SBRed Match Thoughts Barnsley v Bolton Wanderers

[BarnsleyWhites]

Don’t think you need to worry too much about a battering Shad, we haven’t done that all season and we certainly don’t look capable of it at the moment although if we’d hit six against Rotherham last Tuesday it wouldn’t have flattered us. The fact that we didn’t even score one sums us up I’m afraid so I expect it to be a four game settled probably by the odd goal which with our defence could go either way.

[Shadrack the Red]

Don’t think you need to worry too much about a battering Shad, we haven’t done that all season and we certainly don’t look capable of it at the moment although if we’d hit six against Rotherham last Tuesday it wouldn’t have flattered us. The fact that we didn’t even score one sums us up I’m afraid so I expect it to be a four game settled probably by the odd goal which with our defence could go either way.

You have obviously not seen anything of our defence then ,and I use the word defence in a light hearted manner as we havn"t got one !!

[POGGYWELL]

TODAYS LINE UP:

FLAVELL
RUSSELL
ROBERTS
PHILLIPS
JALO
McCARTHY
BLAND
EARL
KEILLOR-DUNN
HUMPHRYS
CONNELL C

SUBS
HAYTON, COTTER, O'KEEFFE, LEWIS, LEMBIKISA, RODRIGUES, NWAKALI

Bland, Jalo and Josh Earl return to the starting 11 for the suspended Mael de Gevigney, Max Watters who is not in the squad and Corey O’Keeffe who is benched after 31 successive league starts. Barry Cotter returns on the bench.

[Young_Nudger]

TODAYS LINE UP:

FLAVELL
RUSSELL
ROBERTS
PHILLIPS
JALO
McCARTHY
BLAND
EARL
KEILLOR-DUNN
HUMPHRYS
CONNELL C

SUBS
HAYTON, COTTER, O'KEEFFE, LEWIS, LEMBIKISA, RODRIGUES, NWAKALI

Bland, Jalo and Josh Earl return to the starting 11 for the suspended Mael de Gevigney, Max Watters who is not in the squad and Corey O’Keeffe who is benched after 31 successive league starts. Barry Cotter returns on the bench.

Looks like a 433.
Starting lineup like that shows things could have changed behind the scenes.

[BarnsleyWhites]

You have obviously not seen anything of our defence then ,and I use the word defence in a light hearted manner as we havn"t got one !!

Ha, well you?ve now seen our defence and you thought yours was bad. To be fair you?ve been better all over the pitch than us and deserve your two goal lead. I?d love to think we could peg it back but we really are complete bobbins.

[animallittle3]

Everything I said we should be and thought we wouldn't be in that first half .

God forbid I actually enjoyed that , hard work , getting stuck in and some enthusiasm although let's be honest Bolton are woeful , that has to be factored in because they haven't put us under any pressure .

Hourihane looking every bit the man in charge in the technical area with the lesser spotted coaching staff sat on their backsides , what's not to like ?

I actually want to see Bolton have a real go second half and pull a goal back with plenty of time on the clock .

The reason is I want to see how we react , what changes Hourihane is going to make and see this game with everything on the table .

[animallittle3]

Enjoyed that , now there's a thing .

Best performance for months .

Jalo with his best first team performance in a red shirt .

Well done everyone .

[POGGYWELL]

Very good performance with the best pressing from us in first 45 mins this season.
Have faith lol.

[pass_and_move]

Enjoyed that , now there's a thing .

Best performance for months .

Jalo with his best first team performance in a red shirt .

Well done everyone .

Nice to hear for a change pal. Dint see game but I'm chuffed they proved many of us wrong. And I dint back Bolton either thank fuq. Masters on now, few steady beers and a Saturday night's great entertainment cos that leaderboard is a cracker.

[Young_Nudger]

Looks like a 433.
Starting lineup like that shows things could have changed behind the scenes.

Yep - things were changed.
Biggest change was the formation from the usual 3412 to a 451 - with Fabio and Humphries going wide when defending.

We haven?t seen the defence working as a unit this season and doing things like catching the opposition offside - but we saw it during this game.
We haven?t seen the forwards supported by the midfield working as a unit in the press - but we saw it during this game.
Bolton often struggling to get out of their own half.

The formation worked - who knows whether we will see it used regularly.

We played Bolton who are fighting to be in the playoffs - the Barnsley players made them look like a bottom 3 club.
Evidence if evidence was needed that there hasn?t been much to beat in this league this season - and given the right organisation and motivation this squad can beat anyone - especially if the squad acquires a couple of out and out goalscorers.

The glaringly obvious downside today was the absence of someone who was capable of reading where the ball was going to drop in the opposition penalty area.
Dunn played out of position as the centre forward and showed he isn?t suited to that position.
A proper out and out striker could have scored a bag full today - eg the 3 relatively easy chances in the first 15 minutes.
Put Dunn in an attacking midfield role - and add a couple of out and out strikers to the squad and with the right organisation this squad should easily be top 6.

Attendance of over 13,000 - and yet the last time I saw the Ponty End that empty was in a friendly game.