We're on a 4 game unbeaten run

In the season we were relegated 01/02 we went on a 12 games unbeaten run through the xmas period, we won 5 and drew 7. Lets hope history doesn't repeat itself.

 

Agreed, the injury was the reason for the change, but Flicker could have used any of the other subs, he didn't and correctly chose JOB and it worked.

We did look like scoring (quite a few) on Saturday, unfortunately we didn't.

We've gotta keep supporting Flicker and the club, as I believe we are improving.

 

Brilliant mate

Don't start with the new uni now until into the New Year and just getting things ready (finishing the washing up, turning off the mobile, taking the phone off the hook) so I can observe the two minutes silence at eleven o'clock without being disturbed.

 

Dunno mate, I just think we're doomed. Other than Paddy imho we have no creative input.

He won't play RNL, Cwyzka. He won't play Mellis central. Obsessed with 'holding' the central midfield, but we're weak as piss down the flanks. That said, imho both Kennedy and Wiseman have massively improved recently. Which is a good job because they've got **** all in front of them, Paddy excepted. We'll see if O'Brien can replicate his Ipswich form over a prolonged spell of games.

Look how much distance there is between the forwards and the midfield. We have no-one breaking into the box from midfield, nobody getting beyond the opposition's full backs.

It hasn't helped that CoG seems to have gone off the boil recently - but let's be reight he's been awesome since he landed so he's due.

Case in point - McCourt's 2nd half shot that the keeper parried - the ball hung around for 10 minutes in their area whilst we stood looking on in admiration, pretty much what we do when Paddy's on a run - if the ball comes off him when he's tackled we never pick it up.

We seem happy to hold our shape and play out games. Well against better teams - as was shown at the start of the season, we get turned over.

 

Just what I wanted to type, but couldn't be arsed. Completely on the money, Jay. I seem to remember the best runs under Wilson coming after a few games where we didn't pull up any trees, but didn't concede and built a decent base from which to kick on and start a run of results. With the finances the club have and that the team operate under, solid foundations are EVERYTHING at this level. To me, it looks like Flicker is establishing exactly that - a stable base on which the team can steadily build over the rest of the season. It seems that unless the side run out holding planets on sticks to wave at the crowd, wayyy too many folk on here can't see the wood for the trees.

 

Absolutely, we're not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination. It could still all turn to **** for Flicker, I don't know what's around the corner any more than anyone else does, but results and performances have picked up. I think that should be acknowledged and I certainly don't believe the time to sack your manager is when you've stopped your team getting hammered, when you've become hard to beat and when you've only lost once in the last 6 games.

 

It's exactly what happened under Keith. Battered first month or so, everyone thought he'd be out by Christmas.

Signed some lads on loan, Vaz Te came in and started working his magic and then boom - November/December onwards and we were flying. Watch Paddy get crocked New Years Eve.

I'd love to see us playing 4-5-1, though. O'Grady up top, McCourt & Cywka wide with Mellis behind O'Grady. Then leave Perkins/Fox to do what they've been doing.

 

Can't argue with any of that, apart from thinking we're doomed, but I think Flicker's priority was to stop us shipping goals. If he couldn't do that he'd have gone two or three weeks ago. He had to address it straight away, and let's be fair to him, he did and it's worked.

The ying to that yang is that we now look a bit too cautious and we're not getting enough players forward in our attacks. Central midfield pairings always work better when one hangs back and one pushes forward to join the strikers, or, even better, runs beyond the strikers. Neither Perkins nor Fox ever do that, they both hang back and consequently we lack numbers up front. It needs sorting, but I can understand why it's happened, we were getting the **** kicked out of us every game and we had to address it. Now that we have done, it's time to introduce a more attacking element in to central midfield. If Flicker is going to take us forward, that's what he'll do. If he doesn't and he remains conservative, the results will deteriorate again and he'll lose his job. I think he'll do it...

 

Hope he does, but I'm not confident.

Time will tell and that.

Hope you'll write a 'YOU WERE ALL WRONG' type post in May when we're safely mid-table.

 

I hope I will too, but even if we manage it I can't see it, as although I'm a bit of a lovely person, I'm not a complete lovely person.

 

well I have to agree with all of that Jay

I am ne of the biggest "Knee-jerkers" moaning gits on here. I just hate to see us losing, struggling or being embarrassed. Yet I am also grateful for the truly good times over the years. By a lot of other teams standards we have had plenty of "Sunshine" in our lives. Even this moaning old fart can see that stability is the key here. Well written Jay and I agree 100%.

However I will still be that Miserable old Knee Jerking git.

 

Agree entirely mate.

