Wonder if people are happy with that line-up?

We played against Wednesday for 70 minutes with ten men and looked a country mile more in the game than Wigan did. Wigan had a couple of chances but we were superb in the way we pulled them around and created openings. It could easily have been 4-0 not 2-0.

 

The Barnsley commentators I listened to must have been watching a different game to the one you describe then.

 

Well the ones I listened to on ifollow seemed pretty pleased with the way we played and only carped about us not scoring the second earlier.

 

Playing against ten men doesn't always result in such a dominant display so well done to the players for making it so. There was a period towards the end where Wigan came back into it but that was always going to happen at some point. Most of the match was spent with Wigan eleven men behind the ball, desperately stopping it becoming a cricket score, which is why it remained 1-0 for so long.

I've never seen the appeal of being admin but now I know they suckle at the club's bountiful teat I'm quite interested.

 

Wigan had one shot on target.

 

…. and Newcastle lost at home playing against ten men for an hour.
Why do some people support us (or say they do) if they are so unhappy with everything that goes on at the club and can only post negative comments? Are they this unhappy about everything in their lives or just football? They must be seriously depressing people to be around, sucking any positivity out of any situation.

 

I've just watched the game, purely based on your post, and Wigan didn't get a sniff all game. Even at 11 v 11, whilst they controlled the possession, they did nothing with it. With 11 men, they didn't get a single sight at goal. When we went a man up, the roles reversed, and we had the majority of the possession, except we were willing to try balls down the line to get our wing backs into good areas up the pitch. It worked.

The second half started with Wigan having possession again for 15 minutes, and again, doing nothing with it. When McAtee came on, we essentially set up camp in their half. It could have been 4 of 5. And yes, as you've mentioned several times, it was against 10 men, but we still had to beat them. We did, rather comfortably.

But even with the way the game was going before the red card, I still think we'd have won that game. We just looked the better side in possession by a country mile.

 

Exactly how I saw it!

 

That's the game I saw

 

I didn't see the game but was interested in Doug O'Kane's comment: "We’re starting to see much more from Jon Russell now. 93 per cent passing accuracy yesterday as well as most tackles and clearances. Really good performance. Midfield better balanced with him anchoring it". Fair?

 

He was quietly brilliant.

 

Very fair.

He's not quick, but he's getting much fitter, so that lack of speed isn't as noticeable. And, more importantly, he plays the game aware of his ability.

Paul Futcher was slow, but he was one of the best centre halves I've seen play, not just for Barnsley, but at what is now Championship level. You never noticed he couldn't run. I'm not comparing Russell to Futch, other than to make the point that you can be a very good footballer without being lightening quick.

And Collins is getting more out of Russell than Duff ever did.

 

It's the best I've seen him play. He had a really good game. I think he suffers from having a very languid style of movement that can be mistaken for lazy. I'm not sure of his positioning out of possession at times but he has some real quality. If Styles doesn't leave this week and we have a fully fit and fully on form set of midfielders then picking just three from Connell, Kane, Phillips, Russell, Styles and McAtee is a proper headache.

 

Good old Futch. England's most expensive defender in 1978, two England call ups, and yet he ended up playing for us. Another gone too soon.

 

Languid. That's the word I've used to describe him also. The way he lopes about the pitch makes it seem like he's not that bothered. He gives the impression he's smoking a spliff listening to Bob Marley.
However, we have a good footballer in Jon Russell. He always looks like he has time on the ball and he plays simple, but effective, passes. He's capable of spotting and executing a difficult pass also. In addition to this he has v good close control.
I said at the start of the season he just needed a run of games to get into a rhythm. Inevitably, I was criticised for expressing that opinion.
In fact, through this post, I've convinced myself hes that good we should cash him in and sell him to Citeh for £30m before the window slams shut.

 

30 mil?! You mean a couple of conkers and a blackie's egg surely?