matched them, but not had the goals to get better results.

That is the problem PH and the board have to solve for us to move into the higher reaches of the league and it will need looking at in Jan.

Fair points Ginny. To be fair to Hurst and the players Iam pleasantly surprised at where Grimsby are at this moment in the season .

Poor game, but in a long season they will happen.  The only important stats after that game are that it's a 3 point gap to the play offs and a 13 point gap to the relegation battle.  If we'd been offered that after 15 games pre-season I'd have snapped your hand off.

As long as we finish 10th or better we will be able to attract more talent next season and go from there.

I’ve woken up still annoyed which is a rarity, I’m not worried and completely accept it’s a one off. However, for those who didn’t watch that, it’s hard to describe how abject that performance was, the inability to string a simple pass together was incredible to watch.

Always seems to be on a Tuesday night when we fall to pieces, very bizarre.

Quoted from HerveJosse

I can’t take this tired long journey can’t play on Saturday on Tuesday stuff. Barrow where away to Gillingham on Saturday 600 mile round trip live and train around Manchester and travel up to Barrow to play . We were outfought everywhere on the pitch.

The coach set off after we did which I thought was surprising. I know Barrow isn't the most picturesque of towns but I thought we'd have travelled up on Monday.

Was just on all round bad performance. Summed up when Hunt actually burst forward near the end and found a bit of space and Simmonds failed to find him with a lay off from all of 2 yards. Really annoying that despite that we should have had a point if we hadn't defended that cross so poorly.

You should’ve watched Bake Off, gents.

Interesting point Hurst made about their pitch, almost as if it was better than they expected it to be.

We didn't play football much at all last night.  Wonder if Hurst is thinking he was too keen to stick with the high tempo from Saturday rather than let our better footballers do what they can.  

Hindsight is fantastic but Holohan pushed further forward worked well on Saturday because Bradford were open as hell, that'll happen against the supposed better sides of the division - those who will play against us fully expecting to get all 3 points.  

Barrow were tighter and you probably need more about you than high press and forcing mistakes.  Richardson looks to be someone who will make something happen himself rather than force an error.  Think we definitely need to see more of him, operating in and around Taylor rather than out wide too.

Again, with that beauty of hindsight, Clifton at left-back with Holohan deeper then Khan and Richardson behind Taylor would probably have worked better.  

Just up after getting back in the early hours.  Well we were well off our usual pace and not sure if it was us that was bad or whether Pete Wilde had done his homework and stifled us completely.  Barrow outworked us, which is rare and pushed us back closed us down with great effect.  We seemed to struggle with the bounce of the pitch and failed to create anything of note out wide.
Hopefully a ‘one’ off but we’ll see.  Too many players had off nights and to only lose 1-0 was the only real plus point I guess.
Long trip for the 462 of us which is great credit to us all. I’m not going to moan like some have about the long trip as I’ve been rewarded many times after long trips…..sadly last night it didn’t happen.
On to Saturday UTM

PS - Not a penalty but well saved Max

Quoted from A.l.f.

Just up after getting back in the early hours.  Well we were well off our usual pace and not sure if it was us that was bad or whether Pete Wilde had done his homework and stifled us completely.  Barrow outworked us, which is rare and pushed us back closed us down with great effect.  We seemed to struggle with the bounce of the pitch and failed to create anything of note out wide.
Hopefully a ‘one’ off but we’ll see.  Too many players had off nights and to only lose 1-0 was the only real plus point I guess.
Long trip for the 462 of us which is great credit to us all. I’m not going to moan like some have about the long trip as I’ve been rewarded many times after long trips…..sadly last night it didn’t happen.
On to Saturday UTM

PS - Not a penalty but well saved Max

It was very similar to Halifax away last season (same opposition manager and also on a Tuesday night) - we looked rubbish and created little, they spent the whole game hassling us and nicked a goal through a penalty. Think Wild's just figured out how to counter Hurst's usual tactics.

Quoted from Chrisblor

Glennon phoned in sick this morning, Kiernan was missing for personal reasons and JMD and Orsi were both injured in training.

Ah okay fair, cheers mate. Did listen to the pre-match, I must be have been distracted.

Quoted from barralad

The coach set off after we did which I thought was surprising. I know Barrow isn't the most picturesque of towns but I thought we'd have travelled up on Monday.

