Worst Start For 22 Years As Fans Grow Disgruntled With Davey

Barnsley's season went from worrying to mini crisis as a fourth straight defeat at promotion favourites Birmingham City made this the worst start to a season for 22 years. Not since the 1986/87 season have Barnsley lost their opening four games of the season (that season The Reds lost their first six games but finished a credible 11^th in the old Second Division).

It must be pointed out that the fixture computer has not been kind to Barnsley at the start of this season with trips to billionaire-backed QPR and recently relegated Birmingham either side of a home game with bogey side Coventry City but that will do little to soothe the fears of Reds fans, a fair portion of whom saw the recent failings of not taking chances once again come back to haunt them at St Andrews Stadium.

The saying goes "You don't win anything with kids" but maybe it should be changed to "You don't win anything with one upfront". In many away games last season Reds boss Simon Davey took a lone striker upfront on the club's travels but ditched the plans when they won just one of 20 away games but against an on form Birmingham side who had started the campaign with three straight victories in league and cup, Davey again resorted to the "hit and hope" routine. To his credit, his options in the striker department was pretty limited with Iain Hume and Maceo Rigters unavailable and Kayode Odejayi and Miguel Mostto yet to prove they can play anything near good enough for 90 minutes.

So Davey gave Jon Macken the unenviable task of trying to find a way past Birmingham's imposing central defence of Martin Taylor and Liam Ridgewell. Davey also opted to pack the defence with five men- Mounir El Haimour, Stephen Foster, Dennis Souza, Darren Moore and Bobby Hassell all charged with stopping the on fire Kevin Phillips and Garry O'Connor.

Neither end of the field sparkled though. Macken often looked frustrated despite some neat passing play between Diego Leon and Brian Howard whilst the incredible pace and trickery of Quincy Owusu-Abeyie constantly unsettled the backline especially the usually reliable Foster.

Phillips, with two goals in two league games was surprisingly quiet for Birmingham but a striker with an incredible ratio of 121 goals from just 295 career starts often produces the magic when it's needed and the man who turned down a move to Barnsley in the summer did just that in the 13^th minute to put Birmingham in front.

The 35 year old had been inches away with a header a couple of minutes earlier but he was not to be denied. Stuart Parnaby's stinging drive was beaten around the post by Luke Steele and when the resultant corner was poorly cleared Parnaby whipped the ball back in and Phillips was criminally left totally unmarked six yards out to head home.

Howard and Leon continued to impress in midfield with Leon in particular spraying some delightful balls out wide, one of which was pounced on by El Haimour who produced a delicious cross that with just one upfront meant it was not capitalised on.

Five minutes before the break Barnsley were inches away from an equaliser and once again it was thanks to Leon who has been Barnsley's best performer by a mile so far this season.

The little Spaniard collected the ball thirty yards from goal and curled a wonderful effort towards the top corner. It had Birmingham keeper Maik Taylor beaten all ends up but agonisingly the ball came back off the crossbar.

That miss was cruelly punished in first half stoppage time.

Owusu-Abeyie's left wing cross was totally misjudged by Steele and as the ball sailed over the keeper's despairing fingertips Garry O'Connor was left with the task of heading in.

It was a cruel blow that made The Reds second half task doubly hard.

Davey finally realised 5-4-1 was not working and replaced Bobby Hassell with Kayode Odejayi and went 4-4-2.

The benefits were almost instant with Odejayi putting in a terrific display. Finally Taylor and Ridgewell had something to think about.

And it was thanks to Odejayi that Barnsley produced their best chance of the game.

On 58 minutes the giant Nigerian rose highest to flick the ball on superbly and Howard got behind the Birmingham defence but on his weaker right foot his effort came back off the outstretched leg of Maik Taylor.

10 minutes later Devaney missed a sitter.

Gary Teale's only meaningful contribution was a good cross which Odejayi just failed to flick in, but the ball fell perfectly to Devaney to power home. Miserably he blasted it high over the bar.

That miss seemed to kill the game for Barnsley and if it wasn't for two fine saves from Steele the score line would have looked far worse.

On 76 minutes, James McFadden curled a great effort towards the far corner and Steele at full stretch managed to turn it round the post before producing an even better stop on 82 minutes to somehow turn substitute Gary McSheffrey's effort away.

Next up is a Derby County side without a win in 35 matches. The first six-pointer of the season. I suspect neither under-pressure manager dare lose this one. Davey dare not lose it at Oakwell!

