Minority Report begins once more with the usual caveat, watching via TV means that I am very uncertain about my analysis, especially away from the ball. I will do my best, but please expect mistakes. Tonight, we need the points, but tonight is different, because tonight Brentford are as desperate as we are. With our lack of goals, if we fell behind, there is absolutely no guarantee that we can recover, so it is even more important not to concede the first goal. If we do that, Brentford will sit deep and wait for us to make another error. Strong defence and a clean sheet turns things around. If we do not concede, we can afford to be patient and wait for an error. Do not expect a performance like the last one. I wrote the previous paragraph before the game. However, the game did not go as I expected at all. Brentford wanted to pass the ball out from the keeper. We did not make the mistake of over-pressing the keeper, but we did mark all his short passing options, putting them under pressure as soon as they received the ball and never giving them an easy pass forward. We defended from the front and Jacob Brown and Connor Chaplin deserved huge praise for their work rate. They were our first line of defence, and although Brentford had a huge share of possession, most of it was in their own half. I have been very critical of Struber, but today, in that first half, he got it spot on. To be honest, I would have been well satisfied had the first half finished 0-0, but The goal by Styles along with the save by Walton ensured it would finish 0-1. It was extremely satisfying given the circumstances of the two teams, but there was still 45 minutes to go. The second half followed the same pattern until Brentford changed their shape. They pushed another player into midfield and Barnsley were left without enough players in that area of the field to mark everyone. Benrahma was constantly in space, and he ran at us with the ball at his feet causing consternation in our back line, every time he did so. To be honest, their equaliser looked like it was coming long before it did. Should Struber have changed his system as well? I think so, but I am unsure whether we could have held out, even if he had. It was now Barnsley who had to make a positive change. With 17 minutes remaining we were back in a relegation position. What had we to lose? To be honest, that last 17 minutes plus injury time could have gone either way. Both teams were trying to win the game, and there was desperate defending both side of the ball. However, it was Barnsley who got the break. I do not know whether the pass by Schmidt was a cross or a shot, but Clarke Oduor was on the end of it to score into an empty net from no more than 4 metres. It was another glorious extra-time winner. We put our bodies on the line in the last 6 minutes of injury time, and we celebrated like there was no tomorrow. I do not believe that the Wigan appeal will be upheld and I believe that Sheffield Wednesday will be fined enough points to see them relegated as well. It is a victory for fair play. A victory for the good guys. Minority Report player of the match It was a team performance, and to be honest, no-one stood out. Everyone gave their all and my award goes to the team. The Minority Report player of the season is shared by two players who each have 4 nominations for MotM in individual games. Alex Mowatt 4 (Bristol City, Stoke City (a), Luton Town (a) and Nottingham Forest) Mads Andersen 4 (Hull City, Sheffield Wednesday, Millwall and Blackburn Rovers)
