Wretched Town suffered yet another embarrassing FA Cup exit as first-half goals from Jordan Stevens and Robbie Gotts saw League Two Barrow to a 2-0 second-round replay victory at Holker Street. The Blues deserved little more having been woeful in a first half in which Stevens netted on 26 and Gotts nine minutes later. Town huffed and puffed after the break but never looked like getting back into the match.

Interim manager John McGreal made eight changes to the Blues side with only Christian Walton, Kane Vincent-Young and Cameron Burgess remaining from Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Wigan.

Walton continued in goal behind a back four of, from the right, Vincent-Young, Toto Nsiala, Burgess and Matt Penney.

In midfield, Idris El Mizouni and Tom Carroll were in the centre with Scott Fraser on the left and Sone Aluko, who skippered, on the right. Up front, James Norwood started alongside Kayden Jackson.

Among those on the bench are captain Sam Morsy, Conor Chaplin and Janoi Donacien, while Ben Morris was included in the first-team squad for the first time since the Coventry game in March 2020, the final match before that season was suspended due to the pandemic.

Young midfielder Cameron Humphreys was due to be in the squad but was left out as his room-mate has Covid, according to Blues legend Terry Butcher, who was part of the team covering the game live for ITV4

League Two Barrow made two changes with Josh Gordon and Matt Platt coming into the team for Ozzy Zanzala and Mark Ellis, who dropped to the bench.

Prior to kick-off both teams took a knee aside from Aluko and Nsiala, who both raised an arm.

Barrow saw most of the ball in the early stages and on five Gordon got behind Burgess on the right but screwed his shot well wide.

The Bluebirds continued to dominate the ball and in the 12th minute came close to going in front when Patrick Brough crossed from the left after a flowing move from halfway and Gotts shot just over from the edge of the area.

Barrow felt they should have been awarded a penalty in the 19th minute when Burgess sent Gordon flying as he cleared after dallying not realising the Barrow striker was behind him. The Town defender looked to have got something on the ball as well as the player but some referees might have given it.

The Blues had shown very little with the home side controlling the game and in the 26th minute they went in front with their first goal in open play in seven matches.

A corner was played short to Gott, who laid it to Stevens on the edge of the box from where he smashed a shot into the net off El Mizouni. It was all the League Two side deserved with the Blues yet to get going.

Barrow threatened again on the half hour when Gotts shot not too far wide at the near post from a right-sided cross.

The Blues continued to labour and in the 35th minute the home side doubled their lead. Stevens crossed from the left, Brough couldn’t direct it goalwards but it dropped to Gotts, who smashed into the net to make it 2-0.

The scoreline far from flattered the Cumbrians, who had been much the better side with the Blues having shown nothing.

Town finally threatened as the half reached its final minutes, a Fraser free-kick from the right leading to a corner from which Burgess flicked a header well wide, much to his frustration.

The half-time whistle was greeted by cheers from the home side who thoroughly deserved their two-goal lead with the Blues as bad as they’ve been at any point over the last few seasons.

Town had been embarrassingly schooled by League Two’s 19th-place team, who had passed the ball around tidily and created the game’s only chances.

The Blues had struggled to keep hold of the ball, had carved out nothing in front of goal and had looked shaky at the back.

It was little surprise that McGreal made changes at the break with skipper Morsy and Luke Woolfenden taking over from Fraser and Carroll as he moved the team into a 3-5-2 system with Aluko ahead of El Mizouni and Morsy in the centre.

Town threatened within a minute of the restart, Norwood stabbing wide from inside the area.

On 48 sub Woolfenden headed wide after a corner which had been played to the edge of the box had been looped back towards the post.

In the 54th minute Morsy hit a well-struck shot from just outside the box which home keeper Paul Farman saved down to his left and then claimed ahead of Jackson as the striker sought to follow-up, suffering a knock which required treatment as he did so.

Farman, who was in goal for Lincoln when they beat Town in the FA Cup at Sincil Bank in 2017, was eventually OK to carry on.

Barrow created their first opportunities of the second half in the 58th minute, First, Ollie Banks’s shot was blocked then Stevens sent his volley over the bar.

Just after the hour, Norwood chased a long ball down the middle but Farman was quickly off his line to claim in front of the striker.

