Minority Report v Colchester United

There are two games to go and we are in the last play-off position. If we beat Colchester, who are already relegated, we could secure that play-off position. It is an exciting opportunity for some, but for me, I am not so sure. You see, I do not feel that this team has the quality required to be promoted. It is nothing to do with who is the chief coach and it is nothing to do with the injury list that has seen us robbed of full backs. It has everything to do with our lack of adequate preparation in the transfer market last summer. It showed in our poor early season form, and it has showed again in our recent performances, as we have pushed for a place in the top six. You see, the attitude of the opposition has altered markedly as it has gone from a situation where our league position gave then grounds to believe that they would beat us by playing an open and expansive game, to a situation that they believe a better way is to keep it tight.

The way that we have been playing recently has been much more safety first. It is particularly evident in the play of our two central midfield players. They are no longer willing to attack as a pair. Now they are allowed to get forward just one at a time. They are playing much deeper, and this depth means that when our defenders win the ball back, they have few options for a short forward pass, and consequently opt for the long ball to isolated front players, who cannot hold the ball past the first challenge, and the ball is repeatedly lost. Mind you, on the rare occasions the midfield is close enough to support the front two, the ball is lost, often because Winnall’s passing is just awful. As a midfield player, would you commit to close support of the forwards if you knew that you are unlikely to be rewarded for a positive run with a decent pass?

That first half was as bad as any that I witnessed in the first 4 months of the season, and the team finished 1-0 down. The one-eyed amongst the fans will quote the occasions when the Colchester goal frame was hit and their keeper was fortunate to be in the right place to push a Winnall effort over, conveniently forgetting the rattling of the woodwork at the other end and the 3 other near misses on the Barnsley goal. At half-time we were truly fortunate to be just one down to the poorest defence in the league. Frankly, I would have sacrificed Winnall at half-time he was that bad.

As the second half wore on, we gradually got on top, but it was a solo effort from Fletcher that brought the equaliser. He beat his marker, ran on and tucked his effort just inside the far post. Things became more frantic and the Colchester goal had some close escapes. Our second goal came as a far post cross found Chapman (a second half substitute for a disappointing Isgrove). His scrambled effort was blocked by the keeper, but the ball bounced up for Fletcher to head home his second. There were just 3 minutes plus injury time remaining, and it looked like a miserable performance would be rewarded with an undeserved win. This was underlined when the Colchester keeper had to be stretchered off after he was injured in the moment that we scored our goal. As Colchester had already made 3 substitutions, an outfield player replaced the keeper and they were required to play out the final 12 minutes, including 7 minutes of injury times with just 9 outfield players. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, what went wrong is that we became negative. We stopped attacking and we opted to try to play out time by retaining possession and by wasting time. We never tested the novice keeper and we never used our numerical advantage, to our advantage. I had vented my fury on my neighbour long before poor marking allowed an equalised from an unchallenged header. That is, an unchallenged header, even allowing for our numerical advantage. I was nothing less than disgusted. I am sure that it was just the disappointment, but it looked as though we had deliberately throw the game away.

There were so many performances that were just not good enough, but those performances left me wondering about the possibility of starting next season in a higher league with a team that is just not ready for that jump. The possibility of a disastrous season fill me with dread once more, and I am forced to conclude that we would be better to remain where we are until we are more ready for the leap.

 

You really are a mystery. You tell me that you do not understand my post, and then in another thread, you say that I am right but I should write with more humour. Could it be that you just troll the BBS looking for arguments?

 

I'm sorry for being gloomy, but Barnsley is my team and I really want it to be more successful. That desire influences the things that I write, especially after games, and sends me into the depths of despair from time to time. I hope that it does not destroy my objectivity or my powers of reasoning, as it is these two things that I value most when watching my team perform. I think that you will agree that I was right to support the then chief coach earlier in the season when just about everyone wanted him out. Similarly, I am worried about the temporary chief coach because he seems, on balance, to be more negative in outlook than the last. Only time will tell, of course, but we do seem more defensive since he took over the reins.

Enjoy your weekend, and do not let my ramblings influence you. Stay positive!

 

I do not disagree, but if we rebuild in the second tier, there is a very good chance that we will be relegated in spite of it. If we are relegated, we can no longer afford the contracts of most of those players because of the strict financial controls in the 3rd tier. Consequently, we have to sell those players at a loss or pay them off at an even bigger loss. The upshot of all that is that the club loses money next season because it has to recruit 7 or 8 first team ready players and possibly another 5 reserves. It then loses money the season after because it has to get rid of the majority of the recruits. Last season cost Patrick Cryne £2.7m. Just how long should we expect him to fund this sort of expenditure.

Surely it makes more sense to plan in advance for promotion by acquiring young players who you think will improve over the next 2 seasons to supplement those that are already at the club , and who are already in exactly the same boat. By planning, rather than relying on happenstance, we can ensure that a larger proportion of the team is ready for the step up. This is how the successful teams remain successful. They have long term plans and they stick to them. If you remember, the last time that we were promoted, we beat Swansea in Cardiff. I wonder what happened to them after they lost that game.