by Svlad Cjelli »
20 Mar 2011 18:05
Very drab first half - Barnsley had absolutely no ideas or creativity whatsoever and we allowed ourselves to be dragged down to their level. Their only tactic was to put a boot through the ball and hope is went to Harewood - who looks as ineffective as he has with all his other clubs. The game was there for the taking but no-one seemed up for grabbing it by the scrap of the neck - everyone was reacting rather than attacking the ball much (Kebe especially, who had a very lacklustre afternoon).
Church, as mentioned, had a great one-on-one early on - after missing that he looked to be even lower on confidence than before, and was hardly in the game - at one stage Kebe came and played on the same wing as him but Church stayed where he was also so we had two wingers on one side of the pitch. I really do feel for the poor lad and think a loan spell somewhere is the only way he'll regain the confidence he's so short of.
Howard had a really good game - just about all our creativity in the first hour came from him, whilst Tabb was efficient in midfield. McCarthy was rarely called on but produced a couple of really good saves when called on - and his distribution was good too - he's happy to throw it to a player in a good position rather than always, always, kick it.
BMc is either a very lucky manager or a genius - as shortly after Manset came on he scored. But th goal was really down to Long's chasing of lost causes - the defender was shepherding the ball out, away from Manset, when Long nipped in from the other side, kept the ball on and passed it to the Beast. It was a poor pass, too far behind him, tbh, but Manset controlled it and scored.
Manset also showed some other great touches and shots - he's not just a big target man there's much more to his game than that, and I think BMc may have another gem on his hands there.
All in all another highly successful day in South Yorkshire - good, cheap beer and 3 points, as usual.
