Yesterday was my first game since Birmingham home, and having read so many negative comments on here about Kitching over the last few months, I genuinely feared a tonking yesterday considering the talent he was up against. However, I thought he was immense yesterday. Absolutely committed, and positionally very solid. Very little got past him apart from the daft free kick he gave away on the edge of the box. As for Benson - utterly woeful. However, I'm still hopeful that there's a player in there somewhere. No recruitment system is failsafe, but ours has been consistently excellent for a long time, which suggests that he wouldn't have been signed unless he possesses significantly better abilities than he has shown so far, for whatever reason.
Disagree on the recruitment front. We have consistently got our big signings wrong. Thomas/Wilks/Kane/Benson
I a I agree in the main, Kitching had a decent game but after Benson and Palmer pathetically failed to clear the ball leading up to Fulhams goal , when the ball got to Harry Wilson, Kitching moved away instead of going to block the shot.
Both Brittain & Kitchin have received pelters lately but yesterday I thought they were both excellent
When I saw Kitchen at LB and Vita at RM I feared the worst but both did really well. In fact the entire starting 11 had good games. Just one thing the free kick Kitching gave he never touched the Fulham player. I saw a replay on a screen in the Directors box and it was even less of a foul than our Penalty. Not blaming him for the goal. That blame lies elsewhere. Not many other players in this league would have scored it
I disagree about Kane. I thought he showed some promise last season in what was the best Barnsley team in the last 20 years. I still think he'll play a big part next season as inevitably we try to rebuild again. A year at Oxford, playing and performing regularly, will have done him some good.
Thought Kitching had a great 2nd half against Stoke aswell he plays with commitment and passion and that’s what the fans like to see especially now that he seems to be channeling his aggression in the right way and not wanting to fight everyone.
The biggest problem with our recruitment system is that we're rarely in a position sign Championship ready players. It's a huge step up for most of them and the majority of our signings need to play at least half a season before they're anywhere near the standard we need - some of them need far longer, a couple of seasons, and some will never be ready. Unfortunately when our squad is so threadbare, they have to learn on the job, ready or not. Kitching put in a solid performance yesterday. I haven't been his biggest fan so far, but I'm hoping he can take confidence from the Fulham game and kick on from there.
Kitching gave it his all yesterday, fully committed in the tackle. If only two of the subs had shown the same commitment to get a foot in.
My concern is that Oxford will make a big play to keep him there. Fingers crossed he’ll be back at Oakwell
I think considering we reportedly put a 7 figure sum out for him, and he has 2 years left on his deal, I can't see us letting him go for less than we paid if they do want to sign him. I can only see it happening too if we swap divisions with them.
