We need some perspective here. As Richie Barker himself says:
Hartlepool Mail wrote:
"We will all put our hands up when we miss chances but when you look at the 30 goals we have scored between the four of us, and there have not been many games when we have failed to score, and maybe the criticism is a bit harsh.
"I finished top scorer last season, along with Jon Daly, on nine goals, so to have four players knocking on the door of double figures already is not a disaster."
He added: "I have been through it before in the last 14 years and I will go through it again."
"I keep hearing about how I need this goal or that goal but to have nine by mid-November is not that bad, I don't think.
"Even still, it is not just about my goals. We have players on nine, eight, seven and six.
"I was talking to a centre-forward who plays every week in our league and he has got one.
"Imagine the criticism he would be getting here and we have four players who have already scored more than six goals."