4 hours ago
The new manager bubble that Liam Manning had appears to have a large Doncaster shaped hole in it, with Town registering two defeats in the space of a week, sandwiching a further defeat to Stevenage. To compound matters zero shots on target in the last two games, with any impetus from the start of Manning's reign seemingly evaporating into oblivion.
A potential solace is how the Town were up for it against Bradford at short notice, with this weekend being against another rival, there's a glimmer of hope that the players will be fired up once again, saying that, it shouldn't take such matters to fire professional players up for playing and it should come naturally.
So Saturday sees another Yorkshire derby as Town welcome Tarn to the Accu stadium. Huddersfield are clinging onto 6th position by a point, but have played two games more than 7th placed Stevenage, Barnsley meanwhile sit in 13th place, with a record not too dissimilar to Town, although they have played 4 games less. The tale of the season for town is stupid losses and an inability to put in a performance against the teams around them, on a consistent basis that is, it's a fact that is probably going to cost us this season, as it did last season. Despite investment in the playing squad, and up top at that, goals seem to be difficult to come by, it was hard for lee grant and his tippy tappy football and it's equally as difficult for Manning and his channel ball. I've said it for a while, it feels like we never play the right system for the players we have. Tippy tappy wasn't right for our defence and midfield, this style isn't right for the size of our forwards and lack of pace out wide. Answers on a post card to the solution, for me it involves two strikers and pushing on a bit more, it worked a few games ago so why change, but hey ho.
For me we have a few too many players who are able to look busy but so little output. Dion Charles hustles around but never does he really cause issues, especially on his own, bobby Wales looks like he'll cause even fewer issues. Elsewhere in the squad for me down the right in Gooch and Sorensen there's two players who have got the ability but fail to show it all the time, to the extent that it feels like they bundle their way through games without really impacting it. In midfield, I don't want to go to town on kasumu, but for all his hustle and bustle and ability to drive at teams, I've not seen many players have as poor ball control or passing capability, to the extent of rather play harness deeper and allow Ashia, another who is hustle and bustle but with a knack of pulling a goal out of nowhere, a chance to get into the game more. I don't think it can be overstated the impact of losing bojan and Joe low has had either, low was much maligned earlier in the season for not being comfortable on the ball, but since the change in style he has been a wall back there, since his injury we've had the dodgy/nervy josh Feeney and not really the same solidity. Bojan meanwhile had just started to show a new side to himself, attempting to bully defenders back and showing strength and I think he has been the biggest miss of the lot as we've had to change system since his injury.
Since the turn of the new year Barnsley's form has been steady, possibly bordering on inconsistent, beginning 2026 with a 1-1 draw away at struggling Wigan, with Barnsley seeing Luca Connell picking up a red card, speaking to a reds fan at work, they seem to have a real dislike of Connell since he tried to force a move away, saying he's more likely to create a goal for the opposition than his own team, maybe he fancies doing that on Saturday. They were then knocked out of the FA cup by Liverpool, but it was a good day out for them I guess. Back into league action and it was a victory against Blackpool, with OAP David Mcgoldrick scoring an injury time winner, they then travelled to Reading and came away with a point thanks to a 2-2 draw, despite not playing well according to manager Conor Hourihane. A trip to Wales followed and the reds followed suit of the rest of the league as they lost to Cardiff, with the bluebirds surging past them 4-0. It was back to winning ways, in surprising fashion as they beat Stevenage 3-1, the departing Davis Keillor-dunn bagging a brace before leaving for Wrexham. They were scheduled to play Stevenage fairly soon after but it got postponed at the last minute due to a waterlogged pitch. February begun with a draw against lowly Northampton, Mcgoldrick once again getting his Zimmer frame in the right place to score again, this was another game where reds fans think they could and should have lost. Bolton were up next and blew Barnsley away in the first half, going in at halftime 3-0 up but unlike the previous game where fans thought they should have lost, the feeling was that the second half performance should have yielded 3 points as they managed to make it a respectable 3-2, but had chances to get more out of the game. Last Saturday saw a real topsy turvy game that probably highlighted their season, taking a 2-0 lead against Wimbledon, thanks to Mcgoldrick and new signing Tom Bradshaw, a strikeforce with a combined age of nearly 70, but it doesn't matter if the ball is going where you want it only for the dons to come back to 3-2, before a late equaliser spared a few blushes. Last time out the Tykes faced Peterborough and whilst the office was tentative about this one, apparently they played quite well after the Peterborough opened the scoring, with Barnsley eventually winning 2-1.
