Does the fact that Clarky is staying at the club as assistant coach not tell you something.

The fact is that Clarky is a great bloke and very good coach but has limited experience at this level and with the standard of players he's working with. Our performances over probably the last 10 games (with a couple of exceptions) haven't been good enough, we're very limited in attacking options and Clarky seems to have run out of ideas on how to change it.

Everyone wants to have a go at Des, but I don't think you'll find many Barrow who'll disagree with what he's done so far, maybe apart from sacking Cresta. Don't think you'll find anyone complaining about the players he's sacked!! The players were unprofessional and had to go!!

I think this latest decision had to be made or the performances would have carried on getting worse, Dave Clark is an inexperienced coach who in my opinion will one day make a cracking head coach. It wont do him any harm working under a very experienced for a while, just to get some more ideas in his head, as Barrow have become very one dimensional this last couple of months, and other teams have sussed us out. I hope Clarky is kept on as assistant next season too, however any new coach may not want him to be.

yes it tells me his community role is with the rfl who organise and fund it and dessie cant touch him, doesnt matter how you dress it up with 6 games to going sitting 2nd and with 3 or 4 key players out injured some for the season
then how can sacking the coach for some one who has a very mixed track record be seen as a positive

I felt this decision or a decision of a similar nature regarding the coaching roles at the club were to me made soon. Clarke has been a great servent to the club- enthusiastic, hardworking and fully commited to everything Barrow Raider-related. However, i feel at this crucial stage of the season he lacked ideas, he failed to produce that 'Plan B' we require at the moment. Never the less, big thankyou to Dave for all he has done

Automatic promotion as there were 2 places up for grabs, loads of money spent on big players that is why barrow have done well but even big players need coaching, give the guy credit he has took the boys as far as he can and stepped aside which takes something to do when you are 2nd in the league, but he let's move on try get another day out to the grand final.....

may i start by saying thanks dave for the work you have done at the club in the past few years, early as a player then comunity officer now as coach,
you and des have brought back the glory days, and it shows what type of man you are, who only has intrests for the club he loves , not the money, by stepping down and letting some one else take barrow to the next level,
thank you

the resaon for slip in form is simple

no brocklehurst a very good player(we all know why)
no campbell in form again a key player
finch and holt playing injured
catic ban
and no bell or dutton who would have been good back ups

now add brett and joey to that and you will still struggle who ever the coach is

that would have an impact on any team in this league

its not inept coaching ,just a power mad chairman who fails to understand rugby(he is after all a football man)

haven, widnes fax fev would all be in a slump if that had happened their squad

clark is a very good coach and will no doubt be snapped up at the end of the season

as for deaking failed ayt oldham despite having pots of money and what was by far thebest squad in NL2

i think most fans who know anything about rugby is that we have been found, as somebody mentions we havnt got a plan B and havnt played well since the win at widnes which bar the wigan game is the best all round performace this season.

so the soloution is to replace a coach who got you automatic promotion from NL2 and has demonstrated that he can hack it NL1 and replace him
with a coach who on paper had the best squad by a country mile in NL2 and not only failed to get automatic promotion but also failed to get them oldham into NL1 via the play offs. fail to see how that is the best move

if the rumours of a top coach next season are true then would it not have been better to keep clark at the helm until the end of the season then make him assistant learning under a top SL coach, regardless of what he has said in the paper he will not be happy being replaced by some one who he beat hands down as a coach last season

as for some of you Des can do no wrong sickafants, this is NL1 you will not always beat teams by 50 points, just like you will go through a sticky patch of playing poor and scrapeing wins,sacking the coach with 6 games to go is hardly the best way to get the players out of it

this has DJ wriiten all over it, how much money will it take to realise that you cant just buy success, no doubt you will have an influx of players before the deadline, and it may turn things around it may not,

what ever happens at the end of the season you will loose a very good coach in clark as i have no doubt he will be snapped up

from what i can gather the problem at barrow wasn't the coach , is was the fact he has not got a big enough squad , so for me his chairman has let him down not the other way round , dave clark was a good coach , you can tell with his results , but with injuries , suspentions , sackings , illnesses , he just aint got the squad to compete ,and mr johnson is struggling to get players to come down the m6 , so for me no strengh in depth cost clark his job , and that lies in the hands of the directors !

i totally agree with what you say,but i hope that with clarky stepping aside for this other coach deakin to take over with his so called exsperience, which is nothing to smile about from what ive been reading, the team makes it to the finals, but i would laugh my a** of if they didnt, this would make the club realise they should have left clarky where he was,
all the best to clarky your a great coach

Well that quote makes your name a joke ! At the end of the day, regardless of what you think of the situation, all we want is what is best for the club and to see it do well !! To say you would laugh your ar*e off if Barrow fails is inexcusable mate !!

For what it is worth, I thought Dave Clarke had done a sterling job as head coach up until after the 2nd half of the league win against Fev at home. After that it all went pear shaped (even with a full strength side) because teams cottoned on to us and we had no plan B. Having no plan B and is a COACHING fault. We were shown up for not having another plan in most games after the Fev win and were very lucky to pull through with wins. You cannot knock the efforts of the players because it has been immense. Coaches live & die by their results im afraid - recently they have not been good enough and that is why Dave has had to go !

The new temp coach may offer no more and we may struggle BUT something needed to change and rightly so.