Why is it when I happen to do a match report on an away game do we get eclipsed? It was Sunderland last season 2-0, Hull City in October 3-0, and yesterday's debacle at the Ricoh Arena, 4-0!
New old faces came back into the Reds side with Anderson de Silva and Lewin Nyatanga returning after spells back at their former clubs. Tony Warner, wearing the new number 1 shirt, started in goal.
There were some encouraging signs as the players warmed up as injured goalkeeper Heinz Muller was seen walking around freely without crutches. He brings a calming influence to the defence, which was badly missed yesterday as 20th placed Coventry City ran riot to sink the Reds.
Right from the off the Reds looked second best. Danny 'Golden Balls' Nardiello was caught offside umpteen times, Leon Best tormented the usually impregnable Dennis Souza and Brian Howard had a shocker in the middle.
Coventry constantly attacked down both flanks with Miguel Tininho and Steve Foster not giving much change to the wingers. They spotted the weak link in Souza early on and attacked towards him.
Cov debutant Daniel Fox could well have been shown a straight red for a nasty looking two-footed challenge on Jamal Campbell-Ryce who took the full brunt of booing from the Ricoh Arena fans after he got up about three minutes later.
Leon Best got his first on 37 minutes as a static Reds defence stood, watched him turn and fire past Tony Warner and then sprint over to Iain Dowie in celebration. After this setback, the Reds went at it, Diego Leon and Brian Howard both wayward with audacious attempts.
Into the second half and the Reds looked more lively going forward, shooting away from the 800 or so travelling fans. Martin Devaney made two bursting runs that almost resulted in goals and Diego Leon drifted across the midfield and looked like it was to be one of the two to provide something for an unexpected equaliser.
Nardiello, who was awful, was booked on 52 minutes for kicking the ball away in frustration after being signalled for offside for the 956th time.
Jon Macken played with staggering intelligence; he knows his passes before the ball gets to him! He released Nardiello but again the Welshman moved too late and was caught offside. Anderson de Silva stamped his authority on the midfield and played well amongst the rubble.
On 70 minutes, the game was ended as a contest when a catastrophic defensive error gifted Coventry a second. Jay Tabb took on Tininho, beat him and played a harmless looking cross across the six-yard box. Dennis Souza would usually feast on these and whack them into touch but not today. A horrific air-kick by the Brazilian meant the ball found its way to Julian Gray at the back post, who repeated his feat of the opening day to gratefully slot the ball into the empty net.
Five minutes later Coventry got on the score sheet once more, again after more appalling defending. Gray managed to wriggle past Souza and get a cross in that Best headed against the bar and Tabb nodded the ball over the line to cap an impressive performance by the winger.
After this the heads dropped and things boiled over between two of OUR OWN players. Nyatanga shouted at Souza for haphazard defending and Souza squared up to Nyatanga. Howard stepped in and handbags between Souza and Howard ensued with the latter being booked for his actions.
Three minutes after this Coventry rubbed salt into the already gaping wounds by grabbing a fourth. Doyle sent a high ball in that Tininho didn't deal with and Best took the ball down and fired past Warner cue the Chelsea Dagger chants that some Reds fans even sung along with!
Robbie Simpson nearly made it five but his easy finish after Warner's low save fell to him was given for offside as Coventry tried to make the scoreline look even more embarrassing.
A rampaging run by sub Kayode Odejayi, which nearly killed keeper Konstantopoulos, was the only action of note by a Reds player in that horrifying last 20 minutes.
A worrying performance on which only three Reds players can take any credit out of. Things have to change before next week's game with table-topping West Brom at Oakwell next week, something like Heinz Muller getting back to full fitness. We could be waiting a while for that however.
Player Ratings
Tony Warner: Worried a lot of people with Nick Colgan-esque unwillingness to leave his line. Panicked the defence slightly. 6
Stephen Foster: A decent performance from Fozzie. He looked pretty solid and didn't let much past him. 7
Dennis Souza: Abysmal. Leon Best ran rings around him and he was at fault for numbers 2 and 3. Also a petty fight with "captain" Howard. 3
Lewin Nyatanga: Not bad. Looked decent but next to Souza, Titus Bramble would've looked half decent. 6
Miguel Tininho: Failure to clear led to the fourth. Tormented by Jay Tabb throughout but looks assured on the ball. 6
Jamal Campbell-Ryce: On the end of a horror tackle by Fox and he never really recovered. Was being booed by the Cov fans also after he failed to get up from as afore mentioned tackle. Didn't look his usual dangerous self. Subbed 5
Anderson de Silva: It's sure good to see him back in the Barnsley red. He oozes quality and how we managed to get him here is beyond belief! 8
Brian Howard: Woeful. Couldn't pass or tackle, miserable performance compounded by scrap with Souza. One more performance like this should result in the end of his captaincy. Where's that £3m man we were getting used to seeing? 4
Diego Leon: He looked pretty lively. Made some decent runs and worried the Coventry fullbacks at times. Subbed 7
Jon Macken: This lad is such an intelligent footballer. He knows his next move before the ball gets to him. Running was immaculate as well. 7
Daniel Nardiello: Do not get me started on this performance. Constantly offside and needlessly booked for booting the ball away, which in fact wasted time for us! Subbed 4
Substitutes:
Martin Devaney (for Campbell-Ryce 45): Looked good on the right. More dangerous than JCR anyway. Made two lung busting runs into the Coventry box as the Reds went after an equaliser. 7
Istvan Ferenczi (for Daniel Nardiello 63): Stamina is exemplary but didn't really get the service to do anything. 5
Kayode Odejayi (for Diego Leon 71): Struck a bit of fear into the Coventry back line and nearly killed Konstantopoulos with a rampaging run. 6
Unused Subs: Coulson, Hassell.
Scarborough Tykes MOTM: Macken, Leon, Anderson and Foster were the best players but Anderson looks a class apart at this level. Shame his centre midfield partner wasn't much cop.
Ref Watch: Mike Russell (Hertfordshire): He wasn't up to much. Gave petty free kicks to both sides and should've sent Fox off for that two-footed lunge.
Chant Of The Day: "There's Only One Heinz Muller, One Heinz Muller, There's Only One Heinz Muller!"
Impressed by Coventry's: Tabb and Best. Tabb tormented the big lad Tininho and Best had Souza for breakfast. If I had to pick I'd say Best.
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