I think the revival has been largely down to the 2 signings; Bassi and Quina. They have allowed Poya to play the style of football he wants. Before they arrived we tried but simply couldn't do it which resulted in the manager trying all sorts of formations and personnel.
Took him 14 matches to realise what most Barnsley fans already knew I.e. Moon is not a midfielder and never will be. Benson and Palmer do not graft enough. Vita should have been playing far sooner. However, if he keeps us up, all will be forgiven.
We'd got the Derby win just before he came to pep us up a bit. On paper he does seem to fit the bill but I can say with certainty that without Bassi and Quina driving forward we still wouldn't be winning games or even scoring. They've clicked with each other and seem to have drawn Vita and Gomes into the more positive play and attitude. Morris I think is the sort of player that will work hard no matter what, regardless of manager.
If he'd been playing all season, we wouldn't have got into such a dire situation and the signing of Bassi and Quina would have moved us up from lower mid-table to upper-mid table with an outside chance of the playoffs.....
The loanees have indeed been truly exceptional Helen and I agree with you about Carlton. It doesn't happen by chance however. Poya and his coaches have shaped / are shaping the way we play. He's made mistakes but who doesn't. He's had the time to learn what's needed and he seems to be adapting. Of course the jury is still out but my point is that with more time Poya might not be the incompetent that many think he is. It's interesting that the players are more vocal in their support of him also. Poya in.
down to the 2 signings plus Morris coming back to fitness, simple as that. EDIT: would also add Vita to that as being a big difference from what we were seeing before at full back.
You also need to add Wolfe into this - his contribution compared to Palmer Benson and Moon is on a different planet as well
Lots of games before he moved him into the back three. I actually thought at the time that he was genuinely supposed to be a midfielder.
I honestly can't remember a single game where Asbaghi has played Moon in midfield. Even looking at the fixtures and line ups on BBC doesn't spring anything to mind.
Look what happened in the games where the previous incumbents of the positions filled by bassi and quina have come on as subs.... we've gone to pot. Also we were sitting too deep trying to protect a goal lead. Started happening last night until the crowd started pulling them forward and they responded! We played our part last night.
I'm warming to him. I still think some of his decisions are mad and that we're far too defensive when we go ahead, but more and more I'm coming to the conclusion that he's been hamstrung by what's available and could do OK with a decent summer behind him, whatever league we end up in. Whether we get that decent summer with the absolute nightmare of contract expirations and final years on the horizon is another matter entirely.
I think the upturn in form since having the amount of players capable of making up a functioning team from 1-11 show that he's a capable coach.......whether he is a good coach remains to be seen. I think at the very least he has now earned the respect of the supporters, and rightly so. Again, all this just reinforces that this season has been a suicide mission from those at the top. Massive, basic errors were made in the general running of the club. We didn't need to be in this situation at all.