Don’t take any prisoners on home soil
When a team’s form goes off the rails, with individuals struggling to rediscover the magic they have previously shown, football, all too often, becomes a very complex game. Managers start searching for answers; why has the striker with the golden boot in September hit the wall in October? Why have the centre-halves – so often in sync and reading minds like one had written the other’s – now become disjointed and sluggish. And why has the inspirational skipper, the man who ties everything together in the middle of the park, lost his edge and leadership qualities that every player bought into?
Losing streaks and winless runs – there is often no cure; it’s like a virus has set in and you just hope it blows over before too long. They don’t just affect the players either. All football clubs have their fickle communities but with every poor display, the abuse snowballs, sweeping up fans who would never have dreamt of turning on their own. It’s just the nature of our game, but it’s a horrible piece of the jigsaw we all wish we could throw away.
Last weekend, Barrow registered their first win in ten National League outings following a run that saw the club yield just three points (three draws) from a possible 27 as they slipped mercilessly into the relegation zone. Conversely, a year ago, the same team, with a similar set of players, were piecing together a run of results that had many, including myself, having them nailed on for a play-off spot. Following Byron Harrison’s 87th-minute winner against Braintree on August 27, the club went on a 19-game unbeaten National League run, winning ten and drawing nine.
They became the hardest nut to crack, especially at home. And that’s because Barrow, in relative terms and said with the greatest respect, was arguably the most inhospitable place to play football in the country. Nobody wanted to go there, and I am not just talking about the fans who were faced with the thankless task of a journey to the northern-most corner of England. The NLP regularly asked players ‘who’ and ‘where’ they feared, and while most would stick their chests out and say ‘nobody and nowhere’, those who were forthcoming claimed, hands down, that it was Barrow and Holker Street.
During that run, there were arguably more impressive results on the road, notably with a backs-to-the-wall win at Lincoln and a swaggering 4-1 thumping at Dagenham. But there was one result that really did stick out, when big-spending Eastleigh rolled into town and were sent packing 4-0. It was like the school show-off being humiliated by the ugly playground bully.
New boss Ady Pennock (see page 18 for more) needs to get Barrow’s bite back, and he needs to start by taking advantage of a ground with the capacity to have the visitors turning on their heels before they have even got there. Good home form, for any side, is the first ingredient for success. Holker Street may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but that’s the magic of the place, and many other grounds like it. Your own manor should be uncompromising. It’s your house and you don’t need to keep it tidy... especially for visitors!