Does Our Club Have Any Real Direction?

The new signing prompts me to ask this.

On the one hand, we've paid little and have seemingly been watching this lad. Danny's previous spell threw up several players who had been in comparative obscurity but turned out to be pretty decent (Lars Leese, to name but one). And I suppose it's good to have what might be viewed as a 'future project', rather than panic buying. On the other hand, it will surely take a very long time before he is fit enough to play at L1 level, and you have to be suspicious that this is his first professional assignment at the age of 25. Okay, I can remember Mick Butler being whistled up from down the pit shaft, but the game is more sophisticated these days, and it's rarer for talent to go that unnoticed.

But the concern is that we are crying out for a midfielder with physical presence to hold the ball up and protect the defence (leaving the creative midfielders to do their stuff). And we are crying out even more for a defender(s) who can.... er, defend. The people we've brought in do mainly look to have some promise. But the lack of any semblance of a defence, and the general brittleness of the team and lack of leadership poses the real risk that we're going to be a division lower before they come to fruition. That in turn may mean the better recruits are cherry-picked. A familiar scenario.

I think that a real litmus test of where we are will be whether we allow Hourihane to go to the highest bidder in January. And whether he stays, and Devante's loan is extended, may well depend on whether we can stiffen up the defence and the defensive part of midfield in front of it. If we don't, both lads may feel that we are a sinking ship to be deserted.

And number one priority tomorrow should be to 'park the bus', because otherwise it may be embarrassing (again). Homily over.

 

Of course we have direction Mr Kaht. We have fan forums, Jase does a few wise cracks, hands out a few pukka pies and everyone is happy.

I do feel we have consistent direction though. Ever decreasing circles it would seem.

To prove our consistency further, we have just signed a pub laiker to play in the alehouse league.

Hth

 

If we 'park the bus' tomorrow, we'll get slaughtered. We were looking good on Tuesday until we inexplicably 'parked the bus' whilst 2-0 up.

It's clear to see, we just need to play with wingers in order to give our full backs a bit of support. I do agree that we could do with a midfielder with a bit of steel in him but I think the squad we have is more than capable of competing with any team in this league.

 

give the lad and the club a chance for gods sake, he might be really good who knows, its only a couple of week since folk were watching the Leicester Man Ure game and saying "why can't we find somebody like that from non league" the club takes a chance and now folk are moaning. If he really was worth a punt (and lets face it he won't have cost a fortune so we can still get somebody else) what were we going to do let somebody else sign him because we can only recruit for one position at once!

 

Yes we cant park anybody's bus coz we are mainly on offensive team. Look at Nyatanga Tuesday night, I like him (or liked the other one!) but he was an accident waiting to happen, out of position or not he struggled with basics, poor on the ball worse off it

 

Phenix represents a low risk investment to the club in a player who may or may not kick on once he gets into full time training. I do not expect him to be part of the first team squad until he gets fit. Even then, he may not be of the required quality, which can only be assessed when he is fit. His signing has little relevance to our current problems, which mainly result from a lack of preparation in preseason, which in turn were caused by the later departure of O'Grady and Steele. To draw any conclusions about policy or ambition from such a low risk signing is in my view, several steps too far.

I actually believe that the addition of a target man to our current squad is vital to the balance of the team. Much more important than the addition of a defensive midfield player or additional defenders. However, I do not think that Phenix is that player because I think that he will be in the U21 squad for the remainder of the season.

 

I once went camping in blackpool.if that helps....(running finger across a mantle piece)....whoooooooooooooo just look at the muck on here....ah sey get her with her hand bag.

i know......taxi for the shed lol

 

I suppose we are the same as any other club in that our direction is generally upwards. The question is about how we can achieve that with the support and the budget we've got. Money is always going to be an issue with Barnsley because we haven't got much. That's why we let our best players go, not because we want to. We also have to consider the ambition of players who want to make the most out of a relatively short career.
We have taken a punt on a player who comes to us with a belief that he has to step up to achieve our level. Compare that to some of the "stars" like Frimpong and some we've got now, who seem to think that they are doing us a favour by taking our money. Playing professional football for Barnsley is a privilege and I prefer a player who realises that to one who just thinks about his next move. The lad is honest, he says he's hard and fast and nothing fancy. Good luck to him.