On 66 Morsy was shown the game’s first yellow card for a late challenge on Banks inside the centre circle. Two minutes later, Norwood was swapped for Joe Pigott after a frustrating evening.

In the 72nd minute Nsiala went down clearly in pain after colliding with Gordon and required treatment for what looked like a twisted knee. The centre-half eventually gingerly made his way to the touchline and was replaced by Donacien, while Chaplin took over from Aluko. On 79, Barrow swapped Stevens for Josh Kay and Connor Brown for Remeao Hutton.

Any momentum the Blues might have built up in the early minutes of the half had well and truly dissipated with the game petering out as a contest given the home’s side’s two-goal lead and the succession of substitutions preventing any flow.

However, in the 80th minute, Vincent-Young sent a low ball across the Bluebirds area but with no one on hand to add a final touch.

Town were seeing a fair bit of the ball but without finding a way through the Barrow XI, who by now were happy to sit on their lead. On 87 Pigott shot into the ground and through to Farman.

Morsy showed his frustration a minute later by dragging a Barrow player to his feet as he was on the ground waiting for treatment and was fortunate not to be shown a second yellow card.

As the match moved into six minutes of injury time, Pigott rose to head a Donacien cross from the right towards goal but Farman was again able to save with little fanfare.

The Blues kept pushing in the final minutes but with little conviction and cheers from the home fans rang around the ground at the final whistle after a famous and deserved cup upset.

Another FA Cup horror show - as was the case with then-non-league Lincoln in 2017 in front of TV cameras - to go with Town’s worst.

After an abject first-half display, the Blues improved after the break but never put Barrow under real pressure and Farman in goal had a quiet evening.

The Bluebirds progress to round three and an away tie at Barnsley, while the Blues will be without a game on Saturday 8th January with their league match with AFC Wimbledon off as the Dons are also in FA Cup action.

Town, led either by McGreal or perhaps a new manager, are next in action on Saturday when Sunderland are at Portman Road when the Blues will have to be very much better if they’re to take anything from the game.

Barrow: Farman, Brown (Hutton 79), Brough, Platt, Gordon (Zanzala 82), White, J Jones, Gotts (Ellis 90), Grayson, Banks (c), Stevens (Kay 79). Unused: Lillis, Taylor, M Jones, Beadling, James.

Town: Walton, Vincent-Young, Nsiala (Donacien 75), Burgess, Penney, Aluko (c) (Chaplin 75), El Mizouni, Carroll (Woolfenden 46), Fraser (Morsy 46), Jackson, Norwood (Pigott 68). Unused: Hladky, Kenlock, Morris. Referee: James Bell (Sheffield). Att: 2,756 (Town: 202).

Photo: Pagepix

algarvefan added 00:48 - Dec 16 Just when you think it can't get any worse!!!! It does!
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blueboy1981 added 01:04 - Dec 16 Whoever the new Manager will eventually be, it is highly unlikely they will be able to turn this squad around and make progress. The Quality, Commitment, and General Ability is just not there. Another clear out is inevitable - therefore it's essential someone is appointed before January. And as for the Dreamboat Supporters who ‘haven't been impressed with potential Managers mentioned' - get real, stop dreaming, and realise that only a certain level of Manager will be attracted to a Third Division Club (if indeed we are that) based on the two matches against the Mighty Barrow … !!! Incidentally, Well Done Barrow - you thoroughly deserve to be in the next Round - we most definitely do not.

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blueboy1981 added 01:18 - Dec 16 Amongst the names mentioned it would have to be John Terry (if indeed interested) or Neil Harris (who we know to be interested) - unless he was given a free role to completely rebuild, I don't see John McGreal as the man to turn this crew into something threatening any team very much to be honest. Too many prima donnas and limp wrists in the squad. JM being more suited to the Under whatever / Academy category within the Club.

