1 Jackie McNamara gave the first suggestion that he could walk away from his job as York City manager

For the first time publically, McNamara admitted that if his squad of players are not going to respond to his instructions, then he will have to reconsider his position. With chairman Jason McGill still understood to be supportive of the ex-Scotland international, it increasingly looks like it will be McNamara who decides if and when the time is right to bring down the curtain on his Bootham Crescent tenure.

If he is still in situ for this weekend’s home match against Aldershot, a big reaction might be needed to convince himself that he remains the right person to, not only halt the club’s alarming slide down the football pyramid, but also move it forward.

York Press: 2 City’s squad has mushroomed

One look at the back of Barrow’s match programme highlighted the significant difference between the number of players Saturday’s third-placed hosts had at their disposal, compared to that their seventh-bottom visitors have accumulated. City’s 28-strong list, which included the loaned-out Scott Flinders but not new signing Fraser Murdoch, struggled to be contained on one page.

In contrast, Barrow had eight fewer names, but the Minstermen were still unable to call upon somebody of the proven non-League ability of Ross Hannah – Chester’s 25-goal top scorer last season – from the bench. Jackie McNamara spoke of the pitfalls of an unmanageably large playing roster when he succeeded Russ Wilcox at Bootham Crescent, but is now working in a similar environment.

Barrow’s victory, meanwhile, reinforced the merits of quality over quantity.

York Press: 3 The Minstermen have fitness issues in attack

Richard Brodie was rightly lauded for the miles he was covering for the team during his prolific return to first XI duty, but he is now looking a little leggy and jaded. Having returned to his old club overweight and lacking sharpness, the theory was Brodie would play his way to match sharpness, but the opposite seems to be happening with a run of nine consecutive starts taking its toll.

With that in mind, McNamara has recruited Fraser Murdoch as an attacking alternative, but the ex-Crewe reserve has also arrived at the club having had no game time since a pre-season trial at Burnley, while Scott Fenwick’s work-rate continues to be questioned. City must refresh Brodie somehow or hope Murdoch can hit the ground running during his first taste of senior professional football.

York Press: 4 City lack belief and spirit when they fall behind

After the game, new striker Murdoch remarked on how he thought the team’s heads dropped after falling behind to Danny Livesey’s 58th-minute opener. Indeed, the Minstermen have now only won one game from a losing position during 66 matches – the 4-1 win over Woking last month.

That sequence stretches back to April 2015 and an inner strength, which has been missing for so long at the club, must be developed to prevent each goal shipped from becoming such a significant psychological blow.

York Press: 5 When you’re playing a team of set-piece specialists don’t keep conceding free kicks

Clovis Kamdjo was recalled to the team to help combat Barrow’s physical threat, but the three cheap fouls he committed inside his own half, during the opening 20 minutes, put his side under unnecessary early pressure. City coped with the subsequent deliveries, but it could easily have been a different story against Paul Cox’s well-drilled team.