Just got back to the hotel...

...hmm, what a weird game. Was ready to go absolutely mental after the first half, as it was as poor as anything I've ever seen a Barnsley side produce, totally devoid of any creativity or ideas, just awful. I honestly thought I was watching the worst Barnsley side I've ever seen in 30 years of watching them. The first half was absolutely, genuinely abysmal, and some weird stuff going on with formations - Winnall on the left wing, constantly switching over with Isgrove, Mawson randomly playing at 'libero' in front of the back four, and a nominal one up front that was actually more of a "none" because it was M Smith. The defensive setting was totally frustrating and inexplicable as well as they looked shocking at the back on the very rare occasion when we went forward and appeared to have a kid who had never played football before in goal (although on the upside as the Full Ponty pointed out he did look like the Fresh Prince of Bel Air).

Then the second half seemed to come out of nowhere - it was more or less constant pressure and Coventry literally only ventured into our half twice, and they scored on both visits. It was such a shame both times they scored because both their goals came at a time when we were very much on top, forcing loads of corners and to be fair getting midfielders on into the box as well. Although the gulf in quality over anything we've got was shown in a class free kick from Cole from more or less the exact spot that Mawson and Pearson had both hit laughably p.iss poor efforts in the first half (which were the "closest" that we came). Davies only gave him 98% of the goal to aim at as well (he was virtually shagging the opposite post).

It also helped that once they scored the 4th they took off two of their three best players on the night - O'Brien and Cole (Armstrong obviously the other one - top finishes for his goals) - allowing us to come onto them even more. But it looked like a totally different mindset - which I guess is what everyone is finding so frustrating - I know it doesn't necessarily work like that because it's a different mindset from the other team once they're two up as well but we were easily the better team in the second half once we'd decided to come out and have a go.

One thing I will say is that the second half didn't look like a team resigned to losing it's manager or to relegation. It might not be good enough to stay up, because we sorely lack any proper quality, especially up front, but it wasn't a lack of effort tonight that cost us the game.

Anyway - player ratings:

Davies - One good low save in first half, not much he could do with goals although I would question his positioning for Cole's free kick - 6.
Wabara - Ordinary - 6
Nyatanga - A liability - 4.
Roberts - Steady away - 6.
G Smith - Not enough quality from set pieces when we needed it. Not bad defensively though. 6.
Mawson - In a weird role, better once he settled in. Actually better on the ball than I thought he would be when we were on top in second half, but didn't provide enough cover when they broke through for a holding role. Good header for goal. Still ludicrous that he was playing there though. 6.
Scowen - total game of two halves; completely anonymous first then dominant second, like the performances of last season, running everywhere, winning everything, all over the pitch plus two goals. 7. (Average of 5 first half and 9 second)
Pearson - Doesn't give us enough. 5.
Winnall - Lost. 5.
Isgrove - Lots of effort, but meh. 5.
M Smith - Oh dear. Hopeless touch. Can't hold it up. I thought that he might be the worst centre forward I have seen play for us....3

Wilkinson (sub)....and then this guy came on and trumped him. Missed a golden opportunity. Just looked proper useless. 1.
Other unused subs - 34 (combined age).

 

Fair play to you for making the effort to go.

I wasn't working today, and couldn't be ******* arsed with them.

 

Thank you for the report

 

maybe second half was last chance saloon hence throwing caution to the wind?

Thing is i wish they would just do that week in week out - so what if we were in this position (although i doubt we would be as we'd win more than we lost) but at least i would have enjoyed the exciting games and look forward to going.

When will the penny drop?

 

Thank you for what seems to be at least an unloaded analysis.

And for travelling beyond the recent call of duty to support us.

We need more like you.

 

Cheers, TM. Tell TFP he's a lovely person.

 

As I said last night - we could have played until the sun died & M Smith / Wilkinson wouldn't have scored.

I disagree.
I think we should have Sam Winnall at right back, as he was for the last few minutes of the first half, every week.
If we're going to lose every single match we may as well have a laugh doing it.