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Granthamblue62 added 05:10 - Dec 16 Well, for me, last night's performance and result was an all-time low for our beloved club. We demonstrated to the nation just how low we have sunk. All talk and reference to 'Kings of Anglia' needs to go. Its an embarrassment. For a long time it was to cast the odious Evans as the 'pantomime villain'. Years of chronic under-investment reinforced by disastrous appointments in senior positions. However, what the last month or so has exposed is that our club is fundamentally broken. I'm tempted to even say the club is cursed! I'm old enough to remember that the England job was once seen as THE 'poison chalice' in football management. Perhaps that unwanted title now belongs to our club. Having followed Town since 1973 I can't believe how many managers we have had in a mere 10 years. None of them have breathed sustained life into this rotting corpse of a club. Big Terry is right, we are just a footnote in football history. The new manager needs something more than just good luck. Sadly, I've yet to see any name that inspires confidence. No doubt in 6-12 months we will be back at square 1 again. I'm no stats genius, but has any club endured so many 'false dawns' in living memory? I wonder how our American owners feel about this tragic circus.

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Nobbysnuts added 06:07 - Dec 16 That has got to be the worst first half performance I have seen in my life...truly and utterly embarrassing. We don't need a new manager we need the Lord almighty himself to sort this bunch of sh#theads out. Pathetic
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Tractor_Boy_in_HK added 06:21 - Dec 16 Sounds like a lot of you want someone like Mick McCarthy back. It certainly was a case of be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. Hurst sent all our top players away and signed players from L1. He built a solid mid tier team, and that's where we ended up. Lambert now seems a scapegoat. Cook is demolition man and brings in a team to play pretty football. But wait, still L1 mid tier. I've said it so many times, you don't get out of League 1 playing pretty football. You grind, and to be honest you play direct football. Seems a lot of people realise that now.

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Lukeybluey added 06:37 - Dec 16 I never like to be negative...however...that was embarrassing
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eddiespearitt03 added 06:42 - Dec 16 The club went down hill when the previous owners, the Cobbold brothers, left this club to grubby businessmen all those years ago. We can,t even put a team out to COMPETE anymore.
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Saxonblue74 added 06:54 - Dec 16 The right managerial appointment is now the biggest decision our club has had to make in decades. What Cook has done is to assemble a squad of individuals who in my opinion are more than talented enough to compete at the top of lge1 and probably beyond. Sadly he wasn't afforded the time to get them functioning well as a team. How often have we seen Nsiala standing motionless with his foot on the ball, looking for an outlet that just isn't there? Our new managers task (a big one) is to instill confidence and belief. I don't think we'll see much business in January, not enough time now to identify any problem areas.

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BlueRuin69 added 07:06 - Dec 16 ......RIP ITFC.......its as simple as that........
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Upthetown1970 added 07:10 - Dec 16 Wow!! We were promised so much but so far the new era has delivered so little. Imo we have lost the heart of our club. None of these players have the desire to play for our club. They are on massive league 1 wages and producing nothing. This is the lowest I have felt in my 50 years of supporting our once great club. RIP Ipswich Town.
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BontyBlue added 07:26 - Dec 16 It turns out the magic wand of new ownership and investment in new players at such a scale doesn't work. This will be used as a cautionary tale by FL boards for many years to come. Last night Lee Dixon (commentator) talked about time for teams to gel. We've all had enough of that excuse. These are professional players not YTS students. Last night was a rare occasion for long distance fans to watch our beloved team. The lack of on-the-field communication and leadership really needs addressing. Missed passes and no one running into space. Suggest most sincerely to the new manager that these aspects are addressed first.

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Cakeman added 07:41 - Dec 16 Just how low are we to fall? On this evidence we could easily find ourselves in League Two (division Four) next season. There are no printable words strong enough to describe how bad we currently are. New manager has to be installed immediately even if it's a gamble. We could not do worse than we are now no matter who is given the task. If the trend is not bucked soon never mind pack out Portman Road, it will be Stephen Foster announcing the crowd changes!

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Henrietta_R_Hippo added 07:42 - Dec 16 Speaking of "magic wands" & smart investments
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 07:54 - Dec 16 Thank God I couldn't see the shambles last night. Having to listen was already worse than any match I can remember so far, and I can remember some bad ones. The players should apologise in writing and individually to J McG and the fans. No excuses. As regards a new manager, whatever happens J McG will be largely responsible for setting up the team on Saturday. Even if a new man comes in (who will want it now?), he will surely rely on McG to guide him with only a day or so to prepare. See my next post for where we go from here!