Must say I was surprised when in his pre-match interview PH said they were travelling on the day and with the increased revenue this season I would expect this to have been an overnight stop. I note some comparisons given Barrow travelled to Gillingham on Saturday but they would have had recovery time on Sunday/Monday whilst we appear to have got straight off the bus into the game.

Anyway all teams lose games throughout the season and have matches where they’re crap and this appears to have been one of those.

I expect nobody is interested but I popped down to Lincoln United and saw Grimsby Borough win 2-0 in a very feisty affair. Very impressed with Borough’s left back who scored a cracking goal in what was clearly a more enjoyable game than the town match.

Quoted from Chrisblor

It was very similar to Halifax away last season (same opposition manager and also on a Tuesday night) - we looked rubbish and created little, they spent the whole game hassling us and nicked a goal through a penalty. Think Wild's just figured out how to counter Hurst's usual tactics.

Wild's also a very, very good manager.  

Overperformed at Halifax, overperforming at Barrow now as well.  The only slight stain on his copybook is at Oldham, where he left with a decent record and he's gone on record as saying he knew it was a poisoned chalice.  I like his honesty in that.  Boyhood club or not, smart enough to recognise the situation.

I think a few clubs will fall victim of underestimating him and his team this season, also won't surprise me if he's snapped up again in the summer.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Wild's also a very, very good manager.  

Overperformed at Halifax, overperforming at Barrow now as well.  The only slight stain on his copybook is at Oldham, where he left with a decent record and he's gone on record as saying he knew it was a poisoned chalice.  I like his honesty in that.  Boyhood club or not, smart enough to recognise the situation.

I think a few clubs will fall victim of underestimating him and his team this season, also won't surprise me if he's snapped up again in the summer.

May have been relatively successful at small poorly supported clubs but his style of football is dire to watch and unlikely to be accepted at a higher level. Please don’t anyone ever suggest him as a future manager here.

He was linked when Jolley got sacked in 2019.  Worked out ok though as we got Holloway...

Probably a bit harsh to judge him on the style he's adopting when with a very limited budget.  Be interesting to see how he sets up when he's got more money/resources.

beginning to wonder if 1 or 2 clubs might be looking at Crocombe (& harry) in January. was very competent and composed last night

Quoted from Chrisblor

It was very similar to Halifax away last season (same opposition manager and also on a Tuesday night) - we looked rubbish and created little, they spent the whole game hassling us and nicked a goal through a penalty. Think Wild's just figured out how to counter Hurst's usual tactics.

I can see that comparison although I'd have said we were definitely better against Halifax before they got that pen to win it

Me & my lad thought last night was more akin to the Solihull away game.... that was distinctly underwhelming

Hey ho.... last night is history and the best response now is to put Hartlepool to the sword.

Two up top for me though please as Taylor in isolation won't pose enough of a goal threat there

UTM ATAW

I thought it was comfortably worse than both Solihull and Halifax away last season. Before their second at Solihull, we looked like we might be about to equalise, Michee forced a good save, we had one cleared off the line. At Halifax, it was a very close, tight game that was won by fine margins. McAtee had a one-on-one chance saved, Pearson had a stonewall pen turned down. Last night, we had nothing that resembled anything like those chances, we didn't even compete.

Suppose it's a positive, given how awful we were, that it was settled by 1 goal born of iffy defending.

Quoted from ska face

You should’ve watched Bake Off, gents.

......or cut your grass under floodlighting!!!

Still fuming...haha....the one thing that grates me most is that whilst the individuals had off days which is hard to allow for we should have changed shape/ approach.
We had the Cropper bomb to utilise so push two up top and play them towards the channels, gain yards, play for throw in positions. Every other team who has that weapon does the same ...but we get the use of it and play narrow, don't have a winger and play the ball centrally.

Rant over.

I am now calm.

I feared the worst when I saw Green Morris & Holohan on the team sheet has it ever worked with those 3 all in the team. Just asking I don't have any stats or anything and nothing against any of them individually all good players in their own right.

Quoted from MrsMariner

I feared the worst when I saw Green Morris & Holohan on the team sheet has it ever worked with those 3 all in the team. Just asking I don't have any stats or anything and nothing against any of them individually all good players in their own right.

Draws against Northampton & Sutton, wins against Crewe, Rochdale and Walsall?

Forest aside, we’ve only lost once (away at Orient) when those three have started together.

