Barnsley 2 – 1 Wycombe

A poor spectacle to watch but three points for the super reds was all that mattered in this one as Barnsley beat Wycombe 2 – 1 with goals from Callum Styles and Cauley Woodrow.

Styles started shakily but got better as the game went on as he found space to exploit Wycombe out wide. He looks to have now started to add goals to his game which already seemed to have everything else. He is a real talent and can really play anywhere on the pitch. I have made no secret of wanting to see him in the middle of midfield but with how much we bypass the midfield under the new gaffer then maybe he is better out wide at the moment.

Woodrow despatched his penalty as he always does but I sense he would have preferred to have scored from open play. I think the ref was too eager to blow after realising that he had made a mistake with the Wycombe penalty. He should have held off for a split second to see if there was the advantage to score but the ref had a shocker all night and became very card happy towards the end.

The Wycombe penalty should have been a free kick as the foul was outside the box but Halme was very clumsy in the challenge and he was poor all night and one thing I noted was that his positional sense was awful as well as his all round play.

I had actually wanted Halme to come in for Helic as I felt Helic had been very hit and miss. Well on that display I was certainly wrong and Helic needs to come back in for Halme for the trip to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

I would like to know what Luke Thomas offers. He won the penalty so I will give him credit for that but how often does he actually find a red shirt with a pass? How often is he easily dispossessed or simply manages to fall over or run the ball out of play? He seems to get worse and worse every time he plays. He must be awesome in training for every manager to give him any game time at all.

I think a lot of our fans were wanting a 3 or 4 – 0 victory in this one but Wycombe are hard to play against and aren’t doing do bad given the start they had and the squad they have at their disposal.

They break the game up well with fouls in the right places and are very direct and basically play to their strengths.

It is quite possible that the ball was in the air more than on the deck yesterday and I saw many fans criticise Wycombe for this but we are almost as bad for it and not just in this game, since the new gaffer came in.

There things to like and dislike about that. I like that we are no longer messing abut with it at the back and giving daft goals away. I like the idea of getting forward earlier but not just hitting it long aimlessly for it just to come back.

I feel that sometimes the midfield is completely missed out for long periods during games and would like to see us get it down and play a bit more in this area especially given the talent we have at our disposal there.

Whilst you can’t argue with the results we have been getting I wouldn’t expect to see James wanting to sign for us or Mowatt wanting to sign a new contract whilst we are playing like this.

That could all change with the right forward signings in January. If we can get it forward early and it stick more often than not and then bring the midfield in to play then that would be an ideal way of playing under this manager’s philosophy. More of the ball in midfield but still direct and no messing about at the back, more possession and a bit easier on the eye as well as continuing to create the volume of chances we have and remaining solid at the back. I don’t ask for much I know! I should just be grateful that we have the point’s tally that we do at this stage of the season. I suppose it is the way of the football fan, we always want more and we all think we know a better way to get more than the manager does.

On to Saturday and a trip to Wednesday where we never win. They have obviously been poor this season but will certainly be difficult to beat under Tony Pullis. I just can’t call which way this one will go but another three points for the reds would leave Wednesday in deep trouble still as we approach the Christmas period.

COYR