Fan's View Fan's View 22/23 - No.48 - Barnsley away

[Paul B]

Fan's View 22/23 - No.48 - Barnsley away

 

[PottersRightBoot]

Nice to see you briefly post match. You were hammered.

 

[Paul Cannell]

Well, I hope the estimable folk at Friends of Stratfield Brake aren't reading this. All that effing and jeffing then a flying visit from the Vicar of Wakefield. I am considering the cancellation of my subscription unless the football improves - mark my words Mr Beasley.

 

[Paul B]

Nice to see you briefly post match. You were hammered.

I blame the football for sending me down that route.

 

[PottersRightBoot]

Sad to see that Hannibal Lecter is stalking you as well now Paul B.

Keep sober for Tuesday night.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

I appreciate you writing these Paul. Can't be easy trying to describe this shitshow week after week.

All I would add, is I said at the time, that Manning was the wrong appointment. He would have been a good appointment perhaps with a pre-season, but he wasn't what we needed.

We needed an experienced pragmatist, who would come in and put a rocket up the players, and use any manner of dark arts.

We deserve to go down. It's mainly on the board for not sacking Robinson earlier, but my god KR did a job on us, and has probably crippled us for next season let alone this one.

That side we put out vs Barnsley, when we had our biggest budget in living memory, is embarrassing. All that money and we end up relying on kids,, have no experienced striker. The whole thing is a disaster.

Our run in is kind, but we have forgotten how to win. Seventeen Games, as you say, SEVENTEEN. The summer transfer window was criminal from KR and we are not getting our just desserts.

Depressed.

 

[NottsYellow]

We had an excellent pint in "The Old No 7" and a good pork pie albeit at the extortionate price of £1.50.

 

[Paul B]

We had an excellent pint in "The Old No 7" and a good pork pie albeit at the extortionate price of £1.50.

That was on our original itinerary but the Heaven and Ale was so good we stayed in there a bit longer than originally intended.
Been in there before. Another excellent pub.

 

[DannyW]

Fan's View 22/23 - No.48 - Barnsley away

Amazing Paul how you are still motivated enough to write these, I sense it's getting more difficult with every passing week. but I am very pleased you still write them.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

The despair is palpable. Keep going, Mr B.

That we’re still above the dotted line, albeit on goal difference alone, having not won a game of football for seventeen matches really tells you a lot about how awful the league is this year. Even the supposed best teams haven’t looked brilliant (bar Ipswich IMO), but the bad ones are really bad. In pretty much any other season, not winning a single game of football in over a quarter of a year would see any team long gone by now.

It could well be the case that one win and a couple of draws (meaning just one win in twenty) could still be enough. We can’t say that we weren’t given every opportunity.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

The despair is palpable. Keep going, Mr B.

That we’re still above the dotted line, albeit on goal difference alone, having not won a game of football for seventeen matches really tells you a lot about how awful the league is this year. Even the supposed best teams haven’t looked brilliant (bar Ipswich IMO), but the bad ones are really bad. In pretty much any other season, not winning a single game of football in over a quarter of a year would see any team long gone by now.

It could well be the case that one win and a couple of draws (meaning just one win in twenty) could still be enough. We can’t say that we weren’t given every opportunity.

What's worrying is even amongst those worst teams, I find it hard to imagine how we could win a game of football.

Set pieces feel like our only chance, something we aren't exactly known for. Do I think we are better than Accrington or Cheltenham? 100% no. So on that, you have to say the drop is most likely.

 

[holdsteady]

Fair play for finding something to write about after this run, we are just a tediously bad football team, don't get hammered but never do enough to win a game.

I will be very happy to stay up (mainly because I can't see anything but a poor season in league 2 next season if we do go down) but even if we sneak staying up by a point or goal difference I will feel a bit of a hypocrite celebrating a true fluke where the absolute shiteness of others has kept us rather than anything much this dull, poor team has done.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

even if we sneak staying up by a point or goal difference I will feel a bit of a hypocrite celebrating a true fluke where the absolute shiteness of others has kept us rather than anything much this dull, poor team has done.

