Minority Report v Millwall

We've just won five league games in a row for the first time in years, we're onto 51 points and just shy of the play offs with one of the smallest budgets in the division. What IS the downside?

Isn't the ultimate objective to win games of football?

Would you rather we tried to play total football and get trounced nearly every week?

 

Red Rain. Take a leaf out of my book.....

(A) Take no notice
(B) Grow a back that water drops off like a ducks
(C) Don't give a shiny *****
(D) Eff em all
(E) Sometimes it's banter
(F) If it isn't then hire a hitman

 

Yep.

 

At the risk of sounding like a broken record ......I’ve seen BFC rock bottom of Division Four, playing in front of less than two thousand against the likes of Workington Town, Bradford Park Avenue, Halifax Town etc etc. I’ve seen them rise out of that pit of despair, then fall back into it, and then rise again.

What I’m seeing now makes up for all the bad times and nothing that any technicality-anal-obsessive says will spoil that feeling. I love seeing my team play and I love it even more when they just keep winning. This run of success will end sometime but then we’ll have another one.

It’s only a game but doesn’t it make you feel GOOD sometimes!

 

@Red Rain I Think there is a sizeable connection between your earlier finance related posts and the level of entertainment you derive from current performances.

Barnsley FC do not have the budget to compete at the higher end of the championship without doing something different. Previous managers have played a more aesthetically pleasingly style but have struggled for success. The current approach is very different, very direct and is possible by constructing a team with physical attributes to apply such a direct approach.

We are not the first team to try this type of approach, Cambridge under John Beck, Wimbledon for many years and Watford under Aidy Boothroyd all tried direct football. In fact the approach adopted by Watford was termed parasite football as they aimed to live off the other side’s mistakes by adopting a high press.

Until Barnsley can match the budgets of our competitors, success can only come by doing things differently. It may not be the prettiest but by god it is effective. There is plenty of football played but mainly in the last third of the pitch and Valerien has managed to adapt the style for different opponents.

Is it the prettiest, no, but it gets results and for most football fans that is everything.

 

We are allowed a little observation or two about how impure it all is though. Shirley.

 

Spot on, the only negative thoughts at the minute should be the thought of this group being broken up.

 

There's a balance to be had between winning games and entertaining the punters. At the moment its about winning games and personally although I would like BFC to play like Barcelona the winning is good compensation. If there comes a time when this style of footy continually loses games then it will be time to start heavily criticising and calling for change. At the moment though because of this non-Barcelona style BFC don't really look like getting beaten and the defence looks really good as a result. So whilst I tend to agree with RR and his unhappiness with style of play I'm in a different boat to him because of the current success.

 

Nope. I can't speak for anyone else but I like entertaining football.

I find the way we're playing entertaining. Not today particularly, today we did lump the ball on several occasions, and the one from Mowatt you refer to was also the one that stood out for me and prompted me to type "stop just punting it" on this forum. But how we played today wasn't, in my opinion, reflective of how we've played recently. We've played much better football in other games.

 

You make a good point that is seemingly lost in all of this.

Short pass and move, 'attractive/entertaining' football isn't tolerated when a team is losing games regularly, any more than direct football is tolerated when a team is losing games regularly.

More often than not, the passing out from the back and through the lines style of football than nearly got us relegated last season is deemed naive and idiotic when persisted with. How many times I read on the BBS last season with regards to our passing out of defence leading to mistakes by us and goals or opportunities for the opposition, summed up with comments like "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Or words to that effect.

It's all about winning.

If you can win pretty then good for you.

If you have to win through sheer effort, having an effective gameplan supported by every player knowing their job and literally running themselves into the ground for each other and our Barnsley FC, then that will do for me.

Our town was built on industry, hard work and community. This team as much as any, represents those values.

We all see things differently, but I find the OP's open displeasure at our success so far this season troubling and quite bizarre. But, he is fully entitled to that, even if it is downright f-cu-king weird.

 

Didn’t see the game today, but following on Twitter and on here, it would seem to that we won without playing particularly well, which is very unlike us at this level.

On the flip side, if we start next season under a different coach (hope we don’t!) who tried to play a style that is so called ‘entertaining’ and we regularly get picked off like we did early last season, people would be more displeased, calling the style naive.

 

I hated the ball out to Mads last season. Not only was it causing the team problems and resulting in a number of goals against, it was clearly upsetting the lad. He didn't want to do it. He didn't want to keep making mistakes. It hasn't caused any permanent damage, he looks much more calm and assured now, which is a testament to his character, but it may have broken someone more sensitive.

 

I would guess if you’re bothered about more than results then the x-goals analysis would be of interest (probably a better measure of how well a team is doing than aimless passes between centre halves?) and we seem to be doing pretty well there (I get how x-g is limited). I mean if your team is expected to score more goals than the opposition more often than not surely it is effective football regardless of formation. For reference we are 8th in xg for and 23rd in xg against. Also I think we’ve looked pretty decent in most games under Val anyway!

 

F 60 grand on another thread and they messed it up, you pay for the deluxe and they mess it up

 

I really enjoyed my foreign holiday but was fully aware that the plane may have crashed en route, killing all the passengers.

 

We all see the game differently. For what's it's worth, I'm with Red Rain. Style may not count for some, but it does for me, and I suspect quite a few other Reds fans. Before I seem ungrateful, top marks to the players and manager for getting us to the points total we are on at this stage, it's a real achievement, whatever flavour the football. Just my two pennies worth.

 

We’d all like to see lovely flowing football, but with one of the smallest budgets in the division, we may just have dropped on a plan that makes the most of what we’ve got.

As long as we’re winning, I’m not sure I’d like to see Val tinkering with different formations.

It might be ugly, but it ain’t broke.

 

Hand on heart i would love us to be playing alot more football on the floor and i honestly think we would if the pitches were in better conditions but I haven’t a problem in playing the percentage game especially when we have the players to do it so well.

 

Hi @Red Rain, I hope you’re not taking a break because you’re tired of now having to hang on to my coat tails when it comes to in-depth analysis of the game.

 

I don’t think we’re even that bad to watch. There’s been some poor games including today’s but we’ve also played a lot of decent stuff. There’s been some lovely link up play throughout the season mainly involving Mowatt, Woodrow, Brittain, Styles & Chaplin.

For most of the last 20 years we’ve been pretty poor in the championship. Barring 3 months under Hecky, & 3 months under Hill its been largely dross & fighting for survival. Give me this over that every time.

I remember watching Big Sam’s Bolton side upset the big boys & finish in the top 7 or 8 of the prem a few seasons in a row & thought it was great. I also love watching sides managed by Guardiola that pass you into submission, I don’t really get football snobbery. I can watch any style.

The only time it really annoys me is if we had the players to play a different style of football more effectively but I can’t see an argument that we do.