Ian Baraclough comes under fire from fans as Northern Ireland lose in Kosovo

Northern Ireland’s Nations League despair grew deeper as they fell to a 3-2 defeat to Kosovo in Pristina which caused some fans to openly turn on Ian Baraclough.

Sections of the Green and White Army sang ‘Cheerio’ after the manager went to acknowledge the travelling support at the end of a match in which the final score made it look better than it really was for Northern Ireland.

Early strikes from Vedat Muriqi and Zymer Bytyqi, the first a penalty, put Kosovo in control. And although Shayne Lavery pulled one back on the stroke of half-time, Muriqi’s second at the start of the second half should have killed it, Dan Ballard’s late header notwithstanding.

Northern Ireland’s games without a win in this competition now number 13, but it was not luck that was against them at the Stadiumi Fadil Vokrri as they were second best to a bright Kosovo side who threatened to score more and increase yet further the growing pressure on Baraclough.

His side entered League C Group 2 as top seeds following their relegation and Baraclough boldly talked of targeting 12 points from their June fixtures, but they have taken only one from three, the manager now with just three wins from 19 competitive games.

At least this unprecedented quadruple-header affords Northern Ireland one more chance to get a win on the board before the long wait until September, and it is a chance – at home to Cyprus on Sunday – they must take to prevent this becoming a full-blown crisis.

After thunder had rumbled over the city during the afternoon, the thunderclap greeted the players as they emerged from the tunnel, and the storm was still only approaching for Northern Ireland, who found themselves overrun in the early going.

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