 

Lots of good views on here from both sides of the argument. The thing about football is that managers, players and most of the non playing staff come and go. We are the torchbearers for our club. We want the best whilst often expecting the worst. I'm a realist if we get relegated this season playing relatively attractive football and trying our best I would have few complaints. If we go down with a whimper as we seem to be at present that's a different matter. I think it's a tad naive to expect us to stay up playing the football we have thus far but we can improve. The area of Flitcrofts management that worries me as a fan of a club that must develop players to survive is that thus far this seems our managers weakest point. In comparison to Danny he was always looking to develop younger players and chuck them in the team. Sone of the reason for poor results and performances was as a result of this and you could see at the time he was looking forwards. If we were taking this approach now I'd be thinking fair dos.

I miss very few matches home and away and I gave never been embarrassed to be a Barnsley fan even under Spackman or the darkest days of Bobby Collins. The way we have played this season I have been embarrassed I. The same way I was under Keith Hill. Spineless and hopeless.

I sincerely hope we can turn things round. It just looks unlikely. Even if we maintain the point a game form of the last half a dozen games our start sees us go down. Our form seems consistent 2 wins in 15 or 6 in 30. And that's relegation form. We have failed to win our easier games at home against clearly limited teams are we likely to pop up with away wins at Brighton and Burnley?

Having two tactics hoof it or give it Paddy isn't good enough particularly as everyone just stands around and watches Paddy instead of trying to support him. And everyone except Paddy runs away from COG.

Onwards and upwards.

 

4 games unbeaten but not enough points accumulated against our relegation rivals.
The table doesn't lie. Stick with Flicker and league one beckons.
Even with a change our survival is not guaranteed but unless we try we will never know.
Off field developments are a positive step but this will not attract more people to Oakwell if we don't make the on field performances a more attractive proposition.
Let's not kid ourselves this season's form is relegation material and shows no sign of improvement despite the rhetoric from Flicker.

 

That's the bit I don't get, "shows no sign of improvement". I'm a bit stupid, so could you please explain to me in simple terms, as it's obvious I'm not getting it, how a club that loses every single one of its games in September, conceding 11 goals in just 4 games, but then goes on to lose just 1 game of the next 6 in October and November, conceding just 7 goals along the way, the last four of which are unbeaten, is showing no sign of improvement? I don't understand what you mean. It doesn't make any sense to me at all.

 

I'd say there have been marginal signs of improvement but Jay do you think we would have had that improvement marginal as it is if we were playing the teams we played in September rather than the relatively easier ones we have played. Is this a sign of long term sustained improvement or playing slightly less good teams. Again the question remains is winning 2 out of 15 good enough. If this continues we are talking 6 wins all season. In terms of winning games the last 8 have produced the same as than the first 7.

 

Where are we now in the league?
We need points on the board ie:wins
Draws will not improve our current position.
In terms of improvement yes your correct in the fact we are not conceding as regular as we were earlier this season, but and this is the main issue, will our so called improvement haul us out of the relegation zone ?
1 point away from home this season with another tough away fixture looming hardly inspires any confidence.

 

He may not be tactically inept but I am genuinely struggling to understand what he is doing because the way he set up against Wednesday and Donny, both at home and both poor teams, suggests he only has one plan. I keep saying it, I don’t want him sacked, I want him to succeed so much but as things are he is going to end up being sacked because unbeaten or not we are not going to win games and we will be relegated if this carries on.

 

He set up to dominate both teams and he did that.

We created chance after chance against both teams. We created 5/6 chances against Doncaster. Thats ******* brilliant Mario. We created more chances in one game than both teams in the Manchester united vs Arsenal game created between them. I watched majority of the Reading QPR game and they didn't create 5 chances between them either. If any of them 4 teams who are some of the best teams in there particular leagues they would be absolutely buzzing.

Somestimes you miss chances. RvP misses a pen and a chance from 8 yard on Tuesday/ wednesday night but pops one in on Sunday in the big game. Does that make Moyes tactically inept because his team misses chances ? NO Does it mean it he set the team up the team wrong even though they got a clean sheet and created chance after chance? NO. Does it mean RVP's a bad player? NO

Thats football, that part of life.

 

We're in the position we are in the league because of our poor form in August and September. Had that continued, I think demanding Flicker's head would have been reasonable. But it didn't, we improved, we started conceding far fewer goals and getting better results. You don't suddenly shoot up the league when you start to improve after such a shocking start, it takes time. I don't understand demanding the manager be sacked when we are improving. People demanded improvement (quite rightly), we got it, but they still want the manager sacked. That makes no sense to me.