Others will have no issue pretending that last-gasp survival is indicative of a higher level of understanding when it comes to the beautiful game, so I wouldn’t worry too much about how you may or may not look.

Get those “Oxford United: League One Competitors 23/24” scarves printed and try to blend in.

 

[Big Ron]

The despair is palpable. Keep going, Mr B.

That we’re still above the dotted line, albeit on goal difference alone, having not won a game of football for seventeen matches really tells you a lot about how awful the league is this year. Even the supposed best teams haven’t looked brilliant (bar Ipswich IMO), but the bad ones are really bad. In pretty much any other season, not winning a single game of football in over a quarter of a year would see any team long gone by now.

It could well be the case that one win and a couple of draws (meaning just one win in twenty) could still be enough. We can’t say that we weren’t given every opportunity.

Ryan I agree about the overall standard - I don't think this is a great league and the poor teams (and we are definitely in that group) are really poor. However, although they didn't have to do too much, I thought Barnsley looked OK - they have a flexible attacking system with a back four who are all comfortable on the ball and Kane not being played in front of the back four. They might well be the team to watch in the play-offs.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

Ryan I agree about the overall standard - I don't think this is a great league and the poor teams (and we are definitely in that group) are really poor. However, although they didn't have to do too much, I thought Barnsley looked OK - they have a flexible attacking system with a back four who are all comfortable on the ball and Kane not being played in front of the back four. They might well be the team to watch in the play-offs.

They looked competent and organised, for sure, but given they’re still technically in the race for automatic promotion by proxy of doing the basics does make me feel this season is such a wasted opportunity. With our budget and the past couple of seasons we really had a chance to be where Plymouth are, let alone Barnsley.

To be in the bottom group this season means you have to be really poor.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

I think the key phase there is 'they didn't have to do too much'.

When we are so poor, it's very difficult to gauge how decent other teams may or may not be when we play them. Much of the time, they know they are likely to score and then then pretty easily hold us off in second gear. I am slightly uneasy about the optimism some have about playing Cheltenham tomorrow - I think we will have to improve significantly to win

 

[holdsteady]

Apart from MK Dons the rest of the dross at the bottom have an excuse, us and MK Dons have spent money and were in a stronger position.

It doesn't look that impressive that our manager has been involved with both of the really unimpressive clubs this season.

 

[Big Ron]

Apart from MK Dons the rest of the dross at the bottom have an excuse, us and MK Dons have spent money and were in a stronger position.

It doesn't look that impressive that our manager has been involved with both of the really unimpressive clubs this season.

Do we know for sure that MK spent real money? If so, certainly nowhere on the scale we did.

In Manning's defence, it seems he has managed two clubs where he had no or little part in the recruitment. MK certainly didn't replace the players that went for money or loanees that returned to their home clubs.

 

[RgYellows]

They looked competent and organised, for sure, but given they’re still technically in the race for automatic promotion by proxy of doing the basics does make me feel this season is such a wasted opportunity.

Competent and organised has done Rotherham the last 40 times they've been here. I think that's always been enough. Heretical it may be, but I don't buy that the quality in L1 changes that much year to year. Only last summer there were plenty here worrying about how strong the league looked this year.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

Ryan I agree about the overall standard - I don't think this is a great league and the poor teams (and we are definitely in that group) are really poor. However, although they didn't have to do too much, I thought Barnsley looked OK - they have a flexible attacking system with a back four who are all comfortable on the ball and Kane not being played in front of the back four. They might well be the team to watch in the play-offs.

I thought Herbie was a little underrated with us, because after we splashed out to keep him on loan he didn't quite look the part like he did before that.

The lad could pick a pass and was really comfortable on the ball. In the away victory at Charlton that season I noticed his class, a similar type of player to Bate in some ways, I enjoyed watching him.

Also, he had a fantastic name and accent.