thoroughly enjoyed the game. I thought the 1st 10 or 15 minutes was all Forest and their midfield was a yard quicker than ours. However, we weathered it well and Burns and Kay got to grips with midfield. After that I thought we played really well. I was glad when Johnson went off injured and when I realised Gareth Taylor was playing centre half! Eugine Dadi was absolutely shocking, why did they buy him? Only Chris Commons stood out and he's a star in the making. The best player I've seen at Oakwell in years IMO. My ratings from yesterday: Colgan- 6 - Made a great save in the 1st half from a corner but didn't inspire much confidence. The shot from Commons that he left to hit the post was madness and didn't come out confidently enough at times from crosses. Austin- 7 - Very good performance against the best player in this league IMO. Commons is a magnificent player but Austin coped pretty well. Williams- 9 - I can't believe Hart prefered Tom Williams to Robbie. He was superb and deserved to be named man of the match IMO. Very solid, calm and collected. Carbon- 9 - The best preformance I've seen from him in a Barnsley shirt, won everything in the air and kept their strikers very quiet. Lets hope he stays fit now Reid- 8 - Solid performance again from Reid, him and Carbon looked very solid together. Shuker- 9 - Champaigne football from Shuker. At times it was like watching Brazil! Worked his socks off as always but this time had a much better end product. Seemed to be having a battle with Commons for who could do the most tricks. Burns- 7- Struggled to cope with their midfield to start with but got better as the game wore on. He's becoming a key player for us. Kay- 7 - IMO a much better midfielder than a defender and he played well. As with Burns they struggled to cope with the Forest midfield to start with but grew as the game went on. Solid Devaney- 6 - Didn't really do a great deal although he was up against a very good defnder in Nicky Eaden. A couple of flashes showed he could be a good signing when he gets fully match fit Conlon- 6/7 - Until he scored he looked unfit and severely lacking in confidence. I said to mymate that he needed a goal, no matter how it came. After he scored he visibly grew in confidence and sprayed some lovely passes round. I'd stillprefer Nardiello up front though. Hayes- 6 - Tried hard and could be a real creative forse for us. He's probably not going to score 25 goals for us but he'll make a few for the others. Need someone with pace alongside him. Subs: Wroe- 6 - Didn't do much apart form go close with 1 shot Mardiello- 6 - Did OK whenhe came on although at that time we were concentrating on defending Richards- No time to impress so won't give him a rating.
slightly concerned that there are so many 8's and 9's in your ratings. a win is a win but the performance wasn't good. 7 for carbon, 6.5 for burns and williams - the rest 6's apart from devaney who still looks way short of fitness and ideas
Well, he had a better game than Hayes and scored. Still not the player I saw beginning of last season though. Lets hope his confidence returns. Not looking that good up front to be honest..not seen anything from the injury prone Nads or the willing but lighweight Hayes to suggest 20 goals each.
Does not look like an out and lout forward to me Not seen much of him though and I hope you are right but richteas recent dubious signing would sugeest otherwise.
