Where Are We With This Squad?

Even by Barnsley's standards, the gulf between expectation and reality since this time last week has been striking. Yet again, I was sucked in to thinking some of our players had been reformed/re-focused. I'm still excited by the prospect of LeeJay bringing his own signings in, and getting them to produce his preferred style of football. But I think that for the second Summer in succession, the rump of 'experienced' players need ditching. Cranie's lack of leadership quality has re-surfaced, and for me he's thoroughly exposed as an 'icing on the cake' player. Too closely bound up with the negativity of the last 3-4 seasons, for my money. Jennings and Hemmings have offered little this season. Hourihane has shown up for half of it. Sam has looked passionate, but the injuries are worrying, and he hasn't been able to grab games by the scruff of the neck when things haven't gone well. I'd like us to sign Big George and Ben Pearson, but I suspect we couldn't afford them and their aspirations might be higher.

The best hope for the future looks to be our youngsters, but hopefully leavened with a smattering of shrewd experienced recruits. I hope Lee and Tommy have a few in mind.

 

Our youngsters are nowhere near good enough so forget that.

 

I'd take issue with that, CT. Holgate is a terrific prospect, and James Bree looked very good until injury struck. The likes of Oates and Smith show promise, and further down the line, keep the name Tom Clare in your mind. Granted, they need shoring up with some older heads, but I think LJ will be able to sort the wheat from the chaff. Crunch time is surely coming for Paul Digby, who has struggled with injury, but has not impressed me when he has figured. I suspect he needs to find a good deal more pace and aggression if he is to figure in Lee's future plans.

 

I'm not saying they are all not good enough orsenkaht , your right about Holgate but I think he's been over played this season .Apart from him there is Smith who is decent I suppose and should be ok , and maybe Bree but apart from that I haven't seen any others that are ready .
I think it's more a case of a smattering of our own younger players rather than the other way round.

 

Nothing wrong with the squad, it's team selection strategy & tactics that's the problem.

 

Holgates a central defender as been all his life until this season

 

I know , never said he wasn't.

 

The point I'm making is it's always square pegs and round holes with Barnsley, wrong tactics wrong system wrong formation, wrong team selection.

 

We need more permanent signings and use less loan signings as at the moment it's difficult to get all loan signings into the match day squad

 

Would like O Sullivan and Williams (ideal world) that's Williams the Fulham winger.
Need an imposing centre back.
Wish Houraine could apply himself for more than 60 mins per game, coz he IS a player.

 

Well we are 7 off the play offs as we were when Danny was sacked. So to answer your question we are in the exact same position with this squad.

 

But more saliently, 10 points off the drop zone?

The players are the common denominator, and I reckon there are a few need 'culling'.

 

It's the negative ***** they're being ask to play once we go behind we're dead and buried get a draw at best because we don't go out to win games

 

My view is that our current squad has lacked quality, which is not surprising considering the time that was available to strengthen it before the start of the season and the limited resources available to the manager. There are some promising youngsters, but they are not yet ready to make a significant impact just yet. They need at least another season learning their trade in the lower division. The use of the loan system has had limited impact with only Williams, O'Sullivan and Cole creating a favourable impression on me.

I have always argued that any manager needs time, and that supporters and particularly the owner need to give each new incumbent at least 3 years. It takes this long for the new man to sort out his playing resources and to impose his new style and system, so I have reset my alarm clock to the end of the 2017/18 season. The question is, what style and system will the new manager want to adopt, because this will guide him in which players he will wish to retain and what type of player he will want to recruit. There is a need to recruit quality and pace, but we have to accept that this will mean that we are recruiting from the lower leagues, or from the youth squads of teams in the league above. We simply cannot afford the wages of proven quality players. Of course, there are risks with this strategy. The risk is that the players we bring in will not improve, or will not improve quickly enough to make an impact in the short term. This is another reason why our return to the higher tier of football may take longer than some supporters hope.

All the successful teams at BFC, in my long experience as a supporter, have had a player at the centre of midfield who could drive at the heart of the opposition defence with the ball at their feet. They could all shoot and pass the ball with both feet. They all scored goals from both long and short distance. They all had pace. I know the game has changed a lot, but a Glavin, Redfearn or Hignett would still dominate games today with their quality. Hourihane is not that sort of player. Whether a stays or not, he is not the type of player to dominate the game as the afore mentioned did. We need to be ready for promotion the next time we go up, and by that I mean that must already have a team that is capable of staying up the addition of just one or two, without having to rebuild from scratch again. Finding a rough diamond capable of dominating the midfield area should be our top priority.

I believe that LJ will want to play either a 4-5-1/4-3-3 system or a 4-4-2 (diamond). Those are the systems he has most consistently used in his short time with us, and even though it could be argued that the players he has been bequeathed are most suited to those two systems, I still think that it fits his plan. If I am right, then he will need two wingers who are also capable of playing wing back right at the top of his shopping list.

Finally, he will need a forward capable of playing as the target man in a 4-5-1 system or as a partner to Winnall in the 4-4-2 (diamond).

That is only 4 players, but I think that we need to concentrate on quality this year. It means that we may have to use the loan system once more, and this is to be regretted. It also means that promotion cannot be achieved next season either, but it essential that we build any subsequent challenge on solid foundations and next season ought to be about establishing those.

 

More than a few. Said a few times i'd get rid of Cranie, Nyatanga and BFG. Hopefully the manager sees it the same way so we can have a fresh defensive outlook from more or less scratch. JOS was identified by our previous manager so only really Jabo has worked out from his own signings.

 

That's that then. FFS.

 

up the creek in my opinion.

Scowen apart....all of our players are sub standard...Winnall possibly but he is not the saviour they make out on here.

In fact sod it...the team, manager, jase, pat C, the tea lady.....and all associated with the club are she ite.

we're doomed...end of chat

don't buy any season tickets, knock the ground down and grow spuds.....it will still be as exciting to watch

hope this helps folks!!

P.S. back 'Seaside Resort' in the national...it will coast in.

 

Being an eternal optimist, I don't think we're that far short from having a decent enough squad to make a sustained challenge next season. Certain players, unfortunately, continue to have their detractors, irrespective of how they actually perform. As an example, I'm sorry but I simply don't buy into this urban myth, started by pseudo-coaches, that Hourihane & Winnall can only be effective in specific formations. They can and will perform well for our team & get goals for us next season, in my opinion. Obviously, we're now having the annual "Should I get a season ticket?" posts from the same individuals, along with their criticism of the manager, coaches, boardroom members & players! Groundhog Day.
I think we'll probably bring in about six new players into the club this Summer and I will be looking forward to the new campaign throughout the pre season.

 

We're 11th in League One.

 

I would like to see us line up next season as follows:

---------------------------Davies--------------------------------

Holgate/Bree ----new signing ---Nyatanga------Smith/new signing

------------------Scowen----------Bailey/new signing-------------------

JOS---------------------Hourihane-----------Jennings -3 stone/new signing

----------------------------Winnall-----------------------------


I don't think we're far from having a very competitive squad. I'd prefer Pearson to Bailey but there's no chance of that happening.