Back from the the game - Barnsley (A)

[NR_Royal]

Back in Sheffield on an amazing day in which every result went our way and we picked up a valuable win. The first half was one of the worst halves of football I've ever seen, with lots of hoofball, a huge lack of control and just general shittiness. Second half, we played a lot better - looking like the only team that could win it. Was a bit disappointed with the amount of chances we screwed up, and how after scoring we got dominated for about 10 minutes solid. But all in all, a great victory which has left me feeling delighted. We won the game thanks to our midfield IMO

McCarthy 8 - Fantastic saves kept us in it. Looked assured and dealt with most things. Distribution was ok, but could have been better. Not sure what happened between him and Gunnarsson (I think), when they really should have scored.
Gunnarsson 6 - Dealt with most things, but made lots of mistakes, and his lack of pace did affect the play. However, fair play as he isn't a natural RB.
Ingimarsson 6 - Similar to Gunnarsson, was calm and collected, but I would have liked to maybe see Morrison play...
Khizanishvili 7 - Did quite well, looked solid, needs to play more often.
Harte 8 - A different player to the start of the season. Defended well, obviously his lack of pace was an issue sometimes, and did well from set pieces.
Kebe 5 - Didn't look interested for most of the game, spent a lot of time attempting to take players on, and occasionally pulled off something good. Didn't sprint enough for my liking.
Tabb 8 - Controlled midfield well, found space often.
Howard 8 - Had a surprisingly good game, passed well, chased the ball. Pleased for him.
Karacan 8 - Chased and hassled very well. Looked composed on the ball.
Church 4 - Not bashing him, but nearly every time he had the ball, he lost it. Had a couple of opportunities to do well and didn't. Didn't look right at all.
Long 9 - My MOTM. Won headers, hassled defenders. Basically the usual. The build up to the goal was purely thanks to him.

Manset 8 - Looked extremely dangerous. Strong, could have scored another and generally a BEAST.
Antonio 5 - Similar to Church. Really disappointed with him in recent weeks, although he could have scored right at the end.

[RobRoyal]

A placeholder? That's bloody cheeky

Funny game today, scrappy and sleepy for the first half, not much from the traveling support, then scrappy and hectic in the second. We definitely upped our game after half time, and needed to because we hadn't produced enough up til that point. Unsurprisingly we looked far more effective once we switched to 4-4-2, and Manset had his best cameo so far (not so much the goal, but a great shot from outside the area well saved, and several decent knock-downs). Long grafted as usual and won the game for us with his persistence that caused the defensive error and then composure to feed the beast. After the goal Barnsley took back all the momentum and we looked flustered, though threatening on the break.

We really we should have had 2 or 3 today with Church missing a great chance and their keeper making some decent stops, including one from a rangy Howard shot. McCarthy only had one serious effort to save, which he pushed round the post athletically. Good performers; Long, Karacan, and the centre-backs. Not so great; Church (confidence shot), Howard (produced little despite being given the freedom of the park, especially second half), Gunnarson somewhat off his best too.

With the results elsewhere, a big day. And to go to Barnsley with their decent home record and get a result with 6/7 of your first 11 out is commendable, however you do it.

[NR_Royal]

BTW, BBC Sport: "The visitors started well and Simon Church nearly opened the scoring with a shot that forced Steele into his first save of the afternoon, before the impressive Church drove a shot wide."

[goringexile]

Second best goal diff. in the league!

[UpNorth]

Shame about Church.

Only 4 minutes on the clock and a peach of a ball from Howard left him one on one with the keeper but you just knew he would not score. Church is not a winger and he looked out of place there particularly in the first half. Better in the second but never a goal threat. Sadly he aint up to it and we looked more threatening once he had gone off - mind you, going 4-4-2 made a big difference (is he really going to be playing for Wales against England next week?).

As mentioned already, Howard did well in a five man midfield and nearly scored with a great shot to the top corner. Cannot see the logic of letting him go when we have an injury ravaged squad.

