View From T'Other Side: Peterborough United

Last updated : 04 April 2010 By Rob Miles (BarnsleyBoy)

Name: Josh Crowson

Anything less than a win for the Posh tomorrow will confirm relegation from the Championship, What have you made of the season? Considering two years ago you were a League Two side, was this just one step too far too early?

I have to agree yes, a step too far. At the start of the season when Darren Ferguson was in charge (seems a life time ago now) he didn't sign any players of experience to this level and obviously that has taken its toll on the squad. The players have simply not been good enough; even the holy trinity (CMS, Mclean and Boyd) haven't been up to scratch, so we were always going to struggle if they weren't playing well. As well as all the off field problems, change in managers etc. It's all added up and taken its toll.

Looking at your results this season, apart from the 4-0 at Scunthorpe, you’ve not really been hammered in terms of the score-lines whilst Barnsley have gone to places like Newcastle and been torn apart, has it been a case of just a lack of luck and quality that’s cost you in most games?

I've said plenty of times, especially when we've played at home, that some of the opposition sides have been poor, and we could have easily beaten them on another day. We have lacked the final quality in most games, but looking at the quality of some opposition teams, if we did have that extra bit of quality I believe we would be somewhere like where Barnsley are at the moment. The bad luck has also been there too, but I guess you don't get good luck when you're at the bottom.

The managerial seat at London Road has become hot this year, what did you make of the decision to dismiss Darren Ferguson after he had led you to successive promotions and what have you made of his successors Mark Cooper and now Jim Gannon?

The departure of Fergie was a surprise, nobody knows why he left, and we probably never will. The chairman had to get the next manager right, and he didn't. Cooper, like most of the players was out of his depth. His tactics were too defensive, which led to us conceding early goals and then we'd never look like getting back into games, due to the lack of firepower in the squad. Jim Gannon has done a steady job here. I was disappointed to hear that he won't be signing on next season, but if we can get Gary Johnson I’d be probably more delighted than if Gannon had signed on.

It’s looking highly like that Gary Johnson will be your next manager? Happy with that appointment?

I'd be delighted with that appointment. Did a good job at Yeovil, and an even better job at Bristol City. If he could do that again here, then I'll be happy. There doesn’t seem many quality managers about at the moment. So we could do a lot worse than Gary Johnson, that’s for sure.

Speaking of relegation, do most Posh supporters just want to get the confirmation out of the way or do you want to just stave it off for as long as possible?

I'm personally not bothered. At the moment it feels like we're relegated, despite us not having the big red 'R' next to our name. I'm expecting Barnsley to put the final nail in the coffin on Monday though.

What changes need to be made this summer to ensure you can be in the promotion mix-up next season, and after the disappointment of this season do you feel a return to the Championship in 2012 would be a lot better than this campaign?

Obviously a change in management, which hopefully will be Gary Johnson. Get rid of the dead wood that we have here, and we have plenty of it. Bring in fresh faces, mainly midfielders and strikers, because I believe we'll have one of the best defences in the League 1 next season. And just start from there, with Johnson’s experience of the game hopefully we'll do well, but looking at some of the sides in that division it'll be a tough league to get out of.

You lost George Boyd- your top scorer- to Nottingham Forest in March, so Craig Mackail-Smith and Aaron McLean are the names that stand out for me, is there anybody else in the Peterborough squad to be wary of tomorrow?

Aaron Mclean's out injured at the moment and looks likely to miss the rest of the campaign. Mackail-Smith isn't on form at all. Liam Dickinson is doing OK, can potentially be a handful for opposition defenders. Other players to look out for are probably Joe Lewis who's doing very well between the sticks at the moment. To say our keeper is a player to look out for just goes to show how bad our season has been!

What do you make of Barnsley under the guidance of Mark Robins this season?

He's done a very good job there. Obviously when he took over you were near the bottom with us, but now you’re safely in mid-table. It was the kinda thing we needed when Fergie left, shame we didn't, and we now face relegation.

Who in the Barnsley side impresses you and worries you for tomorrow’s game?

Don't really follow Barnsley that much, for obvious reasons. But the players on the highlights that catch my eye are Bogdanovic, whilst Dickinson (the left back on loan from Stoke, dunno whether he's still with you lot) looked a good player at London Road earlier this season. Apart from that I'm not too sure.

Score prediction?

2-1 Barnsley.

Where do you see both sides finishing in May, can you see Posh climbing at least off the bottom of the table?

We'll remain bottom, and I reckon you lot will finish 15th.