So 2015 has been and gone and my little old team are in a bit of a dogfight at the bottom of League One. Not 100% sure how we got here. It’s a long, long way from the heady days of the Premier League, granted that was only one season but they’re memories no-one can take away.
Last season was a bit frustrating, a big influx of loan players, some of which were okay. Some veteran players who have played at a high level and roamed around the pitch looking like they couldn’t give a shit. To us hard working fans you can imagine how angering that was.
We ended the season in 11th and a positive goal difference of +1 for the first time in god knows how many years of struggling in the Championship.
We also got a new manager in the form of Lee Johnson from Oldham. I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about the appointment. I wanted us to go for someone like Mike Phelan who, at the time was unemployed and at good odds to take over on skybet. You don’t sit next to Sir Alex for nigh on two decades and not pick up a thing or five.
A lot of fans have been calling for Lee’s head since the start of the season when at one point last month we were bottom of the league and a lot of Barnsley’ers (Not a word I know) are annoyed at broken promises and the fact we wouldn’t rely on loan players.
This was on november 26th from Sky Sports’ twitter feed. That’s not only an over reliance on them but also an indicator that they aren’t performing at the required standard.
I’m not being biased here but we are a struggling Championship team by history, facilities etc. But the harsh realisty is that we aren’t fulfilling our potential or doing our infrastructure any justice. We’re where we are for a reason and too many bad decisions land you in the predicament we are currently in.
From the point of view of someone who goes every week at the start of the season me and my dad were coming away from the matches saying the same things. “How have we lost that?”, “They’ve had 2 shots and won 2-1.”, “Why don’t we seem to be getting any luck or a break of the ball?”. Reading this you will be thinking, well every fan says that with their (insert colour of team here) tinted glasses on. But i’m a realist and I get it from my Dad, if we’re shit, i’ll say we’re shit, if we don’t deserve to win, i’ll say as much.
We destroyed Gillingham and they’re second in the league, we beat Burton 1-0 and they’re top of the league. This team have it in them, we’ve seen in in the last two games (4-2 against Blackpool and 2-1 against Millwall). On the flip side we have been put out of the FA Cup against Altrincham and lost to teams like Crewe and Shrewsbury who, with the greatest of respect were quite poor. I suppose we are consistent in a way……Consistently, inconsistent.
Lee Johnsons’ supporters club is a bit of a small group at the moment and i’m in neither camp so this won’t be a blog ranting and raving about him as that isn’t going to help here or on a saturday afternoon when the fans boo. I understand they are entitled to it but there isn’t any positive effects to it. Everyone just develops a fear of not wanting to piss the fans off and that’s when the many mistakes we have seen, start to happen.
I believe he is trying to do things the right way, the goalkeeper isn’t hoofing it long, the centre halves are trying to pass it out from the back, the full backs aren’t just looking for safe passes down the line and our wingers and strikers are trying to make things happen with skill and flair in the last month and long may it continue. If we show him some patience, which is in short supply in football, maybe he could be the man to guide us back to the Championship and with our academy producing players like John Stones and Mason Holgate, he may be able to do it with lads who are Barnsley born and bred.
In spite of the few ups and more downs we still have a shot at getting to Wembley in the Johnstones Paint Trophy. We have had a losing mentality at the club for the last decade struggling in the Championship and this is the only trophy we are good enough to win so let’s get behind the lads from the first whistle to the last and rally them through to Wembley. I know I for one, will be in the stand of that world famous stadium if we get there and I will be proud of my team and the 11 men that represent us.
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