Be afraid, be very afraid. This team under this lame management are heading back to League One and fast. Yesterday's completely awful performance simply confirmed it.
Usually when the pressures really on, The Reds tend to pull it out of the bag. In 2006-2007, the club were third from bottom with five games remaining and then won three of them to stay up, whilst last season they were 20th heading into the final straight, and having just lost to Cardiff in the FA Cup Semi-Final, they faced back to back away games at Watford and Preston, and won them to again effectively seal Championship safety. Yesterday was another of those crunch must-win games, but this time The Reds came up painfully short. Even manager Simon Davey admitted they wouldn't have scored if they were still playing until the late evening! That against a team who were a mere three points above Barnsley before the start of play is not good enough!
Whilst there's not a lot that can be done when the players cross that white line, a lot of the blame has to be laid firmly at the feet of Davey whose tactics are continuing to baffle. Davey has been in charge for two and a half years now. When he arrived in November 2006, the club were in the bottom three. Two and half years, £2m and a whole new squad later, they are still in the bottom three. Davey has turned our one genuine match-winner (Jamal Campbell-Ryce) into a totally ineffective player, by moving him from the wing- a position where he has played all his career and scored crucial goals against Doncaster and Sheffield Wednesday- into the middle. Amazingly Davey then claims this is his best position!
Long balls are continuing to be pumped up to arguably the smallest striker in the league- Michael Mifsud. I'm not sure how he scored his 17 goals for Coventry last season but I'm pretty sure it was not by aiming for his head! Still when you've got a central defender like Darren Moore who needs a turning circle to turn around and at the age of 34 still cannot properly kick a football, what can you expect? Don't get me wrong, Moore is an absolute monster in the air and you would be hard-pressed to find anybody who can beat him up there (and he was very dangerous at throw-ins in the Blackpool area) but his kicking ability is dreadful. The term "cant kick a ball" really does apply to him.
Goal-keeper Heinz Muller is not much better at present and yesterday further backed up calls to give Luke Steele another chance. Let us not forget, when Steele was dropped back in September, it wasn't because he had actually done anything wrong but because the looming presence of Muller was seen to be better suited to the team's predicament. But the giant German is looking a shadow of the player he was before his terrible cruciate knee ligament injury and is failing to command his area whilst his distribution is astonishingly poor!
Yesterday's game mirrored the match between the two sides at Bloomfield Road earlier in the season- poor, lifeless and settled by a moment of magic from a Blackpool player.
On the 13th of September it was a cracking 25 yard strike from Steve Kabba that gave the Tangerines the spoils and at Oakwell it was a fantastic volley from ex Wednesday man Wade Small that handed Blackpool their first league win at Barnsley in 74 years.
Everything before and after was lousy. The swirling wind didn't help, but it was the same for both teams. Barnsley had it to their advantage in the first half and didn't use it, Blackpool had it after the break and did.
Only two players can come out of the game with any real credit and they are Adam Hammill, again The Reds best player, and probably more surprisingly, Mounir El Haimour. El Haimour has been much maligned by many, myself included, but he did put in an industrious performance at full-back and beat his man on several occasions. The rest simply didn't turn up. Bobby Hassell worked hard as always but, along with Hugo Colace they were out-witted by the pace of Blackpool's midfield. Daniel Bogdanovic saw hardly any of the ball and was withdrawn as early as the 55th minute. Apart from this moment of decisiveness, all Davey did as his team crumbled around him and a very small section of supporters called for his head, was stand with his hands in his pockets.
With what chances were created in the first half, Barnsley had the better of them. Dennis Souza's header was cleared off the line by Alex Baptiste and Hammill's free kick in first half stoppage time swirled in the wind and forced Pools' keeper Paul Rachubka to tip the ball over the bar.
With an hour gone, The Reds had their one genuine chance of the whole game (well surely a home team should have at least one) and inevitably it dropped to former Blackpool loanee Hammill.
The Liverpool man showed quick feet before hitting a great strike that Rachubka somehow tipped over the bar and then Hammill's swirling corner was cleared off the line by Small. Ten minutes later he won the game.
Joe Martin lifted a left-wing cross over the entire Barnsley defence and Small, left completely unmarked, caught it beautifully to acrobatically volley across Muller and into the far corner.
The goal sealed Blackpool's first away league win against their bogey side since 1935- a run of 11 visits!
That run ended yesterday, and Barnsley's run in the Championship may also be coming to an end.