Quoted from ska face

Draws against Northampton & Sutton, wins against Crewe, Rochdale and Walsall?

Forest aside, we’ve only lost once (away at Orient) when those three have started together.

That blows my theory out the water then  

Quoted from MrsMariner

That blows my theory out the water then  

Have faith in the holy trinity. The angels of the north.

That was about a painful a watch as trapping my co ck in my zip.. but I didn't have to pay £10 to do that and it didn't last 90 minutes!

Quoted from Teesknees

That was about a painful a watch as trapping my co ck in my zip..

I dunno, you’re one of my favourite OnlyFans contributors to be fair. Hope you managed to clean the mess up ok, that thing looked like someone had turned a weasel inside out by the time you were finished…

Quoted from Poojah

I dunno, you’re one of my favourite OnlyFans contributors to be fair. Hope you managed to clean the mess up ok, that thing looked like someone had turned a weasel inside out by the time you were finished…

Thanks for the endorsement, I realise what we do is a bit niche so some appreciation is always welcome, I'll pass it onto Nigel. Funny you should say that as due to imaging rights we had to use a spare weasel left over from Carmen Electra's 50th birthday party!

As an exile living in Preston, Barrow away was my first match of the season… how disappointed was I!!! I’m glad to read that most people rate this as the worst performance of the season so far, so I’m not too disheartened.

One thing I noticed on arriving last night was how good Barrow’s pitch was. However, as it was wet last night the surface was really slick & I think it exposed a few of our players technical ability receiving the ball. It was clearly difficult for both teams, but Barrow managed it better than us, Billy Waters in particular. For me Khan was our best player on the ball, & I was disappointed to see him subbed.

As an exile living in Preston, Barrow away was my first match of the season… how disappointed was I!!! I’m glad to read that most people rate this as the worst performance of the season so far, so I’m not too disheartened.

One thing I noticed on arriving last night was how good Barrow’s pitch was. However, as it was wet last night the surface was really slick & I think it exposed a few of our players technical ability receiving the ball. It was clearly difficult for both teams, but Barrow managed it better than us, Billy Waters in particular. For me Khan was our best player on the ball, & I was disappointed to see him subbed.

Quoted from Rick12

Didnt realise about them .Thanks. Maybe there manager used squad rotation which in hindsight Hurst should of done ?.

They were unchanged from Saturday.

I think Town should be given some leeway for the poor performance at Barrow.  It was mentioned that Barrow had a long journey from Gillingham last Sat.  True.  But the match had no additional pressures.  Barrow played well and deserved a point.

Our match against Bradford was totally different.  A total sellout, large away following, local derby (ish) against a big club just above us in the league.   Throw into the mix a great atmosphere.

  The players had a lot of pressure on them to play well. The match would also have taken a lot out of all the players physically, mentally and emotionally.

The second half performance fully demonstrated these efforts.  The energy tanks were drained chasing a winner.  The frustration at so many goal attempts and still not getting a deserved winner will also have impacted adversely on the players.

They would not have fully recovered by Tuesday.  Maybe Hurst should have changed the team. But he had late injuries.  Liverpool had an energy-sapping game and win over City.  In their next game against Forest they were very flat - also also lost 1-0.  Blips happen.

Quoted from Lincoln Mariner 56

Must say I was surprised when in his pre-match interview PH said they were travelling on the day and with the increased revenue this season I would expect this to have been an overnight stop. I note some comparisons given Barrow travelled to Gillingham on Saturday but they would have had recovery time on Sunday/Monday whilst we appear to have got straight off the bus into the game.

Anyway all teams lose games throughout the season and have matches where they’re crap and this appears to have been one of those.

I expect nobody is interested but I popped down to Lincoln United and saw Grimsby Borough win 2-0 in a very feisty affair. Very impressed with Borough’s left back who scored a cracking goal in what was clearly a more enjoyable game than the town match.

Boroughs left back is Caine Winfarrah who played a few games for town

Quoted from Lincoln Mariner 56

Must say I was surprised when in his pre-match interview PH said they were travelling on the day and with the increased revenue this season I would expect this to have been an overnight stop. I note some comparisons given Barrow travelled to Gillingham on Saturday but they would have had recovery time on Sunday/Monday whilst we appear to have got straight off the bus into the game.

Why wouldn't our players have had recovery time on Sunday and Monday?