 

The problem was that we didn't park the bus when we were 2-0 up. Danny was out-thought by Derry who, with nothing to lose, changed shape to 4-4-2 and attacked our flanks. Danny stuck with the diamond until it was too late.

 

Darren Sheridan was 26 when he signed for Barnsley in Viv Anderson's year in charge, but he hardly got a game. He didn't start playing regularly for Barnsley until he was 27, under Wilson, at left wing back. He wasn't handed a midfield berth until he was 28/29. He was 30 when we won promotion to the Premier League, a feat that I doubt very much we would have achieved without him. I wish we'd got him now. We've had better players than Sheridan over the years, but he's exactly the kind of player we could use in this team. League 1 is a lot better quality than the last time we were down here, but it's not at the same level as the top end of The Championship and The Premier league in the 90s when Shez played his football for us.

There's a list as long as your arm of players who have come through non-league to become a success - David Currie and Martin Bullock for us, Ian Wright, Les Ferdinand, Chris Waddle, Kevin Phillips, Stan Collymore, Stuart Pearce. In recent years Chris Smalling was still playing non-league when almost 20. Two years later he was called up to the England squad. Charlie Austin was 20 before Danny Wilson signed him from Poole Town. He's scored 92 goals in 155 league starts. Jamie Vardy, the guy who ripped the entire Man Utd defence a new arsehole last month, was still playing for Stocksbridge Park Steels when he was 23. He went to Barnsley college FFS. He was in the same class as my nephew. He didn't make his football league debut until he was 25. Maybe, if we were doing what we appear to be doing now a few years ago - scouting the non league scene and taking a gamble on players - then Vardy could have been our player.

It should be obvious this, but some people can't seem to figure it out. Just because we've signed a forward, it doesn't mean we're not looking for a midfielder or a full back or whatever other position you care to mention. We scout more than one player at a time. We're looking at dozens of players. We identify dozens of players we'd like to sign, but we can only sign them when they become available. What do you want, to bring in a midfield player just because he's available now, no matter how good he is, or to wait to get the right man for the job when he becomes available?

Number one priority is to try to beat them. We're a good side with the ball, we're good going forward, that's our strength. Let's play to that strength, we've plenty in the locker to cause Bristol City all sorts of problems. Our weakness is our defence, so lets not go in to a game relying on that. That would be madness.

 

Jay, I acknowledged that there are two views on a 'gamble' signing like this. I also cited Lars Leese as an example of how it can work.

If "some people can't seem to figure it out" means I disagree with you, you're right! "Some people" may just have different views about things. We've had a dreadful midfield/defence for the last two seasons. Not having solidity has resulted in our being relegated, and in our losing nine of our last twelve home games. Being good going forward has not been conspicuosly successful, has it?

Solidity is required before we can start winning games on a regular basis.

 

No it doesn't, it means you don't appear to be able to understand the concept. If I meant you disagreed with me, I'd say that.

 

Ah! Jay knows best!

 

Tarred & feathered

 

No, again you've misunderstood.

 

Oh! Mea culpa, Jay, mea culpa!

 

Maybe we could play one direction songs over the rabbit then we would definitely have some direction!!

Hth

 

You have a 'rabbit' Mr reev? Now I am confused!

Hth (?)

 

I've got no real problems with the signing of Phenix but I agree with Mr Kaht's assessment of our current predicament. Danny has made some good signings and we definitely have potential, but without an experienced physical presence in midfield and a couple of better full backs we're always gonna struggle in this league and it baffles me that Danny hasn't addressed this sooner. Gary Jones showed his true worth in the last 15 minutes on Tues night, organising two defensive banks and holding a lead. Barnsley need that kind of experience to help the young kids out...