My ratings:

Davies - 6.4921/10 ... cracking save from Armstrong in first half. May as well have been sat in the stand with me for the Cole free kick based on his positioning. Looks like Hitler Youth.
Wabara - 5.00003/10 ... seemed shocked that their winger dare run at him for the first goal. Doesn't look like Hitler Youth.
Nyatanga - 4.4497/10 ... poor on the ball, worse without it. He's been playing for a million years, but doesn't get better. Utterly knackered in the 2nd half as he spend most of the game running 70 yards into their box to compete for the 972 free kicks, corners & throw ins we aimlessly launched forward. Funny shaped head.
Roberts - 4.888934/10 ... not ready for League One football. Looked like a conference player with a long throw. Got better in 2nd half.
G Smith - 4.44/10 ... should not be playing every week. Not ready yet. Good engine & great attitude, but still learning. 184 yards out of position for their 2nd goal, as was our new left winger Winnall. Another member of the Hitler Youth.
Mawson - 4.4202/10 ... didn't protect the back 4 in the first half. Strange that he was given the holding midfield role in a 4-1-4-1 with Scowen & Pearson in the squad. Better in the 2nd half & a threat from the constant 80 yard punts we put into their area. Has a Nando's card.
Scowen - 5.1974646456/10 ... lost in the first half. Space to play taken up by Mawson & totally isolated. Popped up all over the place in the second half & looked a different player. Clear handball for his 1st goal, but who cares? Looks a bit like Frank Sidebottom.
Pearson - 4.111119/10 ... flat track bully. Not in the game when we needed him, but wanted the ball every 11 seconds when we were on top. Constantly at the Ref, clearly well coached by Paul Ince. Looked great breaking past their midfield when the game was already lost. Looks like he could feed himself from the bins round the back of Tesco Express.
Winnall - 3.090911/10 ... as I said on Twitter: playing him on the wing is like forking out £30k for a top notch high class hooker ... then asking her to clean the house. Not quick enough to play there & positionally all over the shop. Caught out for 2nd goal. He should be scoring goals, not letting them in. If he was a dog he'd be one of those German Terriers with the fancy beards.
Isgrove - 5.49163/10 ... slow to get going. Our only real pace in the team. Better second half. Would be decent in a team not full of players such as:
M Smith - 0.0000026/10 ... what is it? If you put a large pile of horse **** up front the laws of probability would mean it would eventually hold up one pass. Smith couldn't. It was bouncing off him at angles I didn't knew existed. He's also invented a new tactic where, instead of flicking the ball on to nobody (which he did at the start) or trying to head the ball wide to the wingers - he decided to head the ball back into midfield ... so he was basically clearing the ball for the opposition. I, for one, don't think it will catch on as it's totally mental. Slow, couldn't hold the ball, couldn't link play, slow, poor in possession, slow, weak, slow and looked like he'd just done a 71 hour shift of brick laying. Apart from that he was good.

Wilkinson (sub) ... can't give him a rating as I'll reserve those for footballers. Made a tackle so late it was in another time zone. Then elbowed someone in the head in an attempt to break the quickest sending off world record. Got put clean through, but decided to take 11 minutes getting a shot away - which was blocked by a defended who was in another continent when he got the ball. Should be put down.
Jackson (sub) - 5.8888/10 ... got ball & ran at people. Had a bit of pace, which we were desperate for in the previous 84 minutes of the match. Looked like the guy out of Blue. Johnson won't play him as he doesn't know what Powerpoint is.

Totally outplayed for 45 minutes. Should have been 4-0 down.
Played the most horrendous form of hoofball in the 2nd half, which was more effective ... but made me want to plunge things into my eyes Oedipus style.
If that's the style of football that loads of coaching badges & St Georges Park Powerpoint gives you - then you can keep it.
Johnson will claim he can only work with what he's got & he needs 27 transfer windows to create his own team.
Well, he brought in M Smith & Wilkinson & decided to play hoofball with a squad that could be set up differently.
I honestly don't think he's lost the players - the effort & application was there ... sadly the quality & set-up were horrific.

I wanted to keep Keith Hill, Flicker & Danny Wilson.
If Lee's contribution to our club, in the medium & long term, is the "football philosophy" I witnessed last night, then he needs to go.
If he does eventually get the chop then Ben, Maurice & Barry should be put in the same sack before it's thrown into the canal.

Hold me.

 

The best match report I've ever read.

 

Agree about 1st half, as bad as anything I've witnessed from a reds team in 38 years of watching them. Nyatanga needs dropping from starting 11 he's so weak.

 

An unorthodox yet strangely accurate report. Can't really disagree with any of it, especially M. Smith. It quite literally does just bounce off him and out of play.

 

Only 2 or 3 spelling mistakes too.
I must be taking notes from your gay blog thingy.

I actually tried to type it using the "Davies Positional Typing Method", but standing 8 yards to the left of the keyboard & watching it didn't make anything happen.
I then used the "M Smith Typing Method", but randomly stamping on the keyboard, like it's a wet bar of soap, didn't help either.

 

Curiously we had IIRC 9 corners to their 0. Maybe a fit Hourihane would have made better use of a couple?