... Too much of it on here in my opinion. There are certainly players that have made errors, are not performing as well as hoped for and there are tactical and formation decisions that can be criticised. I could have a go at Hamill (passenger at the moment I think), Winnall (who I personally think is not working hard enough) the entire team against Fulham (no pressing and no cutting edge), the insistence on playing 442 (with the 2 wide men in midfield out and out wingers) and the management for the way in which the generally lower league squad we have assembled (most of the squad) is being pitched against top ex-premier league blokes. Having said that and even though some people may disagree with me already, I think the team are doing well overall and it's not all doom and gloom. There are mistakes for sure as we saw against Newcastle and these are costing points at the moment but I believe the entire team is slowly getting better at this level. The players that have been brought in are adapting fairly quickly (Yiadom did really well against Newcastle for example) and given the club's recruitment policy of attracting young, hungry players I have only seen one game, against Fulham, where the players did not look hungry. The team has a lot of injuries hence midfield particularly is weak just now. There is potential to strengthen the team further in January. Some players, for me, look potentially very good for the future (Payne, Kpekawa, Yiadom) which suggests the management recruitment strategy will bear fruit. As to the tactics of 442.. I don't subscribe to the view that 442 is necessarily the worst system to play at this level. There is no 'correct' answer to which formation to play other than to say we should be playing the best system we can which the players can operate with. To this extent I back the manager to sort that out in the medium-term. If he goes 433, 451, 532, 4132 or anything else he will need to put bodies in there that are comfortable with their roles. He will also need to find the bodies. I am sure he will be looking at this in the longer term but at the moment I think it's an over-stated criticism. Indeed, apart from the mistakes against Newcastle I thought the team had tightened up considerably using the same basic formation they had employed against Fulham. And, if the club were to get relegated next year (which I do not think they will by the way),the club will have a far stronger squad in League One than last time it was relegated. Barnsley is increasingly becoming one of the little clubs at this level but at the moment, based on some of the games I've seen this season, little Barnsley are one of the best clubs, will perform far better, pound for pound, than some of the massively-funded clubs, and if relegation is avoided, which I think is a distinct possibility, then little Barnsley will strengthen further.... and so improve again. And so on............ The club are doing very well overall, there is hope for the future and if we have the right man in charge (hopefully we do) then we will surprise some people in the next year or two...
Well done for wrapping your own criticisms of the team in a post criticising everyone else for theirs.
I was expressing an opinion and appreciate some people may disagree. That's what this forum is about. May your God go with you.
To be fair, I think he's just given it an 'OK, we're not brilliant but it's really not as bleak as some people are saying'.
