How do ya view us at present

If I was Morris and Kitchen I would be straining at the leash to get in this side. I honestly feel that we haven't clicked yet and when we do we'll be up there with the top Championship sides. sadly Chaplin ( who looked decent playing this level of opposition) Thomas, Scmitt and some on the fringe will need to go but I really feel were on the cusp of being up there.
Kane,Styles,Brittan and Mowatt look good and ah kno am being an old optimist but I am genuinely excited..

 

The trick is to play well and beat the top sides so this Saturday against Swansea will give us a good indication of our potential.

 

Loss of James is pretty massive I would say. I’d say just outside bottom 6 this season. Next month looks pretty brutal but then hopefully we can kick in again.

 

My observation/criticism is we’re still very wasteful in the attacking third of the pitch. I love lots about our play, but this constant giving the ball away, loose passing, often not under pressure is frustrating. If we improved it by just 50% it would be so much better.

 

Defensively think we look pretty strong, James will be a big miss we must keep Mowatt fit otherwise we’ve no experience in the middle of the park at this level. Problem lies with the 2 players either side of Woodrow it’s obvious for all to see hopefully Morris will improve us and I’m hoping we bring in another attacking option aswell. We’ve a number of attacking players that aren’t good enough at this level that need moving on.

 

On the internet..

 

50% better I'd say...

 

Top half would be unreal.

 

Since the awful points return in our first 18 games of last season, our record is : P 51 W 21 D 11 L 19 Pts 74. This is clearly top half form.

 

We really do have a plethora of young talent at our disposal now. Hopefully the two new recruits, Kitching and Morris come good as well.

We also have a talented head coach in Valerien Ismael. I hope the group continue to want to develop and if they stay together for a couple of years (I know it's very hopeful) who knows where we could end up. I see the team and head coach in a similar vein to Wilson and the team mid-90s, very talented - could beat anyone on their day, but ultimately falling short of the playoffs. Then in 96/97 it all came together. So with the correct investment and a couple of additions here and there, who knows......

Up the Reds

 

That would seem like a pretty pessimistic forecast to me. In 2017 we still managed to finish 14th despite having the side completely decimated in January, and only winning three more games all season (if I remember correctly). If we were to lose Mowatt as well though then I might start getting a little twitchy. I completely agree that the loss of James is big, and his presence was one of the reasons why Mowatt has looked so good this season, by allowing him a lot more freedom to roam forward. But in any case I think we're in a far better position this season to absorb the loss of James than we were in 2017 to deal with Hourihane and Winnall going.

 

Agree loss of James is likely to be impactful. When you have such a talented player, he makes room for other players to shine. When you have 3 or 4 of them, like in 97, it leads to an upward spiral of success. We don't have any of those kind of players now, so I think there are limits to what we can achieve, and we saw that when we played teams better than us like Bournemouth. Mid-table, bearing in mind the investment made compared to other clubs in this league, is a super achievement and shows that our modus operandi is able to bear fruit despite all the criticism of the owners and operating model. The players we have are young and talented and I have always enjoyed watching them play, even last season, so as a supporter of Barnsley and not Liverpool that's as much as I can ask for. They are committed and willing and not without skill. We don't have the overall quality to compete at the very top but that's fine, so long as I'm enjoying the football on a weekly basis and I see us play entertaining stuff I don't have ambitions beyond that. If the owners have the inclination to pay top dollar to have 3 or 4 Matty James then I'd be happy too of course, but I am also happy with what I am seeing now.

 

Half way through the campaign, we're ninth in the table and through to the Fourth Round of the FA Cup. We have a young squad of talented players who give 100% every time they step out onto the pitch. Even when they're not on the top of their game, the commitment to the cause means they're capable of grinding out victories against more physical teams, when in the past defeats in such circumstances were the norm. We have brought in two players at the start of the transfer window, when again previously this was unheard of.
I have no idea when this ride will end, but I'm certainly going to enjoy it whilst I can. I can see progress on the pitch and, hopefully, that will continue.

 

If only we had a 15 to 20 goal a season forward to play up top with Woody.

 

I think we've made excellent progress this season. The adjusted (to include a little more experience) long term plan is finally over the initial choppy waters.
I don't see us seriously challenging for the top six this season but if we can bed in our starting midfield for next season in the second half of this plus add more firepower alongside Woodrow then next season could just see us have a crack at the play offs.
Given much of the last 20 years that's a pretty healthy state to be in.

 

Every team in the league wants one of them , unfortunately they are as rare as hens teeth & cost a fortune .

 

I slightly disagree. I think we think we need a striker alongside Woodrow that allows him to go back to being the 15-20 goal striker I think he is. (I don't count penalties) Hopefully Morris will do this but I'd like to see another come in. Chaplin used as back-up with Adeboyejo. Schmidt and Miller moved on.

 

The attacking moves that happen so quick with two or three one touch pass and moves finishing up with someone getting launched into the box on a pinged thru ball are a delight to see. Its the stuff you see the top sides do. We just seem to be trying this everytime even when there are no men up. If we can temper this technique and be a little more selective over when we use it we will keep the ball better and keep the opposition guessing more.

All this said while ever we are picking up points like we are we cant grumble. Fair enough weve won a lot of points in the last few minutes but this shows we fight on until the end and never give up. Another great quality to have.

I’m hopeful we can add the extra pieces to this jigsaw and do some real damage to those above us in the second half. I hope not keeping james on will be a mistake. But, you can see the point of it - if we continue to kick on with our own players and develop them and have the ability to do so with them then it will end up better for us in the long term. And, weve won a lot of games without him on the pitch.

All setup for a great second half of the season so long as it doesnt get shut down again but i think they will try and keep it going.

 

Knowing our luck it will be null and void with us sat in 6th.