Been out here in the Middle East I don’t get to see the reds that often although I have managed to see them against Coventry, Plymouth and the games over the last week against Burnley and Hull. Charlton have TV coverage out here so I managed to see the highlights of that game. I do read this board often to keep up with things that are happening surrounding Barnsley FC, having just returned back to the UAE I thought I would give you my opinion of the season so far, mainly watching as at distance. The games against Burnley and Hull were awful and really mirrored each other apart from the score line. Burnley were a decent side and we were lucky to escape with a draw, Hull were as bad as us only difference was the lad from Man U upfront who ran rings around Souza. Don’t think he’d have done that if Souza wasn’t mentally and physically knackered. Both 1st half's were terrible with slight improvements in the second half. In these two games they never looked capable of scoring. There was little or no support from midfield for the front two. I really feel for Mossoto, he ran his socks off against Burnley and well deservedly got a goal for his efforts, but against Hull he was ******! I think a big part of this was Davey allowing the players to travel back home and in some cases half way around the world, during the international break, to arrive back at Barnsley two days before we have two games in three days! We may have got away with it if there were a few days’ in-between games but there was not and the performance collective and individual speak for themselves. If they are right 9 times out of 10 the result follows. KO from what I have seen of him is just not up to Championship standard. Hope Stan is back from injury soon he is missed big time! Big Kim from what I saw in the highlights against Charlton looked ok, but from his CV and reports I’ve had from my German colleague, I don’t expect him to be anything more than a squad part player! The midfield is a problem area and needs to be sorted. Anderson is a loss, but I think we need another defensive minded player immediately, don’t know if Togwell is up to it or not. Andy Johnson 10 years younger would be perfect. Howard - looks to have too much pressure on him and was ineffective in the last two games. There is no one challenging him for his place and he needs a kick up the arse to get him back to how he was. JCR brilliant at forcing corners, can run at people but cannot cross a ball. Another Martin Bullock / Kevin Betsy! We must have had 20 corners in the last two games and didn’t threaten with any of them! Grant McCann is ok out on the left he's not good enough in central midfield and looks out of depth especially against Burnley he was a lost soul! Devaney don't know what he has done to be dropped, especially when he has been replaced by in my opinion inferior players! From reading this board people are going on about signing strikers! We could have Tierry Henry up from but with the lack of support and service he would struggle. The midfield is lacking and needs to be improved if we are to make a serious challenge. Defence excluding the games against Coventry and Hull looks the best it has been since Mark Smith, Gerry Taggart and dare I say it Carl Tiler. Although I thing LN needs resting for a game to freshen him up. Muller - How did we sign him? Looks world class! Think we will be ok and end up in mid table come the end of the season, which at the start I would have settled for at the beginning of the season. All in all not a bad start but if we continue to play like we have done the last two matches then we will be looking at the wrong end of the table. Hopefully we can put these two performances down to fatigue. The next two games are the test for Simon, let’s see if he can get the players regrouped / relaxed and get something at Leicester. I cannot remember the last time we got a result in the league there! Regards, from the Middle East Come of YOUUUU REDS!!!!
Lots of good sensible stuff there mate - I agree particularly with your comments re the goalscoring and midfield departments - which makes it a bit strange how you can be so confident we will finish mid-table!! Physically, we are undoubtedly stronger than last season. This is more important than many people might think but I for one have to disagree with your comments about KO. Yes, it may be he will be lucky to score ten goals this season but - Hull game apart - he has caused big problenms for the opposition's defence in every game I have seen. It's a pity Mossto cannot instinctively feed off KO. In fact Mossto remains a bit of a mystery IMHO. The lad shows a nice touch with his back to goal and usually lays off the ball neatly to a team mate. Yet he very rarely looks like he is going to score. It wouldn't be such a worry if he was getting the chances but then missing them. Most strikers tend to come good when this happens. But he rarely ever has the ball in the penalty area. I'm not wholly sure if that is poor timing of his runs or Davey incorrectly encourages him to play deeper? The work rate with Mossto is confusing too. I agree he is good at closing down defenders but once he gets close never seems to try and block or tackle. Is he scared of getting injured??
top run ashore as well !! bit more liberal with regards to getting pissed than some places out in the gulf ! result fella....
