Reds fans can take some positives from the latest draw at Oakwell but, ultimately, this was a bewildering and frustrating afternoon.
It’s been a strange week at the club (okay, it’s been a strange season but that’s another story). ‘Slasher’ Ilic leaves Oakwell, despite the fact that his contract does not expire until mid-February, and is immediately replaced by
Paul Warhurst is released after Gudjon Thordason concludes that the 87 year old is no longer fit enough for the demands of second division football. Pity he didn’t realise that when he signed him, all of six weeks ago.
Gudjon’s increasingly bizarre team selections and baffling tactics have been a feature of this campaign, and he excelled himself today: centre-half Gary Monk was again playing at right back, and central midfielders Alex Neil and Chris Lumsdon were employed on the left and right wings respectively. The icing on the cake, however, was the selection of Antony Kay (long time midfielder, then centre-half, then midfielder again) as a striker.
The experiment looked to have worked a treat early on, or at least it would have done had Kay (twice) and Betsy put away their relatively straightforward chances. Kay should have scored when Neil flicked on Lumsdon's cross but could only direct his point-bank header straight at Cherries ‘keeper Neil Moss. A few minutes later, Betsy’s low cross left Kay one-on-one with Moss, but the
By the time that Betsy headed wide from all of five yards, Reds fans were left thinking that it would be typical if Bournemouth, who had not been in the game at all thus far, were to score with their first attack. And then Bournemouth scored with their first attack. Bournemouth’s Warren Feeney got to the by-line and whipped in a superb cross which James Hayter headed home. Debutant keeper Caig could do nothing about it.
Then it all went a bit flat. Barnsley couldn’t muster any sort of a response before half time, and it looked as if the Reds would rue those three chances that had been spurned early on. As the second half kicked off, it was clear that Bournemouth were intent on preserving their narrow lead and for a long spell it looked like Barnsley were not going to break them down. Kay bundled home Lumsdon’s cross on the hour mark, but he was penalised, harshly in my (obviously bias) opinion for a foul on Marcus Browning. Kay then hit the post with an overhead kick as he continued to do everything but find the net on his debut as a striker.
And then….just as it seemed that there would be no reward, the previously innocuous Chris Lumsdon popped up to scramble home Kevin Betsy’s deflected cross-cum-shot. Eighty minutes gone, one all, and the impetus seemingly with the home team. Surely the last ten minutes would see Barnsley dominate in pursuit of a late winner? Well, yes and no: the Reds certainly went for it but, strangely, Bournemouth, who had displayed not one iota of attacking intent throughout the whole of the second period, suddenly decided that they wanted the three points, and also went hell for leather for a winning goal.
The last ten minutes therefore saw a flurry of activity at both ends and the game could have gone either way. Betsy hit the post after a mazy run; that man Kay again went close after a strong run through the heart of the Bournemouth defence culminated in Moss blocking at his feet; at the other end, the visitors threatened with a number of breakaways, but could not find the finsih that, frankly, they did not deserve.
So honours even after a match full of contradictions: Barnsley fans were frustrated not to have won the game, despite the fact that the Reds had to wait until the 80th minute to salvage a point. The selection of Kay upfront baffled everyone (particularly considering that Isaiah Rankin was sat on the bench), but Kay then turned in a man of the match performance that had everything but a goal. After all, Kay did more today than 'Premier League striker' Jonathan Walters did in 12 games.
That said, I do take issue with some of Gudjon's selections. Lumsdon was poor today but he is NOT a right-winger. Put him in the middle, in place of Burns who contributed little or, even better, Crooks who did nothing other than wobble about with that comedy belly of his and foul people occasionally. And he smells. Probably. Alex Neil did okay on the left but in a "tidy" way, rather than in dangerous, creative, attacking way. Only once did Barnsley get behind the Bournemouth defence in wide positions (when Kay saw his header disallowed) and that's simply not good enough.
All in all, though, this was an improvement on recent performances, but the need for a striker is so obvious it hurts. A quick glance at the form guide and it's not hard to work out where our promotion / play-offs challenge is faltering: only one team have scored less at home than Barnsley this season, and when you're almost as bad as S***field Wednesday, then you know things are grim.