In defence, McCarthy had another excellent game making three good saves with exemplary catching and no kicks into touch. Ingimarsson started badly, Harewood beat him every time in the air, he was slow and got caught out of position. However, after the break he was so much better as were most of the players.

Karacan put in a good shift in midfield, as did Tabb but he does get pushed off the ball too easily. Jimmy did his usual bit of running but no real end product. Antonio played better today and a nice piece of work at the end set up Manset for a shot at the far post.

The beast looks a great buy but we need to see him on the pitch for 90 minutes. Shane was superb, his sprint to pressurise and dispossess the defender turned the match and set up the goal.

Barnsley were mediocre but what was almost a second string Reading team did the business. Good to see Obita on the bench.

[Winnershroyal]

Shame about Church.

Only 4 minutes on the clock and a peach of a ball from Howard left him one on one with the keeper but you just knew he would not score. Church is not a winger and he looked out of place there particularly in the first half. Better in the second but never a goal threat. Sadly he aint up to it and we looked more threatening once he had gone off - mind you, going 4-4-2 made a big difference (is he really going to be playing for Wales against England next week?).

As mentioned already, Howard did well in a five man midfield and nearly scored with a great shot to the top corner. Cannot see the logic of letting him go when we have an injury ravaged squad.

In defence, McCarthy had another excellent game making three good saves with exemplary catching and no kicks into touch. Ingimarsson started badly, Harewood beat him every time in the air, he was slow and got caught out of position. However, after the break he was so much better as were most of the players.


Portsmouth is now MASSIVE!

Karacan put in a good shift in midfield, as did Tabb but he does get pushed off the ball too easily. Jimmy did his usual bit of running but no real end product. Antonio played better today and a nice piece of work at the end set up Manset for a shot at the far post.

The beast looks a great buy but we need to see him on the pitch for 90 minutes. Shane was superb, his sprint to pressurise and dispossess the defender turned the match and set up the goal.

Barnsley were mediocre but what was almost a second string Reading team did the business. Good to see Obita on the bench.

[paultheroyal]

Disapointed with Antonio in recent weeks says the first poster!! Good god has he been playing, I must of blinked!!!!!!!

[roadrunner]

McCarthy 8 - Fantastic saves kept us in it. Looked assured and dealt with most things.

Delighted again for him. He's made a big difference to the side. Federici is a good keeper at this level but you always have that unsettling feeling he could make a mistake, whereas McCarthy as you say, looks very assured and commanding of his area. I wonder what Federici is thinking? It would be very unfair to drop McCarthy for a fit again Federici!

Church 4 - Not bashing him, but nearly every time he had the ball, he lost it. Had a couple of opportunities to do well and didn't. Didn't look right at all.

When is McDermott going to stop starting this lad? I'd even be tempted to put Williams on the bench and give him some playing time instead of Church. He is woefully poor.

[NR_Royal]

Disapointed with Antonio in recent weeks says the first poster!! Good god has he been playing, I must of blinked!!!!!!!

Well I saw him at Sheff Utd and he was abosolutely dire then.

[Ian Royal]

Nice to see some consistent reports. Neutrals have Church as impressive, whilst all Hobnobers have him as poor. Two have Howard as good, one has him as shite.

[roadrunner]

Nice to see some consistent reports. Neutrals have Church as impressive, whilst all Hobnobers have him as poor. Two have Howard as good, one has him as shite.

From friends at the game he looked uncomfortable on the ball, gave it away time and time again and was generally ineffective and lost.

[susieroyal]

Church was poor IMO, but he's not a winger so it was no great surprise. We had very little width for much of the game.

Kebe was dire and this greatly annoyed me as I had a whole £1 on him being first scorer.

Barnsley were shite and unfortunately we played their game too often, especially in the first half. At the times where we had more width (which didn'y happen often), more movement and put our foot on the ball instead of hoofing it, we showed how much better than them we were. Again, this didnt happen very often, but also not surprising considering the amount of changes.