So sticking with the visitors, members of the office are still anti Conor Hourihane, thinking he should be a coach and not the main man, thinking he's too naive and not smart enough to change things up during the game (in dictionary see Lee Grant) they feel he needs an experienced head alongside him to guide him and offer a different outlook on things, some fans are still reeling over the treatment of club stalwart Martin Devaney, believing he should have finally got his chances rather than being pushed out of the club by the arrival of Hourihane last season, originally as a player coach.
The January transfer window saw the Tykes refresh their squad slightly but not as much as fans would have liked. Experienced defender Eoghan O'Connell joined having been without a club for a period of time. Charlie Lennon joined from Middlesbrough having impressed whilst out on loan at Darlington, he has yet to make an appearance for the first team, so I guess he was a development signing. Elsewhere Scott Banks joined on loan from St Pauli, the Scottish winger moved to Germany a few seasons ago from crystal palace and spent the first half of the season on loan at Blackpool before seeing Barnsley taking over the terms of his loan, he's no stranger to Yorkshire having had a spell on loan at Bradford a few seasons back. The Tykes re-signed Tom Bradshaw on loan from Oxford United. The 33 year old had struggled for game time there and made the temporary move back to familiar territory, probably with the aim of getting a permanent deal in the summer. They also signed two former town loanees, Tawanda Chirewa joined on loan from Wolves with the winger yet to make his first start, he spent the second half of last season on loan at Town and flattered to deceive really as Town plummeted away. Their final signing is former goalkeeper Owen Goodman who joined on loan after town agreed to terminate his loan here. He's become their new number one and the same issues have been highlighted once again, distribution is sometimes off and he's prone to some dodgy keeper moments, having caused some problems already, hopefully more on Saturday.
Leaving the club, the biggy was Davis Keillor-dunn, who made the move to championship side Wrexham to help them chase their premier league ambitions, he had been a key player since joining from Mansfield. Neil Farrugia left to join Scottish side Dundee United, Kacper Lopata moved to Walsall on loan whilst former Town midfielder Jon Russell joined Mansfield on loan, to that the reaction at work was "good" and some expletives explaining how poor he was.
In terms of team news, Joe Low and Bojan are both very much out, Jack Whatmough and Antony Evans continued their comebacks in a midweek defeat for the under 21's, a game which also saw Alfie May get some game time as he comes back into contention after his suspension. Mickel Miller missed the midweek game with a knock and could be back for Saturday, Marcus mcguane went off injured on Saturday but isn't expected to be out for too long, but Saturday may be too soon. Ryan hardie made his town debut on Tuesday night, but don't expect him to be featuring from the off on Saturday as he builds his minutes up, the most likely change will see May come in for Alves and probably not much else.
For Barnsley there hasn't been much said at work, so expect them to go with a fairly familiar line up, with the two old heads leading the line, both of whom need to be watched, with both capable in the air and both capable of bullying defenders, it wouldn't surprise me if Roughan becomes prime target if he starts in the back three. Otherwise, a lot of their play will run through Luca Connell and whilst he has been derided by some fans, he remains a key player in the eyes of the manager.
Played for both is a rather extensive list with the recent candidates being the likes of Herbie Kane, the already mentioned new signings for the Tykes and Jon Russell, whilst current coach jon stead has now coached at both clubs. Whilst recently Michal helik and Michael duff have both been part of both clubs set ups. Whilst yesteryear has seen the likes of Robbie williams, Antony kay, Martin cranie, jack hunt, Jacob butterfield and Dominik werling don both kits. Whilst the likes of Andy Ritchie and mark robins have attempted to manage both sides
But here's some others in anagram form
1) weathers tampon
2) majors wild nail
3) mad mama hill
4) canyon hormone
5) ham hog making it bull
6) die organism die
7) sweaty damn it
8) no cackling
9) worn loin walker
10) green road
A potential solace is how the Town were up for it against Bradford at short notice, with this weekend being against another rival, there's a glimmer of hope that the players will be fired up once again, saying that, it shouldn't take such matters to fire professional players up for playing and it should come naturally.
