Romared Match Thoughts Wigan Athletic v Barnsley

[animallittle3]

Following back to back home defeats we travel over the hill to face Wigan Athletic with the hope of returning with at least a point and end this poor run .

Whether the players are looking forward to getting away from an increasingly hostile Oakwell and perhaps playing more on the break I don't know , it didn't really work out too well at Exeter recently .

I'd imagine some changes are going to be made tomorrow with some fresher legs starting the game , Philips , Russell possibly McGoldrick could start and possibly Watson with Bland and Yoganathan possibly dropping out .

[Shadrack the Red]

I am not sure about what to expect , I hope Roberts is fit but with games coming thick and fast injuries will take its toll. Confidence will play its part and with us losing and Wigan winning last time out you would think Wigan have the edge , no doubt Conor will shuffle the pack but I am not feeling good about today , hopefully I am wrong and we come back with at least a point, we will see.

[perkytyke]

Cleary on the bench, is this a sign he's going? McGoldrick, Phillips, Mael and Jalo all start!
Don't hold out much hope today after seeing this line up!
We may even see Conor walk if we lose today and have agreed to sell Reyes?

[perkytyke]

1-0 down after 5 minutes, Mael poor defending, nothing changes!

[Russ_1982]

Phillips is not interested in this game. We are not strong enough in defence or midfield. Up top we are weak. The defensive coach needs to go. How can we have 2 strikers only. One of which is 38. Poor recruitment. We have players in DKD who want be hear at the end of the window. Cooper is not a keeper who fills me with confidence.

[perkytyke]

To be fair Cooper is the difference to us not being 3-0 down!
But our passing is sooooo poor, Connell especially about 8 or 9 attempted passes to forward positions and 2 found the player, but he is trying to play balls that he would play for Cleary, trouble is it's Earl who's playing Cleary's role.....ffs!
Phillips is easily as bad with his passing, but again Jalo is just not moving to give him an option, he's stood on the right side static waiting for the ball to come to him!
DKD is trying to do everything up front himself just trying to dribble through 2 or 3 players to get a shooting opportunity when passing is the best option!
We are commiting too many men forward atm, it takes 1 bad pass and Wigan are breaking onto us at pace!

[Russ_1982]

Connell is not a leader of men. Nobody is taking the game by the scruff of the neck and giving a good old bollacking to players are are just not doing it. Everything that was good at the start of the season is most definitely not there now.

Cleary is on his way. As is Russell and Farrugia who just dose not play. Robbers race for a run. Phillips looks like he wants away also.

[perkytyke]

OMG! Cleary for Jalo I understand, but Kelly one of the few looking interested off for Bland?
Conor for me has lost the plot!

[Russ_1982]

This site is utter poo

[Russ_1982]

If Conner goes who will comes in?

We have a center half who is past his best we have a centre forward at 38 who is past his best.

We have no pace up top or out wide or through the middle of the park.

The recruitment had been utter shocking at best. The best two players will go and a few more will follow in the window I think. Russell and phillips two I can think of.

[Russ_1982]

Keon needs to go for me. His defensive work is not working. He is utter poo we would be better off bring in Darren Moore. A footballer who could not play football as was there to defend and that is it. Do the job you are paid to do and he did that to a tee. Keon is not a coach

[animallittle3]

Spirited second half i thought which blows the conspiracy theory experts on the other platform to smithereens that Hourihane has lost the dressing room .

Probably a fair result in the end given Connell's brain fart and subsequent red card when we looked the more likely to win the game , poor that from the captain and no need to get involved in that at all .

[perkytyke]

Well stopped the rot with a deserved point in the end, thanks to Cooper who was MOTM for me, I agree Keogh is stealing a wage as our defensive coach!
Clearly coming on changed that game completely and we were far better 2nd half and should have gone on to win it, but again we hand them the point when Captain? Connell decides to get sent off! God help us if Cleary is sold.
Personally I think he’s got something planned in the next few weeks? He scythed down a Lincoln player and only got a yellow, he tried the same thing 1st half at Wigan but missed the man, then he does this to get sent off! Captain really, hope he enjoys his wedding or whatever he has planned.

[animallittle3]

Well stopped the rot with a deserved point in the end, thanks to Cooper who was MOTM for me, I agree Keogh is stealing a wage as our defensive coach!
Clearly coming on changed that game completely and we were far better 2nd half and should have gone on to win it, but again we hand them the point when Captain? Connell decides to get sent off! God help us if Cleary is sold.
Personally I think he’s got something planned in the next few weeks? He scythed down a Lincoln player and only got a yellow, he tried the same thing 1st half at Wigan but missed the man, then he does this to get sent off! Captain really, hope he enjoys his wedding or whatever he has planned.

Connell's always had a bit of bite in him and can be a tad nasty which is fine and something you need in central midfield but I draw the line with that nonsense today because that's just stupid .

We'd cleared the ball down the field and he's getting involved in that kind of thing off the ball , I don't mind so much a red card when he's taking one for the team or a poor tackle , it happens but that today was totally unnecessary .

I'm not going to criticise Hourihane for the team that started the game , it was obvious some players would be jaded or carrying knocks and we've another game on Sunday to negotiate , there was opportunity for players such as Jalo but he didn't take it in that first half .

Clearly gave us some impetus and the Wigan defence something to think about , some of his crosses are sublime but had no takers today .

[Shadrack the Red]

I get the stick Connel is getting for the sending off as it was stupid to react although I have seen it several times and surprised both players didn"t see red but without Connel we would have lost the game, he won the ball off a Wigan player in the middle of the park then drove forward and played the perfect ball for McGoldrick who linked up with Philips to deliver the perfect goal but without Connels tenacity that move never begins. I sense the knives are out for Connel and once again it winds me up , whenever we have a sticky patch it is always the better players that get singled out , Styles got the treatment and so did Woodrow with both players effectively getting hounded out of the club , how ironic that both players ended up playing at a higher level than Barnsley and the same will happen with Connel, mark my words when Connel is driven out it will be to a club higher up the food chain than us and we will have lost another good player who will be replaced by a poorer player. Regarding the game I thought we were unbalanced in the first half coupled with our generous defending gave Wigan a deserved lead but we deserved a point if not all 3 with our efforts in the second half , the conspiracy theories are in the plenty but I think the changes to the team were purely to give one or two a breather especially when you consider we have had 3 games in a week and another on Sunday , against Lincoln it was clear in the second half that Cleary and kelly were running on empty and Roberts probably picked up his injury because of fatigue , others may be struggling as well , we will see who turns out on Sunday but overall I am pleased with the point as at least it stopped the rot.