Last updated at 14:10, Friday, 31 August 2012

OLDHAM taken care of, three huge games to go. Essentially each game which ourselves, Doncaster and Town play from now until September 2 is a cup final.

A defeat for any club now would realistically rule them out of taking the league title, which makes for exciting times for coaches, players and spectators alike.

Back in April when we were defeated by Oldham it looked like they could be in the mix with the front runners.

However, a run of poor form in May/June have left them mid-table and out of the promotion race. Injuries obviously have played a part in this, which in turn can knock the confidence of a team.

Oldham at the weekend certainly looked a side low on confidence. Hopefully for their loyal supporters the caretaker coach Martin Roden can get them playing again and they can finish the season well.

A famous face in the crowd on Sunday was Hairy Biker Dave Myers. I’ve spoken to a few people who met him and they all said he seemed to enjoy the day, let’s hope he can get to more games when he isn’t away filming. It’s not the first time Dave has been to Craven Park, as recently he did a personal training session with Oss (Martin Ostler) at the ground, which is to be shown on TV in the next fortnight.

I read with interest this week in League Express that Rochdale boss John Stankevitch has stood down to take a managerial role within the club.

John has been in the game full time, from the age of 16 in his St Helens days, so for him a change could be as good as a rest.

It also came across he was frustrated that he didn’t have the finances available at other clubs. John was quoted: “Some clubs in our division this year have spent a fortune, and it’s no coincidence that they are the four teams that will be promoted. I don’t know how they do it.”

I can’t speak for the other clubs being referred to, but we certainly haven’t spent beyond our means. A debt of £550k doesn’t allow us to do that.

We also don’t have a backer dishing out big money, but what we do have is a group of players who want to play for the club and each other.

That is the reason why we have got promoted, not by overspending.

I don’t need to say how important tomorrow’s game is as it’s been covered in the press all week. It’s definitely the most important derby game for many a year, I know there are two teams ready to do battle and it should be a cracker.

At the time of writing, there are four coaches travelling up and plenty of cars – 500-plus Barrow fans is a realistic figure which could be present, which would be fantastic.

You can be back home in time for the closing ceremony of the Olympics so get yourselves to Derwent Park tomorrow – we would certainly appreciate it!

First published at 16:21, Friday, 10 August 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk