EFL Trophy last night and a comparison to last time and this

I know there are some on here who consider this competition a complete irrelevance but I'm not one of them. For me, it's a question of "Do I go to a match to see Barnsley play and hopefully win, or do I go to see quality opposition in a meaningful league match?" The answer is obvious to me - I don't care who we are playing or what the competition is. If I can get there, and I can't always, then I WILL be at Oakwell because, quite frankly, there are only so many times in our lifetime that we can go to Oakwell. From that viewpoint I take the pragmatic approach and will always make the effort whenever I can. I did last night, and I'm glad that I did so. It was a very good game of football with both sides wanting to win it. It was only our extra quality, and a few slices of luck, that got us the win. I was really hoping to see Woodrow play again but I fully understand why he was left out, along with Moore and the rest.

I will do a brief review of the match but first have a look at the stats last time we competed in this competition and compare them to this season's:

2015/16
1st Round - Scunthorpe away. We won 2-1, I was there and the crowd was 1,796
2nd Round - Bradford City away. We won 2-1 again, I was not there and the crowd was 4,127
3rd Round - York at home. A hard fought, Adam Hamill-inspired 2-1 win and I was in the crowd of 3,360
Semi Final - Wigan away. Won on penalties after a 2-2 draw. Not there, crowd 6,628
North Final - Fleetwood home. Ash Fletcher's first goal, a 1-1 draw and I was part of a 11,403 crowd
North Final - Fleetwood away. Another 1-1 draw and won on penalties. Not there, crowd 3,705
Final - our first great day at Wembley. Oxford beaten 3-2. I was there, crowd 59,230

2018/19
Qual - Oldham away. Won 2-1. Not there, crowd 1,768
Qual - Everton U21 home. Won on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Not there, crowd 2,300
Qual - Bradford City home. Won 2-1. I was there in a crowd of 2,925

As you can see above the imagination didn't really get fired until that northern final fixture at home to Fleetwood. We were starting to win matches of course and playing good football but an 11,000 crowd was remarkable. Perhaps we won't break five figures this season unless we get to Wembley again and that's a shame. Last night's game deserved a ten thousand crowd and with prices so low it's a shame that more didn't turn out. I only had to pay a pound to see it so add my travel expenses and something to eat and I had an evening's entertainment for around £15. That's a bargain in my book!

As I said above I was hoping to see our new striker again but it was still a reasonably strong side that we put out. That's a reflection of how deep our squad is this season, with hopefully one or two more to come in January just to add some cream to the top. I had heard how good Ben Williams played at centre half last week and he had another excellent game last night. Jack Walton and Jordan Williams were the other young lads in our defence and didn't let us down. Walton made some tremendous saves but almost handed City an equaliser with that bungle towards the end. I had moved from my usual half way line seat for the second half (towards the Ponty End) so had an unclear view of it but it seems as though he fumbled a back pass almost into the goal and then gave away an indirect free kick by handling it. Our commentators expressed the view that it should have either been a goal or play on and they might well be right. We got away with it though because the impressive Jack Payne hammered the ball against the bar from very close range.

For the same reason as above I had a poor view of the Jackson incident but it seemed to be two players going in hard and both getting hurt but unfortunately Jackson got a booking for it. I thought he was limping off and that our sub getting ready was going to replace him so it was only when the sub came on in place of Moncur that I realised we were down to ten men. Mr Boyeson let himself down a few times with dodgy decisions but we should expect that every match shouldn't we? At least we got another goal against us chalked off for offside so maybe the linesmen gods are mostly on our side this season!

George Moncur took his two goals brilliantly and it's a shame he couldn't stay on to get a hat trick, but it's rare he plays for ninety minutes I suppose. He had a good game, as did Mike-Steven Bahre. The German had probably his best game for us so far and, as others have said, looks a classy player. I worry about his lack of physical presence sometimes but, then again, Luka Modric is of similar build and I suppose he does ok. Jared Bird impressed as well but his opportunities for first team football will still be rare due to the sheer quality that we have now in those positions. Jacob Brown and Victor Adeboyejo played their part as well but, for me, didn't impress as much as others who were trying to catch the eye of the manager. Ryan Hedges looked the cultured international that he is with some of his passing quite brilliant.

We saw a glimpse of the future with Will Smith and Jordan Helliwell coming on for their debuts. Smith is a big lad and looked the part while Helliwell, at 16, still has some growing to do. I heard someone behind me say it looked like one of the ball boys was coming on. Yet again this season our head coach got it just right for me. He was never going to put out a first choice eleven either last Tuesday or this but he showed that he has riches at his disposal. We might have a problem this Saturday though in goal with Walton limping badly at the end. Surely Davies can be withdrawn from the Wales squad if he is, once again, going to be third choice keeper.

To sum up, it was a very enjoyable night at Oakwell. I wish a couple of thousand more had been there but those that were will have seen it as a worthwhile exercise. We can argue all day long about the merits of this trophy under the current format but we can't do anything about that. I hope we progress all the way to the final again and that I get the chance to see them do it. I will then look forward to another Wembley trip. There's no conflict of interest there. Barnsley are my team. Always have been, always will be and every chance I get to see them I take. It's that simple for me

 

Fair points and assessment of game. If Davies is not allowed back we definitely need to use the emergency loan route.

 

Ok, I've just had a look at the iFollow highlights and can clear up the two points I wasn't sure about.

The back pass - it was a clear back pass and Jack tried to play it with his feet and got it all wrong. The ball squirmed towards the line and slow motion/pause clearly shows he stopped it on the line with his hand. I'm not clear about the rules on back passes but if the keeper is not allowed to handle it, even when it is on the line, then the decision was right to give a free kick. City should have then scored but Payne hammered it from about 8 yards out against the underside of the bar. I was very impressed with him by the way, and also with Clarence Seedorf's nephew Sherwin. Seedorf junior is on loan from Wolves until January and looked a handful so I was glad when he went off injured. Maybe he will be one of our targets when the window opens? He's too good for Bradford, that's for sure.

The sending off - hmm, tricky one! Firstly it was the proverbial hospital pass from Bahre but Jackson didn't bottle out of it. Being generous I would say he went full blooded for the ball but, realistically, I think he just cleaned out the Bradford player who would have been through on goal otherwise. I'm still not sure what the referee did but if it was a straight red then Jackson couldn't argue. If it was only a second yellow then he could say he was a bit lucky. Whatever happened, both players got hurt and that just summed up the nature of the game. No one pulled out of a tackle and 100% effort was shown from start to finish. So much for a meaningless game, eh??

 

I think the competition is now devalued beyond redemption. I can appreciate the opposite point of view but certainly games like the Evertonnone are just glorified training sessions. Games between League teams like last nights still have something to offer but overall meh.

 

I agree from the point of view it’s an official game etc and I attended both home games but the team selection last night told a different story.
last time most games were almost full first team squad players

 

Cup competitions on the whole need a massive shake up in England. I would scrap the Checkatrade, it wasn't the best before they let in the under 21's but now it has been ruined beyond repair I think. The only thing that would save it for me is to get rid of the academy teams and maybe offer the winner of the competition a backdoor entry to the play offs of whatever league they are in just to add some excitement and get managers to take it more seriously.

The league cup is a little bit of the same. I'm not sure what the FA could do to re-vamp it. Maybe let the SPL teams in?

I would offer the FA Cup winner a place in the champions league. It really annoys me how managers of prem/championship clubs disrespect the competition by playing a weakened team. I see winning the FA cup as a much bigger achievement than finishing 4th in the league.

 

Call me old fashioned, but I'd only have Champions in the Champions league. And I'd make it straight knock out. No seeding.

Scrap everything apart from the FA Cup and relegate any team who doesn't take it seriously.

Job done.

 

All about ££££££

 

So from that report I’ve learned that generally, more people go to a game if you’re not there and, you have quite a bit of time on your hands so I think you must be a fireman?

 

Brilliant bit of deduction (not). Fireman - really?

 

Of Course,, Champions League, self explanatory innit.

