Wrote a few thoughts about our recent run...

Nowt revolutionary but if you fancy a read it's here:

http://www.shoot.co.uk/cate…/…/davies-the-star-for-barnsley/

Cheers

 

Nothing in the link, Journo.

 

http://www.shoot.co.uk/category/team/davies-the-star-for-barnsley/

 

Not meaning to be critical mate, but you make it sound like our defence was **** then Heckingbottom/Burton and Johnson got of hold of them and they became great. We'd actually kept 3 clean sheets in the previous 5 home league games and won 4 of them before this run started. Our home form was as good if not better than almost everyone else in the league. Our away form was shocking like, but we weren't conceding dozens of goals. 1-0 losses at Donny and Preston, 2-0 defeats at Swindon and MK Dons. The only hammering we'd taken was at Crawley, after we sacked the manager.

It's interesting to compare that run of away defeats with the games we've played away from home in the undefeated run. Wilson must have been sacked for the away form, we'd won 4 and lost 1 of the last 5 home games. Away from home we lost against Preston, Swindon and MK Dons, 3 of the top 4 clubs in the league, plus Donny sitting in 12th, 4 points off the play-off spots. We've since won against Gillingham in 14th, Oldham in 16th, S****horpe in 17th and drawn against Orient in 22nd. Don't get me wrong, all great results, but who had the tougher matches? Do we think we'd have won 6 in a row keeping 5 clean sheets if 3 of those games had been at Preston, Swindon and MK Dons?

 

I'd have been impressed if we'd won at any of Preston, Swindon and MK Dons, all very tough games. My main gripe with those games (and I was at all of them) was that it looked like there was absolutely no intent to try and win the game. It's fine trying to keep it tight away from home, and we've tried to do the same in the games after Wilson was sacked as well, but under Wilson we had George Waring up front on his own without a red shirt within 30 yards of him, which meant we always gave the ball away and had no-one to win it back until the opposition were on the edge of our box. In subsequent games Waring has had plenty of support and there's been a willingness to get forward as well as track back and defend. I could say similar for the home games as well.

 

I'm not going to try to argue we played well in any of those games, from an attacking perspective anyway. But think about the away games we've played since then. No goals away at Orient. Only decent effort a free kick from Hourihane. Amazingly, 3 goals away at Oldham. All 3 goals from set pieces, one from a clearance hitting our player in the chest and bouncing in. At Scunny we scored 1 after Scowen nicked it off the boot of a defender who was pissing about with it. The one goal we created in open play after mounting an attack was at Gillingham when Pearson's shot was blocked and Waring prodded it home.

The improvements you mention may be there, but it's fine lines. For me, we're doing exactly what we were already doing, keeping it tight and scoring from set pieces. The two matches that have been a bit different were home to Fleetwood, when two uncharcteristic defensive errors resulted in two goals conceded, a home defeat and a sacked manager, and the last 30 minutes at home to Walsall when Sam Winnal finally returned after months out injured and we go to see him play alongside the winger Wilson had been chasing all season, but never got a chance to play.

Credit to everyone who has helped turn it around. We were shipping goals for fun at the start of the season, we're now one of the best defensive units in the league, but that was already happening before Johnson took over. Maybe the players have got a bit of extra zip about them now, but the style of play is very similar and, the last 30 minutes against Walsall apart, we're hardly playing Samaba football. We're still far more likely to score from a set piece than open play. Not that I expected any different, we'll see what Johnson is about next season. The worst thing he could have done was alter a side that stopped the opposition scoring. He didn't, he kept it going. I like him, I would imagine the players do too as he's a very likeable bloke, and that little lift his personality has brought is probably all it required, because the seeds for this concede very few/take your chances when they present themselves style of football had already been sewn.

 

It certainly is fine lines. And it's certainly not as if we're playing wonderful attacking football every single game. The main difference for me is looking to get forward. We're still keeping it tight, we're still scoring a lot from set pieces, but we've had to attack to be able to win those free kicks/corners, something we weren't doing anywhere near enough under Wilson.

As you say though it's very fine lines, and it'll be interesting to see how Johnson/the team react to a couple of losses when they inevitably come.