BARNSLEY

ivoralljack

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Well we won ugly but we won, earned another 3 points and cemented our second place. Another difficult away game against Blackburn midweek to come and then the crunch home games against Norwich and Brentford. If we can somehow get 9 points from those games then I'll really start believing that this could be our year - but I'd settle for 7 providing the draw is against Blackburn.

We really need to clip the wings of the teams around us in the league and send a message that we are in fact a team to be reckoned with if not feared. We need to put doubts in the minds of opponents before we even play them, which will undoubtedly be the case IF we can beat our closest rivals. The season is boiling up nicely and we can achieve great things if we can replicate our results so far in the second half of the season.
 

IanABS94

Key Player
I reckon our match vs Brentford is critical. They have some games in hand but we need to put our foot on them. Get a win there and keep the distance and we can do this. Beating Norwich would be phenomenal, let's get us into first place.


 
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CroJack

CroJack

Key Player
Our match against Brentford has been postponed to 27 January due to FA Cup matches being played next weekend. We play Forest on Saturday and Brentford play Leicester on Sunday in the FA Cup, which gives us an advantage. We can play our fringe players and Brentford, if they want to progress, can't afford such a luxury against Leicester. Also, we have one more day rest.

But, one game at a time. We have a game against not anymore free-scoring Blackburn on Tuesday.
 
Yankee_Jack

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
Interesting question ... do we care enough about the FA Cup to play our best team or our fringe players. Promotion has to be our priority, so I would say the latter and let depth prove itself. A good time to see if Hamer is as good as Woody. Byers certainly needs game time as does Cullen and Garrick.
 

IanABS94

Key Player
Yankee_Jack said:
Interesting question ... do we care enough about the FA Cup to play our best team or our fringe players. Promotion has to be our priority, so I would say the latter and let depth prove itself. A good time to see if Hamer is as good as Woody. Byers certainly needs game time as does Cullen and Garrick.
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Agreed, how much is promotion worth to the club? £150M? If done properly we could set the finances of this club in proper order once again.
 
CroJack

CroJack

Key Player
It's still too early to talk about promotion imho. Two defeats and we are out of the top six. Watford and Reading have a game in hand, and Bretford two. That Bristol game and the non-existing penalty still hounts me, as well as the Derby game.

Brentford and Norwich are the main candidates for automatic promotion. Brentford are unbeaten in 15 games, which is impressive, and Norwich have an excellent squad and a top manager.
Then there are Swansea, Bournemouth, Watford, Reading, Middlesbrough and Stoke, who will be fighting for the place in the top six. The good news is we can beat any of these teams in the play-off if we don't get any injuries to our key-players: Ayew, Roberts, Grimes and Lowe. I also hope we sign a couple of players in this transfer window, especially a creative ATM to replace Gibbs-White.
 

IanABS94

Key Player
CroJack said:
It's still too early to talk about promotion imho. Two defeats and we are out of the top six. Watford and Reading have a game in hand, and Bretford two. That Bristol game and the non-existing penalty still hounts me, as well as the Derby game.

Brentford and Norwich are the main candidates for automatic promotion. Brentford are unbeaten in 15 games, which is impressive, and Norwich have an excellent squad and a top manager.
Then there are Swansea, Bournemouth, Watford, Reading, Middlesbrough and Stoke, who will be fighting for the place in the top six. The good news is we can beat any of these teams in the play-off if we don't get any injuries to our key-players: Ayew, Roberts, Grimes and Lowe. I also hope we sign a couple of players in this transfer window, especially a creative ATM to replace Gibbs-White.
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Apparently we're getting Jordan Morris in on loan with option to buy if we get promoted. I've not seen much of him but apparently is good at a False 9 and and as an inverted winger. If Stuart James thinks it's a good signing i'm inclined to agree.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1350771984100192256
 
Yankee_Jack

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
Please realize ... he's coming from the MLS. Let me put this in perspective ... in 2016 Lampard, Pirlo, and David Villa were playing for NYC ... the 3 geriatric amigos literally walked/jogged through a game at the Revolution and owned the field. Every now and again the trio would combine, shift a gear, and be like a hot knife through butter. It was embarrassing to watch from an MLS fanatic's perspective. For me it clearly illustrated the gap in football standards and environments.

In comparison, we acquired Peterson from the Dutch. He looked awesome in his videos too. He never made an impact.

Let's see what Morris does, how fit he is, how fast he gets up to speed ... we really don't need to hear the all too common sob story of a player having to adjust. Adjusting is not a luxury we can afford as we push for promotion. For me, Morris is a player that is going to cut into Cullen's potential game time while the shiny new penny gets a chance to prove himself then doesn't and disappears like a damp squib as did Vik. Morris is also coming to us during MLS close season ... he's not going to be match fit.
 
KVetch

KVetch

Key Player
The Morris loan seems like a big risk. Not financial but I would agree it can hurt Cullen and risk our chances at promotion. Hope he works out.
 

IanABS94

Key Player
The Blobster said:
Morris looks fast and strong and he knows where the goal is , he has more experience than Cullen and will be an asset to our squad.
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Agreed, I understand, and fully wish that Cullen could make the step up and be the player that fires us to promotion but Morris is a US international, not something to be sniffed at today, and Seattle as far as I remember are a powerhouse in the MLS for whom he's a regular player. He's clearly got quality and for the price, looks to be a shrewd signing. One that we would've made in our original promotion bid. Morris looks like a unit with some great pace, we need both of those things. We can't rely on Lowe and Ayew for the next 23 matches; we've got to have something different and he looks like he can do so.
 
CroJack

CroJack

Key Player
Yankee_Jack said:
Please realize ... he's coming from the MLS. Let me put this in perspective ... in 2016 Lampard, Pirlo, and David Villa were playing for NYC ... the 3 geriatric amigos literally walked/jogged through a game at the Revolution and owned the field. Every now and again the trio would combine, shift a gear, and be like a hot knife through butter. It was embarrassing to watch from an MLS fanatic's perspective. For me it clearly illustrated the gap in football standards and environments.
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I kind of like MLS. It's more entertaining than the Championship. And I don't understand all this hype about the quality of football in the Championship. The football played in the Championship is pretty average and quite boring.

The 3 geriatric amigos Lampard, Pirlo and Villa would've owned the Championship as well had they decided to play in the Championship instead of in MLS. A couple of years ago Zlatan was ripping apart teams in MLS, and now at 39 he is ripping teams apart in Italian Serie A. He was 36 when he signed for Man United and was definitely their best player. How many goals did he score for Man United? Was it 18?

It's not so much the gap in football standards, it's more the great quality of some players who come to MLS from Europe.

Andres Iniesta, who is 36 now, plays for Vissel Kobe in Japan. Don't you think he would be the best player if he played in the Championship?

 
Yankee_Jack

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
CroJack said:
...

The 3 geriatric amigos Lampard, Pirlo and Villa would've owned the Championship as well had they decided to play in the Championship instead of in MLS ...
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But they weren't in the Championship ... they were in the MLS and walking it. Whatever the Championship may be ... it's not a league for walkers.
 
Victoria Swan

Victoria Swan

Key Player
As a Canadian I feel the need to point out that Alphonse Davies - perhaps the brightest spark to arrive on world football in 2020 -- emerged from MLS at Vancouver Whitecaps before he went to Bayern!
 
Victoria Swan

Victoria Swan

Key Player
BTW, why is all this discussion of Jordan Morris happening here (Match Day - Barnsley) instead of over on Transfers - Jordan Morris) which @KVetch started for him. Discipline, boys and girls, discipline in your posting!
 
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