Minority Report was all planned out and partially written in advance. I expected us to be beaten badly and I had not wanted to be part of any widespread criticism of those who played, after all, most of them are well down the list of most people’s first team picks, and they would have been doing their best in unfortunate and unforgiving circumstances. Minority Report was going to be about 4-2-3-1, which seems to be Coach Asbaghi’s system of choice…. and then the game began we were in 3-5-2 shape. All my plans were in the bin and I had to start again. Luckily, there is plenty to write about. For a start, there was the performance of Matty Wolfe, just in front of our back 3. I have waited a long time to see Wolfe in person. My hopes were high for his future, but a series of injuries hampered his progress and I wondered if he would be one of those who would not be physically strong enough to play the game professionally. His performance today has convinced me that the opposite is true. I am a notoriously poor judge of a player’s future, but this lad looks the real deal. The same could be said of Aiden Marsh, and I was delighted that he too appears to have finally thrown off his injury problems to replace a tiring Wolfe late in the second half. Unfortunately, his storybook ending could not be written as a well struck volley with his first touch of the ball was well saved by Travers in the Bournemouth goal. Vita had a nightmare in the first half. He looked like he had never played left wing back before, in fact he looked anything but a defender. In the second half he was just the opposite and he used his undoubted pace to good effect going forward. If we have some spare cash, then we should spend it on this lad and not some total gamble. Cole was a different player to the one that I remember from earlier in the season. Gone was his apparent moody attitude, and instead we saw hard work, a willingness to press and bravery that saw him going for headers and challenges with seasoned, tough defenders. His pace eventually saw two bookings for Cahill, his marker, and the inevitable early bath. I was also impressed with our back 3. Moon has had plenty of unwarranted abuse, but today he almost held his own with the impressive Helik and especially Andersen, who is my MOTM. And yet we have still lost. Well Bournemouth is a very good team with outstanding individuals. But even that does not explain their winner. The strong wind really did not help him, but I am afraid Brad Collins has to hold his hand up. It does not explain why we did not score either, after all, we had more strikes on target than they did. Cole should have scored and several others could have done so. The fact is that Iseka is not one of those, and he was rarely in the game either. It was the absence of either Woodrow or Morris that really hurt us today. The BBS has been fully of negativity for weeks, but today, Wolfe, Marsh and plenty of others convinced me that life in League 1 will be OK. The well of talent has not run dry, and our patience can prevail to give us a future. And Finally…… although they appear in every MR, many readers will have forgotten what the numbers below represent. I have not been willing to focus on them because our season has been dire, and there seemed no point. However, tonight I want to do so because they show something unusual, something that has been rarely seen this season. According to the Performance Index, Barnsley were the better team. Not by much, and certainly not enough to claim that we should have won the game, but against a good side, Barnsley played better over-all than they did. OK, all of the difference is because of Cahill’s sending-off, but it is good to claim it, no matter what else happened. Entertainment Index: Barnsley 85 Bournemouth 93 Match 178 Performance Index: +10 PotM Mads Andersen
Can't argue with any of that. It was my first game at Oakwell since 4 December and I quite enjoyed it, despite the result. I wish we had pushed out a bit further and put someone tight on Pearson, instead of letting him run the midfield so much. But apart from that, I have no real complaints today. I still miss wingers, though...
As always, good to read RR. A summary of the match with which I agree. Forgetting about all the off field issues, there does seem to be a glimmer of light on the field if Wolfe, Marsh and a few others continue with their development.
Sounds like an improved performance, particularly in the second half. But it was a very poor goal to concede. When Collins makes the mistake, I’ve no idea why both Helik and Andersen tried to close the wide player down, rather than one closing and the other defending the box. Then when the cross comes in, Moon and Collins seemed to leave it to each other, when it needed one to attack it
Good assessment, I do think Moon was ok (definitely should not be abused by our own fans), but I do also think that Mads saved his @r$e 2, 3 times. Some excellent last ditch defending from him. I fear if Mads was injured and Kitching played in that position, then some of Moon's ineptitude would be punished. He seems slow to react at times, and his decision making is very questionable too, but by no means was he horrendous today, and alot of it will be down to being a young, inexperienced player for us and we are lucky to have two very solid Championship defenders beside him to help. I think we will go down, but if we are to put up a fight (I certainly think we shown we are today) Andersen and Helik staying fit are pivotal to us.
Good to read a a positive write up of Wolfe. I've only seen him a couple of times before today, but I took to him instantly, he just looked the real deal from the off. And he looked it again today. My evaluation of Vita's performance is the same as yours. My conclusion is different. I think he's too small and not strong enough to warrant us chasing him. As for Cole, he worked really hard, and I believe he has done for a few months now, I just don't think he's good enough.
With the amount of negativity that has been on show recently, I wanted to look for the positives in our performance. I wanted to find reasons why relegation will not be the end for the club, why there will be life after the Championship. I wanted to look for player who offered our fans hope for the future, and I found a lot. Relegation will be a blow, but it will not be the end. I had criticised Vita during the first half. It looked like their winger would beat him every time he tried. He look like an open door. After 30 minutes, the guy I was sitting with wanted him replaced my Styles, but I urged that he be given a chance. I thought that he vindicated that view in the second half. Pace, real pace is rare in Barnsley players. You can teach the rest, but pace comes in your genes. The lad has it, and I think that he is worth persevering with on that basis alone. Cole was a totally different player yesterday. It was like someone had flipped a switch. He worked and worked, which is something I never thought I would see from him, and he did so for the team ethic, which I would have previously argued that he did not understand. I wanted to give him credit. I know Cahill is past his best. I know that aging takes your pace, but Cahill was sent off because Cole beat him for pace twice, and I think that is worth noting. I had other motives for writing yesterday's report, and you may have seen through me, but those motives are good ones for the future of our club. Nevertheless, I was thrilled at times by the prospect of watching the development of some of our players in perhaps a more forgiving environment.
