Thoughts on today...and the future

Totally gutted we couldn't beat such a poor Wednesday team. We just cannot beat them in recent times and it is getting so f***ing frustrating, especially when they are as bad as they are at present.
I honestly thought the first goal today was crucial and whoever got it would probably win the game. Having done the hard part we needed that second goal as soon as possible to kill the game and a couple of sublime low crosses from Paddy were crying out for a finish but were missed.
Late in the first half I could sense Wednesday's physically stronger players were starting to get a grip in the middle of the park. I said at the time that Mellis should be taken off at half time as his contribution was non existent, and I'd have pushed Perkins wide left and brought on Etuhu in the centre.
Sure enough the equaliser came and we seemed unable to react to it to push for a winning goal. At 1-1 there looked to be only one winner and it didn't look like us. Flickers substitutions were piss poor today. Cywka is always a goal threat and was the obvious choice to come on but no, Jennings got the nod. This lad just looks like a fish out of water. No touch, no strength, no pace, no reading of the game....nothing. Looks like his impressive period at Tranmere a few years back was just a flash in the pan. He needs loaning out to league one or more likely league two to gain some kind of confidence as he's just a liability at present. Scotland coming on for Pederson was the right choice as Peds had run his blood to water. My only criticism is that it should have been at least 5 minutes earlier.
Results later in the day have not been kind to us and we are well and truly deep in the brown stuff.
I'm really not hopeful that there's an escape route for us this time. We really need to start picking up points on the road otherwise it'll be the alehouse league again next August I'm afraid. Come on Flicker, I really want you to be a success but be a bit more savvy with the subs and for Christ's sake take off the shackles away from home.

 

Agree with your assessment of Jennings, abysmal today, and Perkins not much better.

 

Was on for a similar post but you beat me to it, OMB.

Fact is we have 9 points from 13 games (2 wins), as opposed to 15 from 13 games (4 wins) under King Keith last season. Yeovil have gone above us today, and Wedenesday have a game in hand from which a point would send us back bottom. What's worse is that depressingly, I suspect this is as good as it gets. The displays of McCourt and (more especially) Pedersen will not have gone unnoticed, and we are unlikely to have the services of either beyond January. We appear to have only Nyatanga still to play (where is Digby?) and his form last season doesn't exactly give grounds for optimism. You can't fault the workrate of the entire squad, with the exception of Mellis, but how many of our players are below Championship standard? I'll give you: Jennings, Dawson, Wiseman, O'Brien, Kennedy, Mellis, Dagnall (is he still here?). O'Grady is slow, TomPole is lightweight in open play and M'Voto has promise, but is still learning.

My biggest gripe is the lack of concentration when we are in a good position, and our apparent inability to see out a full 90 minutes. I think Flicker is a great bloke, but I'm increasingly (if reluctantly) drawn to the conclusion that he has taken us as far as he can. I'll not watch us in the Division One Alehouse League, and I don't think I'm alone in that. So it's really up to the club - something needs to change, and fast.

 

Post invalid at O'Grady is slow. 7 Goals already, jog on nob eard.

 

So you've not watched the game today then?

 

Disagree with your opinion on some players.
Weds did a job on COG today as Jones was desperate not to be embarrassed on national TV. Yes he's slow but still a Championship class striker, very much so. Also I think Wiseman for the most part, has been excellent this season.
I will watch us in the Alehouse league too. The club is in my blood and relegation won't change that.
Come on...grow a pair.

 

No need for personal insults, most of his post was valid and COG was very poor today.

 

Clearly not a cutting insult with the way it was posted however cool story.

 

So what when the next club we play "does a job" on COG? It's a very relevant question, because I don't believe we'll have Pedersen beyond January. We'll then only have the admirable but ageing Scotland, the out-of-his-depth Dagnall and the boy. (Has Cofie been eliminated?). So COG has to overcome the "doing a job" phenomenon if he deserves to rated as a striker, notwithstanding that he has scored the major part of our meagre goals tally.

And while we're about it, I don't go for all this "the club is in my blood" posturing. The club provides entertainment for which we all pay a price, and it's ongoing connection to the town (apart from being located there) is tenuous, to say the least. That's not to say that in more successful times we, as fans don't unite and feel a comon bond. But the club is a commercial operation, and the entertainment provided has to be worth the entrance money. Like many, I first watched the Reds in the Fourth Division and in the Third and Fourth for a good many years beyond that. But we always had a reputation for entertaining, attacking football, failing which we usually had a few local lads playing to give us some pride/identity.

Despite the last few seasons, we are still barely competing in the Championship, and the initially promising noises from the new management appear to have done little to alter that. I've said it before, but I really feel we are at a crossroads.

 

You make some valid points but i don't think other teams will suffocate COG like the Fowls did. The fact they virtually game him to us was no doubt paramount in their minds today and no way were they going to give him a thing. He also likes to drop wide to bully the full backs but Wednesday's full backs are as physically robust as their centre halves. There was nowhere for COG to go today but he'll be back again don't worry about that. All strikers have off days, even ones a lot better than O'Grady.
I'm not posturing but if you truly love the club why walk away when times get rough? I think the infrastructure of the club is taking shape and looking better than it has for years. We have some people in charge with drive and determination and maybe someone who can attract a bit of investment at long last. They deserve some backing from the Barnsley public and if we do get relegated our backing will be crucial.
I've been more sceptical than most in recent years but I really do believe we are in decent hands now. It'll be a travesty if we do go down and many fans take share your opinion deciding to walk away.