Tykes for the chop! - Barnsley (H) 12/4/14

[wanderer10]

Agree with all that has been said. Got to disagree about Trotter though.

I have slated him for weeks, he looks completely useless, unfit and ineffective. Today though, I thought he looked much more comfortable. Okay, he still isn't great but he was far from awful. He sat and did the job he was put in there to do which, in my opinion, is all that he could do. He is much better there than sat behind a striker not knowing what day it is.

I agree we have better and I don't see why Trotter is even here but I don't think he did anything wrong today! I would be more concerned with the likes of Moritz who looks like he is allergic to any strenuous exercise, basically he can't be arsed.

[wanderer10]

Did anyone else see the Baptiste challenge and think "Far East betting syndicate"? Not me, obviously, I just thought some might.

At least he is consistent

[TonyDomingos]

Still a win is a win. Let's lose a few now so that we aren't on too good a run going into next season. I don't want us going in on a good run again, statistically it will only mean one thing....

Form table from last 10:
1 Bournemouth W7 D2 L1
2 Leicester W6 D3 L1
3 Bolton W6 D3 L1

And as mentioned previously, we've been in play off form since the beginning of October (that's 32 consecutive games as of today).

[bobo the clown]

As one nearby wag shouted today - theres a lot of rubbish on the pitch.

Well, there may have been others saying it but I shouted that a couple of times !

Trotter ??? I'm amazed anyone is defending him..

The match plays too fast for him .... in both movement and thought. His lack of athleticism is astonishing given his 'profession' and his ball control is only worsted by his inept passing. The bulk of his passes are hit like shots. Way too hard for the receiver to control. His lackadaisical manner and slowness to react is up there with his apparent lack of care. He simply jogged about like a lumbering Robbie Savage carrying a hernia. I'd accuse him of ball watching but he rarely even bothered to do that.

He's fckg awful. If he's marginally less awful in this role than others that's saying very little.

[BWFC_Insane]

As one nearby wag shouted today - theres a lot of rubbish on the pitch.

Well, there may have been others saying it but I shouted that a couple of times !

Trotter ??? I'm amazed anyone is defending him..

The match plays too fast for him .... in both movement and thought. His lack of athleticism is astonishing given his 'profession' and his ball control is only worsted by his inept passing. The bulk of his passes are hit like shots. Way too hard for the receiver to control. His lackadaisical manner and slowness to react is up there with his apparent lack of care. He simply jogged about like a lumbering Robbie Savage carrying a hernia. I'd accuse him of ball watching but he rarely even bothered to do that.

He's fckg awful. If he's marginally less awful in this role than others that's saying very little.

Well however bad he was today, he was still a million miles better than Moritz.....

[Armchair Wanderer]

Still a win is a win. Let's lose a few now so that we aren't on too good a run going into next season. I don't want us going in on a good run again, statistically it will only mean one thing....

Form table from last 10:
1 Bournemouth W7 D2 L1
2 Leicester W6 D3 L1
3 Bolton W6 D3 L1

And as mentioned previously, we've been in play off form since the beginning of October (that's 32 consecutive games as of today).

That's good enough for me! I think Dougie is a summer away from having a decent side.

[TANGODANCER]

Still a win is a win. Let's lose a few now so that we aren't on too good a run going into next season. I don't want us going in on a good run again, statistically it will only mean one thing....

Form table from last 10:
1 Bournemouth W7 D2 L1
2 Leicester W6 D3 L1
3 Bolton W6 D3 L1

And as mentioned previously, we've been in play off form since the beginning of October (that's 32 consecutive games as of today).

That's good enough for me! I think Dougie is a summer away from having a decent side.

Quite truthfully, after watching the last couple of games were a full division off having a good side. A few loanees the best who are leaving and probably won't be back, a couple of young ones and one or two who we wouldn't miss anyway. Beckford and Moritz as a strike force? Mason gone, take Juke away and we're toothless up front already. Big shake up needed and
some effort and attitude in spades. A view that might not go down too well?

[bobo the clown]

As one nearby wag shouted today - theres a lot of rubbish on the pitch.

Well, there may have been others saying it but I shouted that a couple of times !

Trotter ??? I'm amazed anyone is defending him..

The match plays too fast for him .... in both movement and thought. His lack of athleticism is astonishing given his 'profession' and his ball control is only worsted by his inept passing. The bulk of his passes are hit like shots. Way too hard for the receiver to control. His lackadaisical manner and slowness to react is up there with his apparent lack of care. He simply jogged about like a lumbering Robbie Savage carrying a hernia. I'd accuse him of ball watching but he rarely even bothered to do that.

He's fckg awful. If he's marginally less awful in this role than others that's saying very little.

Well however bad he was today, he was still a million miles better than Moritz.....

A comparison which only shows how we effectively played with 9 men. 7 a lot of the time with Lee and Beckford added to the burning pile.

[LeverEnd]

I wondered how Trotter was being picked ahead of Moritz/ Today we could see why, Moritz was an idle disgrace and can feck off. Loads of talent means nothing in this league without some workrate. It's a real shame because he can look a real class act. Trotter never looks a class act but at least today he showed some limited signs of knowing how to play football.
Duogie must have a short memory and was just checking that Beckford up front by himself doesn't work. Would like to see him and Juke together for the rest of the season.
It's bad news when we win and I feel like I've been short-changed though, the education isn't working. t's all just so sterile under Freedman. I just see us bleeding support until he's gone.

[Worthy4England]

As one nearby wag shouted today - theres a lot of rubbish on the pitch.

Well, there may have been others saying it but I shouted that a couple of times !

Trotter ??? I'm amazed anyone is defending him..