So Saturday sees another Yorkshire derby as Town welcome Tarn to the Accu stadium. Huddersfield are clinging onto 6th position by a point, but have played two games more than 7th placed Stevenage, Barnsley meanwhile sit in 13th place, with a record not too dissimilar to Town, although they have played 4 games less. The tale of the season for town is stupid losses and an inability to put in a performance against the teams around them, on a consistent basis that is, it's a fact that is probably going to cost us this season, as it did last season. Despite investment in the playing squad, and up top at that, goals seem to be difficult to come by, it was hard for lee grant and his tippy tappy football and it's equally as difficult for Manning and his channel ball. I've said it for a while, it feels like we never play the right system for the players we have. Tippy tappy wasn't right for our defence and midfield, this style isn't right for the size of our forwards and lack of pace out wide. Answers on a post card to the solution, for me it involves two strikers and pushing on a bit more, it worked a few games ago so why change, but hey ho.
For me we have a few too many players who are able to look busy but so little output. Dion Charles hustles around but never does he really cause issues, especially on his own, bobby Wales looks like he'll cause even fewer issues. Elsewhere in the squad for me down the right in Gooch and Sorensen there's two players who have got the ability but fail to show it all the time, to the extent that it feels like they bundle their way through games without really impacting it. In midfield, I don't want to go to town on kasumu, but for all his hustle and bustle and ability to drive at teams, I've not seen many players have as poor ball control or passing capability, to the extent of rather play harness deeper and allow Ashia, another who is hustle and bustle but with a knack of pulling a goal out of nowhere, a chance to get into the game more. I don't think it can be overstated the impact of losing bojan and Joe low has had either, low was much maligned earlier in the season for not being comfortable on the ball, but since the change in style he has been a wall back there, since his injury we've had the dodgy/nervy josh Feeney and not really the same solidity. Bojan meanwhile had just started to show a new side to himself, attempting to bully defenders back and showing strength and I think he has been the biggest miss of the lot as we've had to change system since his injury.
Since the turn of the new year Barnsley's form has been steady, possibly bordering on inconsistent, beginning 2026 with a 1-1 draw away at struggling Wigan, with Barnsley seeing Luca Connell picking up a red card, speaking to a reds fan at work, they seem to have a real dislike of Connell since he tried to force a move away, saying he's more likely to create a goal for the opposition than his own team, maybe he fancies doing that on Saturday. They were then knocked out of the FA cup by Liverpool, but it was a good day out for them I guess. Back into league action and it was a victory against Blackpool, with OAP David Mcgoldrick scoring an injury time winner, they then travelled to Reading and came away with a point thanks to a 2-2 draw, despite not playing well according to manager Conor Hourihane. A trip to Wales followed and the reds followed suit of the rest of the league as they lost to Cardiff, with the bluebirds surging past them 4-0. It was back to winning ways, in surprising fashion as they beat Stevenage 3-1, the departing Davis Keillor-dunn bagging a brace before leaving for Wrexham. They were scheduled to play Stevenage fairly soon after but it got postponed at the last minute due to a waterlogged pitch. February begun with a draw against lowly Northampton, Mcgoldrick once again getting his Zimmer frame in the right place to score again, this was another game where reds fans think they could and should have lost. Bolton were up next and blew Barnsley away in the first half, going in at halftime 3-0 up but unlike the previous game where fans thought they should have lost, the feeling was that the second half performance should have yielded 3 points as they managed to make it a respectable 3-2, but had chances to get more out of the game. Last Saturday saw a real topsy turvy game that probably highlighted their season, taking a 2-0 lead against Wimbledon, thanks to Mcgoldrick and new signing Tom Bradshaw, a strikeforce with a combined age of nearly 70, but it doesn't matter if the ball is going where you want it only for the dons to come back to 3-2, before a late equaliser spared a few blushes. Last time out the Tykes faced Peterborough and whilst the office was tentative about this one, apparently they played quite well after the Peterborough opened the scoring, with Barnsley eventually winning 2-1.