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budgieplucker added 08:00 - Dec 16 I get it that a name like Neil Warnock might be like marmite to our supporters and does he still have enough energy to come and do a short term job. We are like the ugly girl in the room thinking we can pull a Prince Charming. Putting Warnock aside, I think we are lucky to have a Neil Harris interested in the job, because in my opinion that's exactly what we need at the moment. I think we are being totally snobbish if we dismiss Harris as not being good enough for our club Bill McGarry often gets forgotten in our history, he was sandwiched between the Ramsey and Robson eras, but took over from the big star and household name of Jackie Milburn, who was a disaster as a manager at our club. Bill got us back to the top flight and was a hard working disciplinarian who rebuilt our team and got the best out of them, and the football whilst economical at times wasn't unpleasant on the eye. We must forget the romantic notion of returning to the premiership any time soon, that is a distraction. Idle dreaming needs to be put aside and focus on the shorter term task and stepping stone of getting us out of this division and consolidated in the Championship. Whilst we can dream of an up and coming coach like Anthony Barry transforming us, that quite frankly is a risk I don't think we should take. Playing expansive football in this league is a bit of a lottery with the playing surfaces, the crude response from the opposition and the absolutely poor refereeing. Having said that Barrow looked a better team than us last night, but that just shows if you play to your strengths and are well motivated what you can do. Fans have to be pragmatic and with Harris have to get past the notion of the “Millwall” tag and a thuggish approach. That would be a very unfair characterisation of Harris who did wonders on a shoestring and gets the best out of his resources. Not a man who has a rigid system but a man like Bobby Robson who tries to play to the strengths of the players he has available. A man who can create a tremendous team spirit and bonding and decent bloke at that. Terry Butcher was so right last night when he was subtly dismissive of bringing in an exciting name to take charge and promoting somebody who could just sort it the mess out. Implementing a new style and ethos will just set the club back another 18 months. So pragmatism for me needs to be the order of the day and a young Bill McGarry style manager would be my target. So for me it has to be a Neil as our next coach:- Which one is it?

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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 08:01 - Dec 16 Where to we go from here? Well, this won't happen because the American owners will want ready-made results, but if I had the resources and owned the Town, this is what I'd do: 1) Decide to keep max. 3-5 players of the current squad and put the rest up for sale. 2) Re-direct most of the resources to the U23s and youth set-up and bring as many as possible through to the first team as quickly as possible. Even now would Clements, Dobra, Morris, Chirewa et al. do any worse, and they could grow together into a unit. The radical re-build might take longer, but it would probably be founded in more solid ground in the long run.

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Barty added 08:04 - Dec 16 Season over - pathetic
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BlueMoolay added 08:13 - Dec 16 Yes, they were crap last night, but we have to get fully get behind the team on Saturday and do all WE can to spur them on. Booing will not help at half time, even if we are 4 nil down. I know, Fecking frustrating and sad, embarrassing times at the moment, but we are Town fans. COYB.
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GiveusaWave added 08:20 - Dec 16 Feel as if I've been in a toxic relationship for 10 years....then promises of change followed by even worse behaviour? Never felt more like supporting another club. Utterly embarrassing and words can't really begin to say how let down I feel. Season over. Lets stop talking about promotion. If anything need to make sure we win a few to avoid a potential battle at the bottom.

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Barty added 08:23 - Dec 16 All we need is a new manager and 20 new players. Not one of our current players are worth keeping. Over paid bunch of useless morons
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Barty added 08:24 - Dec 16 Morsy - captain - your having a laugh
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bobble added 08:32 - Dec 16 well at least we didnt lose to a 4th division team..
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therein61 added 08:33 - Dec 16 Credit to the 202 hardy fans who made the trip i turned tv off after 2-0 they had to endure 90 mins and had to witness what can honestly be the worst Town performance(non performance) i have seen since my first game in 1958!! well done Barrow thoroughly deserved victory and easy passage to the next round.
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dirtydingusmagee added 08:35 - Dec 16 NOT ONE player broke sweat, so slow almost stationary, misplaced passes, second to ball, aimless hapless ,useless shower of sh#t. Made Chambers and co look a class act . We need a manager with balls ,one that wont wrap them up in cotton wool, one that they wont want to face with sh#t performances like that. ABSOLUTLY DISGUSTED . Ashton and co need to get this right or we will sink out of sight.

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