Some of the Championship previews: The Times don't mention us in the 'Who's going down?' section of their preview, but select Joe Williams as one of their three players to note (the others are Britt Assombalonga and John Terry). The Guardian say that we will be expected to struggle, and note the departures of Marc Roberts and Josh Scowen. They do however say that "they [Barnsley] are at least operating with a chief executive after five months without one, and Gauthier Ganaye has helped Paul Heckingbottom attract some exciting young players, including Cameron McGeehan, Jason McCarthy and Ethan Pinnock." The Guardian select Ike Ugbo as one of their three players to watch, comparing the Chelsea man with Tammy Abraham. Their others to note are Famara Diédhiou (Bristol) and Ollie Watkins (Brentford). The Racing Post make no mention of Barnsley in their 'Relegation' section, although Dan Childs rates us to finish 22nd in the final table, just ahead of Millwall and Bolton, citing our lack of firepower. He does however think that Bristol City are a value price for the drop (8/1). The Yorkshire Post understandably major on Huddersfield's achievements last season, and also reflect their bias towards Leeds. Their limited commentary on our prospects is that " Paul Heckingbottom’s ability to unearth hidden gems should stand the Oakwell club in good stead once again."
If we hadn't have had that abysmal 45 minutes at Rotherham we all would feel a bit better & positive im sure. However that, and more specifically Heckys reaction has tempered the confidence somewhat. Which I think will be good in the long run - kick up players arse, kick up recruitment drives arse, and ensuring no one rests on the laurels. Probably far more beneficial than sneaking a 1-0 win and everyone thinking that would be great. In the same way we could have, with a bit more luck, beaten premierleague Huddersfield doesn't mean we could compete in the premiership. If we correct the "firepower" issue with a quality winger and Striker either on loan or permenant then I'll be a lot more confident. However bloody excited anyway to see how the boys can do, and will hopefully enjoy watching them develop and blend as team. Seeing it all click together like it did from Christmas 2015 onwards was brilliant.
Agree with all of that, OCC. Must say, as much as anything it was Hecky's reaction to last Saturday's defeat that alarmed me - especially given his usually stoical nature. But when you come to analyse it, I can find only three times since Hecky took the reins where we have shipped more than three goals (Forest H Nov '16, Fulham H Oct '16, Ipswich A Aug'16). On each of those occasions we did at least net twice ourselves. So that's quite impressive when you think about it, and Hecky clearly expected us to do better against a team who were very poor last season. To balance that out, his excitement at the capture of Brad Potts yesterday came through in the reaction quotes. And you get the sense that we might just have upped our financial muscle (in our own terms) since last weekend. As you say, excitement looms large as we start off tomorrow. COYR!
Thanks for sharing this,it's very interesting. I don't think we will be relegated,but will be close to the bottom most of the time. Now I've predicted that,we will be safe in Mid-table.
It's all nonsense anyway, no one can give any sort of informed opinion until the end of the transfer window
11 games inc usually gives you a clue. Xmas is a good measure of whether you are looking up or down. Easter is the confirmation and owt can happen after that!
Very true, I well remember just before Christmas 2015, we has lost 8 or 9 in a row and were 24th rock bottom of league 1 I remember thinking to myself "I reckon we'll get promotion this year"
