Ian Baraclough accepts Northern Ireland fans frustration after Kosovo defeat

Ian Baraclough admitted he could understand the frustrations of Northern Ireland fans who turned on him after a 3-2 defeat to Kosovo but insisted his side had taken a step forward with their performance in Pristina.

A large section of the 500-strong travelling Green and White Army chanted ‘Cheerio’ as Baraclough went over to acknowledge them at the end of a match in which Northern Ireland had trailed by two goals for much of the night.

Frustration has been growing among supporters as their side remain winless after 13 games in the Nations League, while Baraclough’s record in competitive fixtures shows three wins and 10 defeats from 19 outings as he approaches two years in charge.

“It’s understandable,” Baraclough said of the chants. “They’re here, they want to follow and watch a team their team are team playing, but what do we do about players who are being blooded and building for the future?

“We knew we had to go through a certain amount of pain on it as well and we are as it goes forward. You’ll see improvement and you’ve seen a difference between the first two games and this one tonight.”

Those first two games, a 1-0 home defeat to Greece and a drab goalless draw away to Cyprus, sucked the energy out of a Nations League campaign that began with optimism – Northern Ireland having entered Group Two as top seeds following their relegation to League C.

But they have now taken one point from back-to-back away games against sides ranked more than 50 places below them.

Baraclough perhaps created a rod for his own back by setting a target of 12 points from the four fixtures in June, with a return of one point from three so far woefully short of expectations.

I though the young lads showed great spirit- Ian Baraclough

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