My player ratings so far

for what its worth and to relieve the boredom of a sunday evening -:

Defence -:

Muller - 8/10. Cracking signing would be higher marked if not for his punch rather than catch policy (which will catch him out soon) and his awful distribution

Foster -9/10 Player of the season so far IMHO

Souza - 6.5/10 Still to be totally convinced good on the ball and has notched a couple but suspect physically and drops the occasional clanger

Hassel -6/10 still needs a bit more time to convince at this level this season. Hope he comes good soon

Kozluk - N/A. Needs to get his differences sorted asap can't have the highest earner sitting on the bench sulking. Heads to be knocked togehter soon please.

Van Homoet - 6/10 needs to improve and don't think he has been on the winning team (league) yet

Reid - 4/10 Crap at Col U which probably was his undoing. Will leave with great thanks though for play-off season

Werling - 5/10 not too sad to see him go crap defensively despite the freekicks

Nyatanga - 7.5/10 assume has now played his last game for us but a solid influence at the back.

Midfield

Howard - 7.5/10 slipped a bit recently needs better support and could raise his game. Big 18 games needed pls Brian

Togwell - 7/10 can't remember him letting us down never going to produce much spectacular but much needed solidity at times

Da Silve - 8/10 please please please get him back

McCann - 4/10 falttered to decieve not great loss

Johnson - N/A but I rated him at the start of the season and think he should get another chance

Ricketts - who?

Disco - 6/10 hugely inconsistent few spectacular goals but needs to produce more in the run-in

JR - 7.5/10 some brilliance (Stoke a & Wolves h springs to mind) but crossing can let him down and does have the tendancy to attempt to beat the same player 3 times.

"Attack"

Stan - 5/10 needs much more IMHO and not a patch on last season. If I can spot him looking at the opposing defenders 9 times out of 10 rather than the ball then Im damn sure the refs will as well.

KO - 5/10 I still think he may come good but time is running out

Miguel 5/10 see KO

Big Kim - 5/10 see KO / MM

Coulson - 5/10 see KO / MM / Kim

Macken - 8/10 see Da Silva. Ball sticks to him and came godd with the goals towards the end of his spell.

The gaffer - 7/10 current position would have been snapped up at the start of the season but obviously worrying times. Od symettry with last season as I think another cup defeat by Southend will be the turning point as last time around. I remember going to Luton 3 days after that game last season and the air was full of doom and gloom - played well and won there, beat QPR 3 days later and the rest s history. Hopefully the same applies to the Col U game.

Signings coming off are about 50/50 at present and he obviously can't spot a striker. But good loan signingswhich hopefully can be reproduced in the next 10 days or so and I am generally happy with how things are going. Having said that I cant remember many times hehas changed things during the game to our benefit

Fans - 6/10 could do better. Gates down on last season and general atmos has suffered, esp with the dogs abuse (some of it racial) given to KO. Away slightly better but still a bit negative, probably due to our abysmal away form.

Board - 8/10 can't see what more they can do - money has been available and a 4 year contract for Davey has seen some stabality which iswhat is needed, even if the worst happens.

Overall prediction - 18th with 54 points. Col U, Scunny and Preston / Blackpool to drop. Having said that lose to Col U and we are going to get dragged right into the brown and sticky.

 

Fair assessment

 

Agreed, especially with verdict on Togwell - unsung hero for me. nt

 

'Dogs abuse, some of it racial'

how dare you. etc.

fair and balanced summary, which is a pleasant surprise on here.

 

Oh come on SM..

To say that ALL fans do not like Kayode simply because of the colour of his skin is quite frankly disgusting. There is a moron element that follows the Reds, probably at home and away that will dish out racist abuse. But to tarnish everyone? Pathetic, to say the least and I thought more of you than that.

I don't think anyone denies that racist abuse goes on...it does and it needs to be stamped out.

 

Where did I say ALL fans? nt

 

Just the...

interpretation of your post. If that was wrong then, sorry.

What interests me is is that the opinioin held at Oakwell?