Probably most of the squad wouldn't have travelled all that way on the bus as many players don't live in Town and would have met the bus on the way, also it isn't that difficult to spend a few hours sat down, listening to your favourite music, playing cards or surfing the net. It's not that it was a 3.00pm kick off either.

Travelling on a luxury bus for a few hours and breaking up the journey for something nice to eat can't be used as an excuse for such a poor performance.

Quoted from arryarryarry

Why wouldn't our players have had recovery time on Sunday and Monday?

Probably most of the squad wouldn't have travelled all that way on the bus as many players don't live in Town and would have met the bus on the way, also it isn't that difficult to spend a few hours sat down, listening to your favourite music, playing cards or surfing the net. It's not that it was a 3.00pm kick off either.

Travelling on a luxury bus for a few hours and breaking up the journey for something nice to eat can't be used as an excuse for such a poor performance.

Totally agree with you.

It's not as if it was a rearranged match out of the blue. Saturday Tuesday games are part of the league structure and not something new. After watching the Bradford game Tuesday night's performance was a huge let down and, as others have pointed out Barrow also played on Saturday away to Gillingham

We now have fitness coaches etc. to ensure the team perform well and Tuesdays performance reflects on them as well. I am not saying Barrow played good football but their players looked as if they hadn't played for a week or 2 and ours looked as if they had walked off BP on Saturday and straight onto the turf at Barrow.

It was a good job Crocrombe had a superb game, as did Waterfall, or else the defeat could have been a rout. What could have gone wrong in that match did go wrong? It looked like poor preparation, poor tactics and poor athleticism.

Quoted from SouthLakesMariner

They were unchanged from Saturday.

Thanks.

Having said that I know from talking to a ex professional in the past this can be an issue. He stated when he played Saturday, Tuesday his performances dipped on the Tuesday due mainly due to the physical. Some managers managed him better eg after a Saturday game didn't start  him on the Tuesday game or brought him on as sub. His performances tended to be better as a result.

Quoted from DB

We now have fitness coaches etc. to ensure the team perform well and Tuesdays performance reflects on them as well. I am not saying Barrow played good football but their players looked as if they hadn't played for a week or 2 and ours looked as if they had walked off BP on Saturday and straight onto the turf at Barrow.

Interesting points DB. What I would add as well  is football is all about levels . A player who sacrifices more eg moderates his drinking ,trains well ,eats right etc will maximise or achieve near his potential. Add a good mindset eg commited on the training pitch and on match day on most days and your onto a winner. Think of it like a exam eg 90% to a 65% player. I've seen it before in youth team games at academy's. Some players are decent technically and could of made it in lower league football  but they have little character and it shows and are subsequently released by a  respective coach.

Not even sure it need a debate. We had an off day, we’ve hardly had one since we came back up, we’ve lost only four games and, in my opinion, have had a start beyond what anyone truthfully imagined.

Put it down to experience and move on. Not worth a pointless debate over travelling and whether or not it affected them and all that jazz.

Sometimes you’re just not very good, simple as that. The manager knows, the players know, the fans know. Onward to Hartlepool.

If you went on Tuesday and visited the Spoons; The Furness Railway could you drop me a DM.

Heard of a lot of town fans (currently 9!) that have eaten in there and now have quite severe food poisoning.

Quoted from bradzmilne

If you went on Tuesday and visited the Spoons; The Furness Railway could you drop me a DM.

Heard of a lot of town fans (currently 9!) that have eaten in there and now have quite severe food poisoning.

Up to 17 town fans now.

Not me but my best mate and his lad did and they've both been unwell.  Will PM u his name and email address so u can get in contact with him.

This is very serious and there are 17 cases and counting,  Someone affected or their family need to report this to Environmental Health.  They need to investigate and find the source of the outbreak.  This might stop there being other poor victims in the future.  

Quoted from TownSNAFU5

This is very serious and there are 17 cases and counting,  Someone affected or their family need to report this to Environmental Health.  They need to investigate and find the source of the outbreak.  This might stop there being other poor victims in the future.  

Well into the 20s now mate

Far too much of a coincident

Quoted from Norseman

Boroughs left back is Caine Winfarrah who played a few games for town

Didn’t realise it was him and remember his debut, think it’s the only time he played, where he had more than a decent game and I remember a number of fans were surprised he never got another chance. Certainly the stand out player and his goal from outside the area with the outside of his left was well worth the admission fee.