The match plays too fast for him .... in both movement and thought. His lack of athleticism is astonishing given his 'profession' and his ball control is only worsted by his inept passing. The bulk of his passes are hit like shots. Way too hard for the receiver to control. His lackadaisical manner and slowness to react is up there with his apparent lack of care. He simply jogged about like a lumbering Robbie Savage carrying a hernia. I'd accuse him of ball watching but he rarely even bothered to do that.

He's fckg awful. If he's marginally less awful in this role than others that's saying very little.

That's the way I saw it too.

[Relentless09]

I barely noticed Moritz playing...

[Worthy4England]

I barely noticed Moritz playing...

That too.

[bobo the clown]

If the aim was to see if .... & maybe evidence to them .... that Moritz isn't a starter and that Trotter has no place out there then it was an experiment worth trying. I do think that was the Moritz plan.

Trotter ... as is Dougie's want ... I think he actually is stubbornly persisting with. The guy to my left said he would get the full 90 however poorly he performed as DF had determined he would at the outset.

What Danns thinks watching him on there instead of him, or Medo specifically seeing him in his role God only knows.

[TKIZ!]

The only thing I could think of, was he could've probably bought most of the bench on without getting booed.

Plus point.

That would be true, the question I think Dougie was asking yesterday was. "Can this team function without Joe Mason/The Juke upfront together, since Mason is going back?" I think the answer was a resounding "nope" but it showed that this team function better with The Juke and Danns in it

[TKIZ!]

Right. I'm preparing to be lambasted for this but to me there is no such thing as a "undeserved win". It's a massive fallacy. Barnsley simply weren't good enough to put away their chances. We won, that's it, end of story. Who's next for Wanderers to play?

Let's recognise the fact that we've lost 1 in 12 games and be happy, 6 wins and 5 draws

course there isn't, theres only W D or L. I'll take the undeserved win as easily as the next guy and fully appreciate you'll win some you shouldn't and lose some you shouldn't and I simply use the deserved/ underserved ratio as an underlying performance indicator, as scraping undeserved wins when the opposition dominate , or have more chances, possession etc will only last so long.

I'm desparately looking for how the team is developing to DFs vision, particularly as he's again saying its coming together. IMO most of his tenure has been a shambles on the pitch, performance, excitement and entertainment wise. As has been debated on here before, in last seasons good run, we were generally unconvincing. I'm looking at our current good run and again feel unconvinced, unexcited and unentertained - seriously Barnsley are just the latest who will be thinking how the feck did we not win that.

In any good run, I'd expect the team confidence etc to grow, affecting positively how the manager/ team/players approach the game and the quality of what they do. Given theres no pressure on them either now, is it too much to think they might serve something up that stops people looking at their phones, or just watching the planes passing overhead. As one nearby wag shouted today - theres a lot of rubbish on the pitch.

Please don't take offence, Staffs this is just me thinking out loud and if I'm wrong (which is definitely am like 90% of the time where BWFC are concerned) then I'll hold me hands up. We tried "entertaining" under Coyle and whilst it worked for a little while teams soon figure you out.

I'd also point out that Leicester and Burnley didn't just get "entertaining" both teams have been in this league a long while and sometimes it confidence, skill and a team gelling that all align. I truly believe Dougie will get this one season and then if he doesn't do anything he'll be shipped out (Leicester last in the Premier League in '04 and Burnley have become the new yo-yo club)

[Worthy4England]

As I was contemplating during the first half yesterday, I was thinking, whether a season of shite 1-0ers, like yesterday would be some sort of appeasment, if we were top 6 from the off, instead of making a charge from January/February. We probably shipped out the last of "players I liked to watch" under Megson, no one has really replaced any of them. Chungy, pre injury, Mavies, occasionally and too fleetingly, when he's not injured (which seems to be most of the time), even Eagles who I think is a Championship level player are probably our most skillful players and none of them are better than mid table championship at the moment.

Unless something drastic happens, George Grahamesque 1 nillers seem to be our best shot. I could probably bite my tongue a little longer, if we got off to a decent start next season, but I'm not hopeful. I think Freedman sees the season running from Jan to May.

No heroes and shite football winning 1-0, is the best I can put my expectation level at, currently.

[Jugs]

I wanted to say it on here yesterday but didn't in the end because I didn't want to sound negative. But I predicted that he'd bench Mason on his final home game for us, because it's such a Dougie thing to do. Both scorers from the Donny game benched, and Mason didn't even get the chance to have a final home send-off. I was disappointed with that.

It was a turgid, soulless performance; a performance so different to the away day at Doncaster just a few days earlier. Naturally, the vast changes had everything to do with this. We won but we have to look at the bigger picture. If Dougie keeps rotating so incessantly - and he will - then I just don't see us getting anywhere. I don't see next season being any different to this one. Burnley rarely make unenforced changes, and look where they are. Same with Leicester. I bought into the rotation policy when he took over, because he sounded like an intelligent coach who had good ideas. But now I just think he's bonkers.

[Prufrock]

Saw the last 25 minutes on the stream. Spearing looked back to the player he was. Weirdly open game (though with v little quality) given it was 1-0. Actually thought Trotter looked OK. Neat and tidy and quick to fill in every time Baptiste or Hutton went forward, which was a lot.

[bobo the clown]

I wanted to say it on here yesterday but didn't in the end because I didn't want to sound negative. But I predicted that he'd bench Mason on his final home game for us, because it's such a Dougie thing to do. Both scorers from the Donny game benched, and Mason didn't even get the chance to have a final home send-off. I was disappointed with that.

........... But now I just think he's bonkers.

Yup.

Wants to appear really tactically aware and clever so does predictably unpredictable things.

It's because he's a cock.

[jaffka]

I think trotter just got left behind as play moved past him.