ADY CAN MAKE BARROW SHINE
Pennock in to revive Bluebirds
ADY PENNOCK knows he’s made the right decision to take on the manager’s job at Barrow – the sun came out for his unveiling!
The former Welling United boss is back in the hot-seat after leaving League One side Gillingham at the end of September.
His last National League job was Forest Green Rovers, who he took to second place in the National League table in 2015-16 before, surprisngly, finding himself out of a job a week before the play-offs.
Pennock is the Bluebirds’ third manager of the season after Paul Cox, now at Guiseley, resigned and successor Micky Moore was sacked following their exit to Shaw Lane in the FA Cup fourth round qualifying.
The 46-year-old is confident they can turn their fortunes around – and he’s called on the Barrow faithful to get behind the cause.
Passionate
“Challenges like this really make me tick,” Pennock told The NLP. “It’s one I’m really looking forward to – already something’s going on because when I walked on the pitch the sun shone! It was like a lovely May day up there. I don’t think I’ve seen the sun shine at Barrow.
“But, seriously, I’ve been up there with Forest Green, and to scout, and it’s a fortress, it can be intimidating. We’ve got to get that back.
“The fans are so passionate and vocal and we want them to really push us to get results and make it difficult for opposition teams to come. We need that – especially now, more so than ever.”
Pennock took over with the club, who finished seventh last season, in the relegation zone with just two league wins all season – although injuries have hit them hard.
And the new boss, who worked in the Premier League as assistant to then-Stoke boss Tony Pulis, knows they need to get to work quick.
“I’m very pleased to get back in but I’m under no illusions it will be tough – we’re playing catch-up already,” Pennock said.
“It’s a clean slate for everybody. I’ll assess everybody and go from there. But it will be a quick assessment. We can’t hang around because of the predicament we’re in.” Midfielder Alex-Ray Harvey has joined Guiseley.