Barrow‘s disappointing 1-1 draw against Mansfield Town topped off a recent collapse in form under Pete Wild. Before the final day drama, the Cumbrian side had occupied a play-off place since November 2023.
Throughout the season, Wild’s side appeared difficult to break down and had only lost eight league games before their defeat to Morecambe on 1st April. Between the 2-1 loss at the Mazuma Mobile Stadium and the final day battle with the Stags, Barrow failed to win a single game and this abhorrent run of form has inevitably cost them a place in the play-offs.
Kian Spence, who has arguably been the Cumbrian side’s standout performer this season, threw his club a lifeline with a 58th minute equaliser against Mansfield. The home side failed to capitalise on this fortune and will feel understandably heartbroken knowing a win would’ve landed them a fifth-placed finish – a position they had been in and around for most of the season.
Despite this capitulation, which leaves Barrow winless in April, Wild has commented on the clear upward trajectory that his side have been journeying on since his arrival in June 2022. After sealing promotion to the EFL from the National League in the 2019/20 season, the Barrow-in-Furness club saw two near-misses from immediate relegation back down to non-league football. After subsequent 21st and 22nd-placed finishes, the former FC Halifax Town boss was appointed and took his side to ninth in his first tenure; he has objectively improved further this year.
In an interview with the Barrow AFC media team on X, the 39-year-old gaffer had this to say about his League Two side’s end to the season.
“We are on the right track. We’re playing in the right way.
“We do need to obviously bring in more to try and get us over the line, we know that. We’re moving in the right direction, we’re not there yet, but we’re a hell of a lot closer than we were when we walked through the door two years ago.”
Writer’s View
This insistence that Barrow are moving in the right direction is exactly the optimism that a coach should convey to the fans. But in regards to how well the Cumbrian side were doing prior to this eight game winless streak, it would be more than reasonable to suggest that fans have a right to be concerned. Just like the other leagues in the EFL, League Two is certainly cruel, and a run of form like this has undoubtedly proved costly when teams start picking up points.
Despite Barrow fans’ clear annoyance at their side throwing a play-off hope away, Wild has changed the course of the club and transformed them from a relegation-threatened outfit, into a promotion hopeful. There is a clear project for the fourth tier side and patience could be the greatest remedy to bounce back from this bitter disappointment.