 

The point you seemed to miss

when jumping onto the BBS high horse with a few others, is that the ferocity of the abuse towards Odejayi has an element of racism driving it, he's an easier target than most others for obvious reasons, and unfortunately our club and our community still harbours an uneducated and primeval rationale when deciding on a scapegoat.

And for the record, my opinions are just that. Mine. Certain people seem to have come to the conclusion that Im the mouthpiece of the club or the Chairman, whiffs of resentment due to attention deficit or other 'personal issues' that, cocker.

 

I thought at the time you must be pissed or you'd misworded your post.

</p>

If it was the latter then fine but there was no misinterpretation of what was posted.</p>

 

Au contraire..

I've read your posts long enough to know that you have your own opinions and can often disagree with the party line. I was not saying you said that about the abuse because Gordon told you to, just enquiring if the same thoughts were being expressed inside the club and seeing as you are the "mouth piece", I may as well ask you..

And by the way, your closeness to Gordon matters not one jot to me....

 

Misinterpretation

in the eye of the beholder. thats part of the problem with racism, just because people dont stoop to using certain language, doesnt mean their underlying rationale doesnt lean that way. I find the people who jump in the quickest to defend their impartiality are the ones with something to hide. The ironic thing is on the same page is a thread about the BNP that has posts that illustrate clearly the point I made.

Where's TMFDM these days?

 

I'm proper confused now.

</p>

At first i thought you were referring to most, or a large proprtion of BFC fans, then, just now I thought you were saying you weren't, and now I think you are again. And my coffee hasn't kicked in yet.</p>

BTW for my partI think Odejaye's never going to make the grade, I think he has nothing in his toolkit, but I also think JCR is themost excitingplayer on the pitch. Mindst thi he's a few shades lighter than the other fella.</p>

 

I'm even more confused

because I though it was Horsforthtyke who made reference to racial abuse toward Odejaye...SM merely quoted and said "How dare you".

Now I just have no idea what SM is going on about!

 

See here...

http://www.barnsleyfc.org.uk/bbs/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=93098&mid=599972#M599972

 

What does that mean?

The ones who cry NO, are really racist?

 

Ive had to re-read it

"Same old Barnsley fans, salt of the earth, know f;do allcabout football."

is it that bit thats confused you? Cos that to me is a response I've used umpteen times, sweeping in wording but no more exaggerated as saying KO is the worst striker we've ever had. Written for effect.

He's missed some easy chances, he's no Drogba, but the level of criticism is more than just football ability based. I disagree with people's assessment of his potential, but you cant deny there's more than just a football interpretation hanging around. Not everyone, but a significant number.

I've lost count of the number of away games I've been to where Ive overheard the most offensive racist abuse used against our own or opposing players or the crowd, and as a percentage of all BFC fans at the game, it feels pretty high to me. KO is the current target, there were others before him. I think Barnsley as a town has a real problem with racism, deep seated and passed down generations, mostly due to lack of intelligence and uneducated, group allegiance. Denying it exists frustrates me intensely.

 

I'm even more puzzled now!

I didn't read all the threads on Saturday....too depressing....I think I know what SM is pertaining to, although he puts it across in a very bad way.

Had this discussion with a mate a while ago - ever noticed how the media tend to say of a player that they are off form, or maybe lacking fitness, yet often when it's a black player they refer to them as "lazy"?

 

Right.....

</p>

...if I've got you right you aresaying a significant amount of the abuse directed at Odejaye is racially driven. Can't agree there mate.</p>

 

Strikers

tend to get more criticism cos a missed chance is easier to spot than someone not picking up his man on a set piece, for example. But the extent and ferocity of the criticism is much higher than directed at the other non performing strikers. I see a trend in 'Barnsley supporting' that indicates a black player has to be that much better than the rest to gain any acceptance else its just a time bomb ticking, waiting for him to fck up.

 

RE: Strikers

</p>

I moan relentlessly about him (although not loud enough for him to hear) but that's because he's crap. You just know he's going to flick it on to the opposition or fail to control it with his feet, start wrestling and fall down every single time. It's the grinding inevitability that every attacking sequencewill end this way that makes watching Barnsley with him in the side such a painful experience. </p>

BTW I see Devaney and JCR as similar players and Devaney gets twice as much stick.</p>