What must you have thought Danny?

After almost an half an hour of staring at a blank screen, I’m trying to think of the appropriate word to describe Barnsley’s performance in this game. Microsoft Word has thrown up the following: Awful. Dreadful. Terrible. Appalling. Dire. None of them seem to do it justice however. To put it another way, the money spent on a ticket for this game could have bought a couple of Jeffrey Archer books. Or the latest Daniel O’Donnell CD. Either of these purchases would have represented better value for money than the £14 it cost to watch Barnsley capitulate against Danny Wilson’s Bristol City. It really was that bad.

Paul Hart has said that we “played well” in the first twenty minutes. Mmm. On the one hand, I have to agree that we were not quite as mind-numbingly bad in this period as we were for the remaining seventy minutes. In truth, however, it took Bristol City twenty minutes to settle into the game. Having done so, they scored with their first proper attack on 21 minutes and would have had several more but for some shocking finishing.

Where did it all go wrong? First of all, the tactics: I couldn’t work out what formation we were playing and, by the looks of it, neither could the players. Gary Birch was the only “striker” on the pitch (although this term may contravene the Trades Description Act) with Betsy, Shuker and the blatantly unfit Gorre playing supporting roles. Paul Hart is very keen on his diamond formation but with City so dominant in midfield our lack of width was painfully obvious.

The second problem was the players selected. Brian O’Callaghan has consistently been deemed worthy of first-team football by several managers during his time at Oakwell and I don’t understand why. What do these professionals see that I don’t? As I see it, O’Callaghan is simply clueless – he has no positional sense, his movement of the ball is non-existent and, most importantly, his ability on the ball is laughable. Despite his experience, he resembles someone that has been dragged in off the street to play because we are short of numbers. Are you seriously telling me that that this man trains in the week? Gary Birch could be challenging Dave Regis for the title of “Worst Ever Striker to play for Barnsley”. He poses absolutely no threat and is so slow that it’s almost laughable. He turns like a juggernaut with three wheels. Dean Gorre, quality though he can be, was not even fit enough to sit on the bench so why he started I’ve no idea.

The third, and probably most significant, problem was the players’ attitude. Yes, from mid-table Barnsley’s point of view, this was a meaningless end of season fixture. Yes, from Bristol City’s promotion hunting point of view, this was a game that they had to win. These factors, however, cannot justify the shameful way in which the Barnsley players went through the motions. Without breaking sweat, City outfought and outplayed the home side. The winning goal summed up the Barnsley approach: Christian Roberts held off two half-hearted Barnsley challenges and then fed Tony Rougier who dribbled past Steve Hayward’s clumsy tackle and lashed the ball home.

City were well organised, disciplined and, most significantly, had players that were comfortable in possession. By contrast, Barnsley were a shambles: the players treated the ball like a hot potato and, depressingly, seemed to lack the most basic footballing skills. On countless occasions, individuals failed to control the ball or misplaced simple five yard passes.

City had Tommy Doherty who, annoying & arrogant though he was, bossed the midfield; Barnsley had no-one in the middle of the park with a trace of physical presence. Indeed, once Academy starlet Tom Baker replaced Gorre in the second half, our central midfield resembled a trio of Oompah Loompahs. City looked dangerous going forward; we had no threat whatsoever. Our only half-chances came from set pieces.

I could go on but I’m depressing myself now. In short, Paul Hart needs to dramatically re-shape his squad if this club is to have any chance of getting out of this division. All the best to Danny Wilson & Bristol City, and apologies on behalf of those idiots with short memories who continue to heckle the finest manager we have ever had.