It was a very quiet car journey back from Swindon on Saturday after yet another season of failing to get past the first round of the FA Cup.

There is no sugar coating it, we were poor and made a very bad Swindon side look good.

Fair play to them, they wanted it more and kept fighting till the end. Sadly once they got their equaliser to cancel out Harry Anderson’s well taken opener, there was only one side that looked like winning and it was not us.

This cup exit, and if I am honest, the run of recent results, is down to the players. There are a number of ways to lose a game of football. Being outplayed by a better side and fighting to the end is frustrating, but one a fan can take, however at the moment we are suffering from lack of concentration, application of basics and the worse crime of all in a team - individuals not playing to the greater good, but rather to their own ends.

No matter what tactics you have or what our style of play is, once the players cross that white line it is all for nothing if we simply forget how to play football.

Both goals against Swindon were preventable. The first was a failure to clear the ball, instead of just getting rid, we tried to be clever and play out. This is all well and good if you are Man City, but when a struggling League Two side is scrapping around for wins, this is not the way to go.

Then for the second how can we gift a player that much time to take three touches, turn their man and put the ball in the back of the net without one of our players dealing with it?

While I fully appreciate that watching from the stands is completely different to being in the moment, these goals, conceded in this manner, would have my manager at Feering Village on a Sunday morning dressing us down and demanding better. The fact that professional players are doing it is unacceptable.

Football must be one of the few industries where poor performance and failure to make targets does not result in anything worse than being dropped. The manager will eventually take the fall if results are not achieved, but they are often the victims of other failures. Yes they pick the team and drive the tactics, but if a player cannot past the ball five yards there is little that can be inferenced from the sidelines.

I only mention this as I feel, at the moment, Danny and Nicky Cowley are the right people for the job, getting rid of them will change little and there is no one out there who I would rather have in the dugout at this current time. Danny will protect his players and stand there to take the flak, but there comes a time when players have to look in the mirror and take responsibility.

Everyone will have their ideas on what needs to change and who are the weak links, I am not going to throw names out as I am not privy to behind the scenes and what is going on the dressing room. But for a statement of intent, I feel we need a change of captaincy.

Lyle Taylor is one of the few players who backs up his words with actions. He is vocal on the pitch and says it how he sees it in his interviews, I have no doubt he is the same if not more blunt behind closed doors and this is what we need. Someone who will lead by example, but at the same time, not accept anything other than the highest standards of himself and others.

We have the squad to be so much better than 21st in League Two and being knocked out of the cup by Swindon, but until everyone steps up and takes ownership of the situation, we will be chasing shadows.

I want nothing more than for this squad to succeed and to be able to write glowing, positive columns every week, but even through my rose-tinted glasses it is very hard to find much cheer at the moment.

All this said I will still be a Barrow on Saturday to cheer the lads on. Let us hope for a much better performance and a side that can send the travelling faithful home with three points. Up the U’s!