Player Ratings:

Luke Steele: Terrible error gifted Birmingham the killer second goal right on half-time but redeemed himself with two excellent saves late on. 7

Bobby Hassell: On the right hand side of a five man defence but failed to make any impact. Replaced at half time. Subbed.

Dennis Souza: Comfortable and kept Phillips quiet for all but one crucial second in the game. 7

Darren Moore: Its not wonder he has conceded two penalties this season. Goes charging in and couldn't live with Owusu-Abeyie. 5

Stephen Foster: Owusu-Abeyie left him with the proverbial twisted blood. One run saw Foster nutmegged and then skipped round. 5

Mounir El Haimour: I finally got to see the Frenchman in action and looks to have a tasty left foot. Was tied too much to defensive duties to get forward unfortunately. 6

Gary Teale: Four weeks may prove too long for Teale. Had a shocker. Constantly caught in possession and a few misplaced passes saw the fans get on his back. Probably a relief he will be ineligible against his parent club Derby next week. 4

Brian Howard ©: Its obvious this poor run is hurting him. Tried his hardest and his partnership in midfield with Leon was a real highlight. Denied by Maik Taylor in the second half with The Reds best chance of the game. 7

Diego Leon: Bossed the midfield for me. Denied by the crossbar and his range of passing was excellent. 8

Martin Devaney: Complete waste of space. Cant cross, has no pace and cannot tackle. Totally fine when the team is doing well. On a bad run like this there is no place for him. Complete lack of composure saw him spurn a sitter. No player deserves to be booed though like he was when subbed. 4

Jon Macken: Left to fend for himself in the first half. The arrival of Odejayi helped him but not one of his best games. 5

Substitutes:

Kayode Odejayi (for Hassell 45) Totally changed the game. His physical presence finally caused the Birmingham defence some concern. Won everything in the air and one great header produced the chance for Howard. 8

Miguel Mostto (for Devaney 71) There's just something frustrating about Mostto. He's never with the pace of the game and just laughs when things go wrong. 5

Unused Substitutes:

Kyle Letheren, Rob Atkinson, Rob Kozluk.

BarnsleyBoy's Man of the Match: For the third successive match Diego Leon was instrumental in getting Barnsley moving forward. Kayode Odejayi was also excellent when he came on.

BIRMINGHAM CITY: Taylor, Murphy, Parnaby (Kelly 35), Martin Taylor, Ridgewell, Larsson, Carsley (c), Owuse-Abeyie, O'Connor (Bent 45), Phillips (McSheffery 71), McFadden.
Subs: Doyle, Mutch.

Most Impressed by Birmingham's: Quincy Owusu-Abeyie: One of the most talented players in the league! Full of pace and tricks. There was a sense of anticipation in the crowd whenever he got on the ball.

Ref Watch Richard Beeby: Got all the major decisions right. 7

Other Reports:

Coca-Cola Championship Results Saturday 23^rd August 2008:

Birmingham 2-0 BARNSLEY

Blackpool 1-3 Sheffield United

Cardiff 2-2 Norwich

Charlton 4-2 Reading

Coventry 0-3 Bristol City

Crystal Palace 0-0 Burnley

Derby 0-1 Southampton

Ipswich 0-2 Wolves

Nottingham Forest 3-2 Watford

Plymouth 0-1 Swansea

QPR 2-0 Doncaster

Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Preston

Barnsley lie in 24^th place in the Coca-Cola Championship with 0 points from 3 games.

We are 6 points off the Play-Offs, 7 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 9 points off First place and 1 point inside the Relegation Zone.

Up to and including 23/8/08

Next Up:

At Oakwell:

Coca-Cola Championship Matchday Four: Barnsley v Derby County Saturday 30^th August 2008 Kick-Off 3pm.

Tickets:

East Stand and West Stand Upper Tiers
Adults £22.00
OAP/Juvenile £13.00
Juveniles (U11) £7.00

And
Any other supporter with ticket stubs from TWO away games this season.

Tickets will go on sale to supporters in the above category at 9.00am on Tuesday August 26, 2008.

Any remaining tickets will go on General Sale at 9.00am on Tuesday September 2, 2008.

Official Reds on the Road coaches will be making the trip to Bloomfield Road. Price: £13. The coaches leave Oakwell at 11.30am on the day of the game.

Man of the Match: Diego Leon