Player Ratings:
Heinz Muller: Calls for him to be given a rest will intensify after another unconvincing performance. 5
Rob Kozluk: Throw-ins weren't bad but apart from that had a very quiet game.4
Dennis Souza: Had an effort cleared off the line in the first half but was troubled by DJ Campbell's pace. 6
Darren Moore: Once again unbeatable in the air but when the only thing he can do with the ball when its at his feet is hoof it, it does no favours to his team-mates. Booked. 6
Mounir El Haimour: Remarkably, a terrible team performance produced probably his best individual display. Was it because the rest were so bad? Booked. 7
Adam Hammill: Again the Reds best player. Was the only one who tested the Blackpool keeper the whole game. 8
Bobby Hassell: An off-day for Bobby. Totally dominated in midfield. 5
Hugo Colace: He is best at breaking up opposition attacks. There were not that many of them yesterday and he drifted in and out of the game. Subbed. 5
Jamal Campbell-Ryce: Davey is destroying him, pure and simple! JCR is a winger, and a very quick winger who has scored breath-taking goals against Doncaster and Sheffield Wednesday from that position this season. Why oh why, Davey has put him in the centre, I don't know. He is nowhere near strong enough to play there and is easily getting closed out of matches. It doesn't help he runs after EVERY ball, even when its not his to go for. 4 (although part of that rating is because of Davey)
Daniel Bogdanovic: Had no impact whatsoever. Rightly hauled off after 55 minutes. Subbed. 3
Michael Mifsud: I feel for him, I really do. He's crying for good service to his feet and he's simply not getting him. Shaun Barker towered over him and he couldn't compete. 5
Substitutes:
Jon Macken (for Bogdanovic 55): Didn't do much more than Bogdanovic, although he put himself about more. Has to stop complaining about every decision though, its getting tiresome. 5
Martin Devaney (for Colace 75) Everybody knows he's not the man for when the chips are down, and he wasn't here. 4
Unused Substitutes:
Luke Steele, Marciano Van Homoet, Maceo Rigters
Sponsor's Man of the Match: Adam Hammill
BarnsleyBoy's Man of the Match: Adam Hammill: There really was no other contender.
BLACKPOOL: Rachubka, Barker, Campbell, Small (Jorgensen 83), Crainey, Baptiste, Adam, Coid (Edwards 20), Southern, Blackman (Ormerod 61), Martin.
Subs: Halstead, Owens.
Most Impressed by Blackpool's: DJ Campbell: His pace always caused problems whilst Wade Small's goal was quality.
Ref Watch: Colin Webster: Blew for EVERY little thing, and yet only found two minutes of injury time in the first half despite players receiving lengthy treatment. 5
Coca Cola Championship Results Saturday 14th March 2009:
BARNSLEY 0-1 Blackpool
Burnley 5-0 Nottingham Forest
Doncaster 0-2 Birmingham
Norwich 1-0 Plymouth
Preston 2-1 Coventry
Reading 0-1 Ipswich
Sheffield United 4-2 Derby
Southampton 0-0 QPR
Swansea 1-3 Crystal Palace
Watford 2-2 Sheffield Wednesday
Wolves 2-1 Charlton
Sunday 15th March 2009:
Bristol City 1-1 Cardiff
Barnsley lie in 22nd place in the Coca-Cola Championship with 40 points from 36 games.
We are 20 points off the Play-Offs, 31 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 34 points off First place and 1 point inside the Relegation Zone.
Up to 15/3/09
Next Up:
At Oakwell:
Coca-Cola Championship Matchday Thirty Seven: Barnsley v Crystal Palace Tuesday 17th March 2009 Kick-Off 7:45pm.
Tickets:
East Stand and West Stand Upper Tiers
Adults £21.00
OAP/Juvenile £12.00
Juveniles (U11) £6.00
Barnsley Chronicle Family Area
Adults £21.00
OAP £12.00
Juvenile £12.00
Juveniles (U11) £6.00
East Stand Lower and West Stand Lower
Adults £20.00
OAP/Juveniles £11.00
Juveniles (U11) £5.00
CK Beckett Stand (Pontefract Road End)
Adults £19.00
OAP/Juveniles £11.00
Juveniles (U11) £5.00
All Disabled Areas £19.00
Helpers FREE OF CHARGE
To book tickets for forthcoming matches simply phone the Oakwell Box Office on 0871 2266777. Alternatively call at the Box Office in person; contact the Box Office by fax on 01226 211444 or e-mail boxoffice@barnsleyfc.co.uk. Please note that Juvenile U11 tickets must be purchased in advance from the Oakwell Box Office and this price will not be on sale on the turnstiles under any circumstances.
On The Road:
Coca-Cola Championship Thirty Eight: Derby County v Barnsley Saturday 21st March 2009 Kick-Off 3pm
Tickets:
Adults: £21.50
Senior Citizens (60 and Above): £12.75
Juvenile (16 and Under): £7.75.
Official Reds on the Road coaches are making the trip to Pride Park. Tickets: £12. Coach leaves Oakwell at 12.30pm on the day of the game.