Frustrating,
isn't it? But if WE feel like this, imagine how the players
and the manager must feel. Barnsley have an excellent home record
(though, frankly, it is hard to see why on today's evidence)
and I went expecting them to really have a go at us. In the
end they won thanks to a penalty which can best be described
as "iffy". We deserved a point (not three, but certainly one),
but yet again we come away with nothing. Not booed off today,
though, which probably constitutes some sort of progress. Tank's
minor injury kept him out and Quashie was suspended after the
Bramall Lane fiasco, so we gave a debut to Jim Brennan at left
back and moved Riccy forward into midfield. Brennan is entitled
to feel pretty satisfied with his debut (apart from the result,
of course) - he looks a sound buy. He didn't do as much in attack
as his reputation suggests he is capable of, but a touch of
caution going forward is understandable in your first game,
and in defence (which is, after all, what we pay him for) he
did very well; solid in the tackle (and staying on his feet,
too), good at pushing players wide, decent distribution, and
(on the couple of occasions when Hignett did get round him)
quick to recover and tackle back. As a result we looked much
better balanced at the back. I look forward to seeing him in
partnership with Tank.... ...because Bart is not a winger, I'm
afraid. It is easy to understand why we played him on the left
today, but we have seen him out there too often over the years,
and he rarely convinces in a wide role, unlike in the middle.
He was anonymous on the wing, and was taken off. The first half
was pretty even - both sides working hard in swirling wind and
a slippery surface, both defences easily dealing with whatever
came. Our closest effort was a run and left foot shot from Dougie,
theirs an abject header well wide from Shipperley after ML-J
slipped to allow him the chance; good to see Shippo hasn't changed.
Neither keeper was exactly rushed off their feet. After half
time Barnsley stepped up the pace for 15 minutes, but Norm had
still only had to make one save (an excellent one from a fierce
Sheron drive) when the game changed after an hour. A through
ball was played into the right hand edge of Forest's box, Hignett
chased it, Hjelde came across to cover and appeared to win the
ball cleanly with a sliding tackle and play it behind for a
corner. Hignett went over his leg. Penalty. Now on balance the
ref had a pretty decent game today (showing common sense in
the conditions when a Jobsworth could have booked half a dozen
players), but he got this one wrong, I'm afraid. Yes, I was
at the opposite end of the ground. Sure, I'd have to see it
on the TV to be certain. But it didn't look remotely like a
pen from where we were, and the reaction of Riccy, Hjelde, Norm
and Chet, who all beseiged the ref, suggests they agreed with
the fans. I also spoke to a couple of Barnsley fans after the
game, and they agreed - clean tackle, Hignett played for a penalty
and got it. Dodgy. Needless to say Hignett got up and sent Norm
the wrong way. For ten minutes after that we were ineffectual,
and you could hear the boo-boys warming up. Luca came on for
Bart, but even he wasn't achieving much on the left wing. So
he and Bonalair swapped wings, and suddenly we looked a different
team. AT LAST Forest showed us that they can step up a gear,
can pour forward and force a string of corners, can attack with
some vigour - all the more so when Woany came on for Bonalair
with 10 mins to go. Miller in the Barnsley goal was beaten by
a Hjelde header from a corner - not certain it was going in,
but Dougie was about to poke it in at the far post when the
full back cleared it off the line. Then Miller made a good low
save at his near post from a well struck Luca free kick. Finally
he saved well from a fierce Woan shot from a narrow angle. Barnsley
were reduced to hoofing it anywhere, and we were even treated
to the rare sight of Norm up in the opposition box for a couple
of corners. But they held out. How were the players? I have
already talked about Brennan (good) and Bart (anonymous out
of position). Norm was excellent. Hjelde had another good game.
Chet defended well but showed some poor distribution (which
is why I prefer Riccy at the back). ML-J was sound - in fact
we defended pretty well throughout. In midfield Riccy was fine,
but not as inspiring as he is at the back - why waste an excellent
defender by using him as an OK midfielder? (I know why today,
but this is a general point). Prutton played very well, I thought
- he is growing in confidence with his running at defences with
the ball, he worked his socks off and one exquisite 40-yard
diagonal ball right into Dougie's stride was the best bit of
skill of the afternoon - Dougie pulled it wide on the half volley,
but that's not Prutton's fault. On the right wing Bonalair was
about as much use as Bart on the left. I'm afraid. Put it this
way; the midfield we finished with (Luca, Prutton, Riccy and
Woan) looked three times as threatening as the one we started
with (Bonalair, Prutton, Riccy and Bart). I understand why we
should want to bring Luca and Woan back gently after injury
(look what happened last time we rushed Petrachi straight back),
but now that we have a week off, let's hope we can play Luca
and either Tank or Woan on the left from the start at Norwich
next week. What does that leave? You guessed it. The strikers.
After he had played so well in midweek, I'm am afraid Marlon
reverted to his previous incarnation today. Big strong boy,
and quick, but not good in the air and curiously tentative in
50:50 balls. He was taken off (much to the displeasure of the
anti-Freedman boys - but in truth Marlon wasn't playing well
either). David Freeman replaced Marlon for his debut and looked
skillful and quick, but he is even smaller than Dougie, so won
zero in the air and was not given much change by the muscular
central defence. Good one for the future maybe - wouldn't be
fair to judge on 20 minutes' exposure. Answer to our current
problems up front? Definitely not. And Dougie? Sigh. Clearly
Dougie is destined to be one of those players the crowd simply
don't like. People like me can point out until we are blue in
the face that he scores goals and that he does lots of good
things amongst the things they boo at (more good things than
bad, in my humble opinion)... but in the end the fans don't
think he is good enough, and that's a shame. Whether the boos
and constant criticism are effecting his confidence I don't
know - but the guy would have to be made of stone for it not
to get to him soon. So. Nothing new, really. WE NEED A STRIKER.
Someone with some presence who can hold the ball up, win at
least some balls in the air (and, of course, score goals). You
never know, Dougie might even look a different man alongside
him..... We can point to a decent defensive performance and
the fact that they won with a dubious pen. But in tomorrow's
paper it will still say we lost. Which is why it is so frustrating.
