Been for a swim at Wembury beach first thing, in which my balls quite literally retreated back into my body, just had brunch and a look round the box museum, now down to the Barbican for a look round and a few pints before the game. Lovely weather, great setting, let's try and get off to a positive start.
How long have we known about these issues and how long have we had to get players in? Whilst negligence is a strong word it's very disappointing to find we haven't addressed some of the fundamental issues but it's been the same the last 3 seasons.
Correct negligence is a strong word and while I agree to an extent its disappointing not to have signed a right back like I said in my reply maybe the player Conor wants isn't available yet.
I was making arrangements to go and watch Penistone Church in the FA Cup, till my mate pointed out our game was on TV. I guess it’s a perfect example of how the new TV deal is detrimental to grass roots football.
Just parked up in Plymouth and nervous and excited. Hope we give them a game, don’t concede too easily or early and score at least one. Tough fixture and long journey for the players and fans so fingers crossed.
Have a safe journey home, my old friend. In all the years I've watched Barnsley, we've only won away on the opening day twice. The first was in 1976 at Brentford, 1-0 with Ally Millar getting our goal in the first half. The second was at WBA in 1996, where we won 2-1 with Marcelle & Liddell getting our goals. Surely, we're due another?
Well, I've seen enough to allay my fears. Every player on that pitch for Barnsley looked so much better than last season. The defence looked solid overall, including when both Roberts and Shepherd went off. MDG did well at RB and I thought Earl was class. Vickers looks really comfortable on the ball and Yoganathan caused them all kinds of problems with his aggressive play. Bland looked solid and Kelly was also full of energy, getting back to defend and also getting forwards to nearly score. I know it's only one game, but it was likely one of the toughest tests of the season and we hit it head on. They looked knackered at 70 minutes whereas we were still closing down at 98. A promising start!