All things considered, absolutely cracking result.

MOM Shane Long. Special mention to Alex McCarthy (ignoring the bit when they should have scored, although the players seemed to claiming a foul).

[The Prisoner]

http://www.barnsleyfc.org.uk/bbs/forums ... 6#M1281286

We need to see more of this......quality/lunacy...you decide!

[Woodcote Royal]

Thanks for all the reports but I've looked everywhere and can't find Marcus Williams

Is he injured, on loan or just the most unpopular bloke in the northern hemisphere (on the basis that he couldn't make today's injury ravaged match day squad)

Does someone need to do the decent thing and help pack his case?

[Rex]

Nice to see some consistent reports. Neutrals have Church as impressive, whilst all Hobnobers have him as poor. Two have Howard as good, one has him as shite.

From friends at the game he looked uncomfortable on the ball, gave it away time and time again and was generally ineffective and lost.

He didn't look particularly happy as the team walked off the pitch.

[Kitsondinho]

A good away day overall, I love going to Barnsley! 3 points and home by 18:00!! We were pretty awful first half, looking slow and resorting to too many aimless punts unfield. Church had a total mare and clearly isn't a winger. However I think his day would been very different if he had scored in the first few mins. Bryn played well in the first half. However in the 2nd he seemed to tire and had a shocker, he kept giving the ball away and made several poor decisions. Despite the fact I think very little of him, Howard played well. He made some telling passes and made life difficult for the Barnsley back 4. Something I did notice was that the speed of his passing is a lot slower than Legs. Howard likes to take his time and pick his pass, whereas Legs has less passing ability and looks to use the ball quickly. There were several times when Howard got fouled because he retained the ball, rather than releasing it early. This seemed to slow us down first half. I can't really decide who MOM was. I thought Tabb was excellent, as were Long, Kish and McCarthy.

[Big Foot]

Great win, we were totally dominant in the 2nd half bar the mishap at the back resulting in Devaney's horror miss.

Long my MOTM, he worked tirelessly for the cause. Manset was dangerous when he came on, thought he'd mucked his goal up with his first touch but finished it well. Also plucked a chance out of nowhere when he chested the ball down, turned his man and fired off a powerful shot which the keeper did well to save.

McCarthy had another good shift in goal, great save in 1st half to poke a header round the post.

[paultheroyal]

Disapointed with Antonio in recent weeks says the first poster!! Good god has he been playing, I must of blinked!!!!!!!

Well I saw him at Sheff Utd and he was abosolutely dire then.

Ah, yes, that earth shattering 21 minutes that he had. Oh and we scored when he was on the pitch, funny that!!!!

[TFF]

http://www.barnsleyfc.org.uk/bbs/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=185625&mid=1281286#M1281286

We need to see more of this......quality/lunacy...you decide!

Genius

[Upper West Ginger]

It could have been 3-3 at half time, so open was the game, but it tightened up a bit in the second half.

Several really good saves by McCarthy = MOTM for me.
Shane Long a close second, continuous effort, never giving up.
Honourable mention to Jimmy Kebe for slyly clattering one of their players (Hill?) when nobody was looking, and managing to get away with it. Not the sort of behaviour I would condone, you understand, but funny at the time. Made up for his lack of effort at other times.
Why are we still persisting with Church? He needs a change of scenery, to find his own level (which seemingly isn't playing Championship football with Reading).
Khizanishvili looked assured most of the time. Bryn and Ivar were mostly solid. Harte defended well (never thought I'df sday that).
Tabb + Karacan in midfield worked well.
Howard was his usual self. I wonder if he got a start here more for sentiment's sake?
We looked much more threatening once Church went off and Manset came on, and we went to 4-4-2.

First time I've been to Oakwell. A real old-school football ground. Walking from the station you go through streets of terraced houses and over the crest of a hill, then the ground comes into view in the valley below you. Very evocative.