 

The competition has provided the club with quite a lot of positives. The chance to bring players back from injury and give them game time; the chance to give the second string a run out and the chance to blood some of the youngsters. It has produced some entertaining football and both the coaching staff and the management have spoken positively about it. If the players felt like some of the supporters then they wouldn't try very hard, but no evidence of that against Bradford. 100% effort. So I would stay stop whinging, don't come to the games if you don't want - and if we get to the final stay away.

 

Indeed, but it's likely that most of the absentees will have a change of mind after Christmas when we are thinking about another visit to Wembley. This idea that it's a waste of time, glorified training sessions etc etc does not fit with what was on display on Tuesday night. I saw two teams going at each other from start to finish and producing some very good football along the way. I would expect the next few games that we might have in this competition to be of the same standard.

Obviously if you're a fan who only sees merit in a fixture that might gain us three points then nothing is going to change your mind. For me though watching my team play in ANY competition is what it's all about. It's football, whatever is at stake.

 

Whether I attend or not is my business. I have actually been to both games. I go to pretty much every game do you? If not don’t come in May if we get promoted..

Unlike you I have no wish to police the thoughts of others. Anyhoo as I said anyone who thinks it is a viable competition then they are certainly entitled to that view. Games against league clubs will always be competitive.

Games against u23 teams are an insult and laughable and so well thought of within the game that the Everton twitter page didn’t even report the result.

Regardless if kind words we clearly don’t take the completion seriously or we would play our best team not kids and the walking dead. Shows we couldn’t give a toss and treat it as it is a glorified friendly.

 

Can't agree with that at all. There was no friendly match feel to that game on Tuesday. I wasn't there the week before so I can't comment on that. Players on both sides looked like they wanted to win. There was no question of just cruising through the match and everyone in the Barnsley team played like he wanted to be in the side at Accrington next Saturday. Adam Jackson typified that with the crunching tackle that got him both injured and sent off. Jack Walton showed no fear when he dived at the feet of a Bradford player and one of his own to win a ball and save a goal. He did that, and he also got injured (hopefully not badly enough to keep him out on Saturday).

There was commitment, desire and plenty of skill all over the pitch. I'm not sure what you look for in a football match but that will do for me and I hope we show the same will to win in each of the next four ties that will, hopefully, get us another Wembley trip.

 

I enjoyed the Bradford game ( much less so Everton). It was clearly a game the players on the pitch were up for. It is how you would want your fringe players to play when given the opportunity. The team selection shows how seriously we take the competition. You seem to not be able to separate enjoyment of an individual game with criticism of a tournament. Say we were allowed to enter an u10 competition and won 200 nil. I’d enjoy the game but it would be pretty meaningless. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.

 

I think we are taking this competition very seriously and I am glad that we have such a deep squad of players that allows DS to rotate the personnel whenever he sees fit. It's obvious that getting promoted is the main aim this season and if we can make some FA Cup progress, playing one or two of the big names along the way, and maybe get through to the final of this other competition then we will have had a great season.

I CAN understand your criticism of the EFL trophy but I don't share it. There's nothing we can do about how the tournament is organised - even if nobody turned up to a match it wouldn't make a difference would it? I would rather it had been left as it was before, but that's history. Recent history, but there it is. I hope we draw an Under 21 team next round, beat them soundly, and then repeat that all the way to the final. Who knows, we might even scout one or two young starlets along the way to add to our squad.

 

My Dad started watching the Reds in the thirties. Me in the mid sixties. He never got to see us win a Cup. I've seen it once. I'm not averse to seeing it again no matter what name is on it.

 

Similar story for me. My Dad was alive when we got to the Premier, but wasn't well enough to attend a single game. He never saw us at Wembley either - he died in 1998.

I started the lifelong obsession in 1962 and never dreamed, in those desperate times, that I would ever see us get even near to a Wembley final, let alone actually win two in a single season. So bring it on again I say!! We can sit together if you like, seeing as there won't be many other Barnsley fans there this time

 

I'll be flying over specially. Will I need a Colchester stub?