I'm not concerned by today and certainly don't agree with the kneejerk references in other threads suggesting to aspects of our game being appalling, Struber's not up to it etc etc. We were unlucky today. I firmly believe Helik's sending off was a terrible decision and it changed the game completely. I understand Andersen being sent off but he was also unlucky in my view as he handled it accidentally (both times). I am a little frustrated that we didn't score in the first half. Our final ball in and around their box wasn't quite good enough and we do lack a more physical forward (I think it's become even more pronounced as a result of Browny going) but I also think we're trying hard to bring players in. We need to be patient. It'll be reight......
Pretty much agree with this - the worry is we didnt score when we were on top - Reading scored with their first real chance though that was more down to luck in where the ball dropped than good play. Their second - every other time the guy tries that this season it will be in the stand the Frieser and Mowatt chances were far clearer than any Reading created but we didnt score - last game we had one golden chance and fluffed it. If we can start scoring we will be fine but I dont think there is any guarantee we would have won the game if the ref hadnt sent Helik off
We never seem to make the most of our dominance and then end up conceding. I’d be feeling much more confident if we’d already scored a couple of goals, right now it’s difficult to see where they’re going to come from.
We can't wait 18 games this time though. I love Struber to bits but he needs to pull his finger out. Start by off loading Ritzmaier n' Mowatt and making Styles a regular starter. Then sell Woodrow and play Chaplin and Thomas out wide with Schmidt up front.
Not seen many knee jerk reactions, most of the stuff been said was said last season aswel. We could get a top striker in and I still think it won't make much difference. Going nowhere with this system and tactics unfortunately.
We wouldn’t have won though would we? We can’t score. One of top 5 strikers in league stuck on bench because he can’t run 30km a game.
My biggest concern was the game up to Helik’s sending off, not after it. We looked decent on the ball but never once looked like scoring. That is a major worry.
Bearing in mind that Frieser is still finding his feet (and head!) in the Championship, Schmidt is starting to show some signs of promise and we are told there are signings in the pipeline I think there is reason to be hopeful. The goals will come. Reading, for all their awfulness, must be given some credit for getting in some good blocks and saves.
Don't know why people are worried myself. The team is very slowly improving all the time. It just is. Fine margins, one or two tweaks and maybe a signing and we'll be perfectly ok. You heard it here first.
Just my thoughts on today. Overall i thought before the sending off we were good... our passing and ball retention was first rate. They were struggling big time against our press. Positives...the defence and defence shape look as solid as ive seen for a while. The new CB looks solid and cool and complements our existing 2. Ritzy looked .......well actually good! Williams my mom (again) and all round we looked in control. Decent performances from all (mowatt will get better). Minus side our shooting still needs improvement and we need someone to hold that ball up. Real shame about the sendings off...btw does the suspension include our league cup match?
Just my thoughts on today. Overall i thought before the sending off we were good... our passing and ball retention was first rate. They were struggling big time against our press. Positives...the defence and defence shape look as solid as ive seen for a while. The new CB looks solid and cool and complements our existing 2. Ritzy looked .......well actually good! Williams my mom (again) and all round we looked in control. Decent performances from all (mowatt will get better). Minus side our shooting still needs improvement and we need someone to hold that ball up. Real shame about the sendings off...btw does the suspension include our league cup march Ps im more confident this time round, than same time last season.
Frieser should have 3 goals to his name already, missed a good chance against Forest, **** out last week against Luton when it seemed piss easy to score and IMO he should have scored today. Not a particularly inspiring start to his Barnsley career.
This I agree with. Its no good dominating possession and looking 'lively' if we **** ourselves every time we get in the opposition's penalty area. Our decision making is often found wanting when we're attacking and we either pass the ball back when we should be crossing or the effort at goal is really poor. This is nothing new though as we often had the same problem last season, hopefully Gerhard can sort it out!
I can't believe that we've voluntarily taken almost a third of last season's goals out of this season's equation. Woodrow wouldn't have scored most of last season's tally if he had been on the bench for the majority of a game. You build the team around that sort of player, surely.
For me our disappointment is borne out of pure frustration. Two games running Frieser had had two relatively easy chances and failed to hit the target. Our centre halfs dismissal today was a travesty. He should never have been shown a red and it needs to be rescinded so he can play our next game. As others have said, we need a couple of brawny target men who can hold the ball up and added to what we've already got, that we can start to climb the league and finish around mid table this season.