The New Year begins...but its the same old story at Oakwell

Recent games at Oakwell have followed a depressingly familiar routine – Barnsley start well, take the lead even, begin to fade in the second half and then collapse completely. A number of factors could explain this trend but, in my opinion, it’s largely a result of the visiting team slowly realising that this is a very, very poor Barnsley side. As such, an opposing team that may have been playing for a point gain the belief that they can take all three against a set of players that are all too used to losing games and have neither the initiative nor the spirit to fight back.

Our latest home defeat followed this routine, as the recalled Chris Lumsdon gave Barnsley a deserved early lead during a first half which saw them play some bright, attacking football. As usual Betsy and Gorre were involved in the majority of the good moves that the Reds put together, and we appeared to be largely in control of the game at this stage. Crucially, however, we failed to add to our one goal, and this proved costly when, on the stroke of half-time, Northampton levelled. Paul Harsley’s hit-and-hope shot from the edge of the box appeared to be going wide until it struck the unfortunate Lumsdon and flew into the bottom corner of the Barnsley goal.

I don’t know what happens in the home team dressing room at half-time, but once again, Barnsley looked like a completely different side in the second period. Almost from the off, the Reds were chasing the game against a Northampton side who clearly sensed victory. At the back, Morgan and Flynn were struggling to cope with the pace and flair of the 85 year old Marco Gabbiadini, who struck a post in the 54th minute. At the other end, Betsy was doing his utmost to breakthrough the Northampton defence single-handedly, but as ever, the final ball was lacking.

In the 70th minute, the visitors grabbed what proved to be the winner, following some slapstick defending from Flynn. In attempting to punt the ball forward, he sliced the ball horribly, and could only watch as it looped straight up in the air. As both Flynn and Marriot hesitated, Darryn Stamp ran in to lash the ball into the net from the edge of the box.

Clearly, the prospect of yet another home defeat didn’t unduly concern the players, as Northampton remained the greater threat during the final 20 minutes, hitting the woodwork on two occasions. Admittedly, the Reds were not helped by some bizarre substitutions from Glyn Hodges: his decision to take off man of the match Alex Neil was strange enough but he then chose to remove both strikers so he could play Kevin “hardly-renowned-for-his-shooting” Betsy up front.

The end result capped a truly awful Christmas for Barnsley. The Reds managed to pick up just three points from a possible twelve. All four games were against teams at the bottom end of the table and if performances continue in this vein, Division 3 football will be played at Oakwell next season. It really is that simple.

As it stands, I have no faith in the current manager and his squad of players to get us out of trouble. We have no funds to bring new players in, so a change of manager looks like our only option. Given that Ronnie Glavin was sat with club owner Peter Doyle at yesterday’s game, it looks like he will be offered the chance to try and keep this club in Division 2. Still, having sat through the whole of our latest home defeat, at least he will know exactly what he’s taking on…