So sticking with the visitors, members of the office are still anti Conor Hourihane, thinking he should be a coach and not the main man, thinking he's too naive and not smart enough to change things up during the game (in dictionary see Lee Grant) they feel he needs an experienced head alongside him to guide him and offer a different outlook on things, some fans are still reeling over the treatment of club stalwart Martin Devaney, believing he should have finally got his chances rather than being pushed out of the club by the arrival of Hourihane last season, originally as a player coach.
The January transfer window saw the Tykes refresh their squad slightly but not as much as fans would have liked. Experienced defender Eoghan O'Connell joined having been without a club for a period of time. Charlie Lennon joined from Middlesbrough having impressed whilst out on loan at Darlington, he has yet to make an appearance for the first team, so I guess he was a development signing. Elsewhere Scott Banks joined on loan from St Pauli, the Scottish winger moved to Germany a few seasons ago from crystal palace and spent the first half of the season on loan at Blackpool before seeing Barnsley taking over the terms of his loan, he's no stranger to Yorkshire having had a spell on loan at Bradford a few seasons back. The Tykes re-signed Tom Bradshaw on loan from Oxford United. The 33 year old had struggled for game time there and made the temporary move back to familiar territory, probably with the aim of getting a permanent deal in the summer. They also signed two former town loanees, Tawanda Chirewa joined on loan from Wolves with the winger yet to make his first start, he spent the second half of last season on loan at Town and flattered to deceive really as Town plummeted away. Their final signing is former goalkeeper Owen Goodman who joined on loan after town agreed to terminate his loan here. He's become their new number one and the same issues have been highlighted once again, distribution is sometimes off and he's prone to some dodgy keeper moments, having caused some problems already, hopefully more on Saturday.
Leaving the club, the biggy was Davis Keillor-dunn, who made the move to championship side Wrexham to help them chase their premier league ambitions, he had been a key player since joining from Mansfield. Neil Farrugia left to join Scottish side Dundee United, Kacper Lopata moved to Walsall on loan whilst former Town midfielder Jon Russell joined Mansfield on loan, to that the reaction at work was "good" and some expletives explaining how poor he was.
In terms of team news, Joe Low and Bojan are both very much out, Jack Whatmough and Antony Evans continued their comebacks in a midweek defeat for the under 21's, a game which also saw Alfie May get some game time as he comes back into contention after his suspension. Mickel Miller missed the midweek game with a knock and could be back for Saturday, Marcus mcguane went off injured on Saturday but isn't expected to be out for too long, but Saturday may be too soon. Ryan hardie made his town debut on Tuesday night, but don't expect him to be featuring from the off on Saturday as he builds his minutes up, the most likely change will see May come in for Alves and probably not much else.
For Barnsley there hasn't been much said at work, so expect them to go with a fairly familiar line up, with the two old heads leading the line, both of whom need to be watched, with both capable in the air and both capable of bullying defenders, it wouldn't surprise me if Roughan becomes prime target if he starts in the back three. Otherwise, a lot of their play will run through Luca Connell and whilst he has been derided by some fans, he remains a key player in the eyes of the manager.
Played for both is a rather extensive list with the recent candidates being the likes of Herbie Kane, the already mentioned new signings for the Tykes and Jon Russell, whilst current coach jon stead has now coached at both clubs. Whilst recently Michal helik and Michael duff have both been part of both clubs set ups. Whilst yesteryear has seen the likes of Robbie williams, Antony kay, Martin cranie, jack hunt, Jacob butterfield and Dominik werling don both kits. Whilst the likes of Andy Ritchie and mark robins have attempted to manage both sides
But here's some others in anagram form
1) weathers tampon
2) majors wild nail
3) mad mama hill
4) canyon hormone
5) ham hog making it bull
6) die organism die
7) sweaty damn it
8) no cackling
9) worn loin walker
10) green road
Another day, another door, another high, another low
![[Image: 54959922753_2809021c5f_m.jpg]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54959922753_2809021c5f_m.jpg)
