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Eastwood23

Youth Team
Joined
Aug 6, 2010
Messages
148
Like many of you, I am fed up of Barnard and I cannot for the life of me understand why Brown persists with him. He hasn't delivered anything and surely its makes more sense to use either Layne or Williams. Now I know I have no idea how these 2 boys would play as they've only had one appearance between the 2 of them but they cant be any worse than Barnard. And a youth player is only going to improve by getting first team appearances. We would still be wondering what if had Payne not been given a chance. For the future of the club, it makes sense to try and play youth players rather than has beens. Bringing Williams or Layne on is a gamble that could work well whereas Barnard seems a forgone conclusion. He hasn't delivered for over a year now and it's wasting other player's chances. I don't want to be disrespectful to the man who has produced earlier in his career but now it's time to realise he isn't the same player. He hasn't got the same pace or drive.

Please if nothing more, watch the highlights from the Morecambe game. That last minute flick from Prosser - watch Barnard. He doesn't even move!! A good striker would have reacted to that and anticipated it and could have a got a flick to divert that in. Compare that with the hunger of Worrall who anticipates that ball from a much deeper position and as a result, almost gets a toe on it to equalise. We go on about how he hasnt had the luck etc. but you make your own luck. He's not anticipating and maybe at his age, he's not as driven to make those runs. I can't predict the future but playing devil's advocate, would a younger, faster and more determined striker such as Williams or Layne have made that extra bit of effort to get on the end of Prosser's flick? I personally believe so. And that's just one incident I'm focussing on due to there being video evidence.
 
Completely agree. Makes Freddy's second spell here look a success in comparison. Barnard was never a great all round player but was a great poacher and mover back in the day, unfortunately he seems to have lost the one thing goalscorers supposedly never do - knowing where the goal is.
 
With 4 wins out of 5 I don't feel the need to start analysing the weaknesses in the side. It's certainly the case that we've seen Barnard and maybe Hurst in better form, but look at the bigger picture.
 
Think Barnard thought it was going in.

You are talking about an incident that took less than a second.

Maybe he could have reacted quicker, but there wasnt a run to make. If he made a run before Prosser made contact he would have missed the ball if Prosser had let it go. If Prosser hadnt touched it Barnard would have had a tap in.

Easy saying what he should have done after the event.

Barnard doesnt do anything for me, but I was never a fan in his first stint, although he was clearly a good player and able to score goals back then I always found him frustrating to watch. Even so I think its a bit harsh to criticise him for that one moment.
 
I can't disagree with your assessment of Barnard based on things so far this season. What I just don't understand is why he seems to be no longer the striker we remember from his first spell with us. He had a full pre-season and took part in the friendlies with no noticeable injuries so it's not as if that is the cause. Any professional footballer who has performed well in the Championship should not lose his eye for a goal or the right positioning for a chance, and that was what Barnard was good at. So why is it that he just doesn't look up to it any more? I know team tactics can affect players, but we are creating chances so he should be thriving on the service. Even when a player loses pace, the footballing brain should still there, so It really is a complete mystery to me.
 
Think Barnard thought it was going in.

You are talking about an incident that took less than a second.

Maybe he could have reacted quicker, but there wasnt a run to make. If he made a run before Prosser made contact he would have missed the ball if Prosser had let it go. If Prosser hadnt touched it Barnard would have had a tap in.

Easy saying what he should have done after the event.

Barnard doesnt do anything for me, but I was never a fan in his first stint, although he was clearly a good player and able to score goals back then I always found him frustrating to watch. Even so I think its a bit harsh to criticise him for that one moment.

A good striker wants that goal to be his. Thinking the ball is going to go in is the sign of a poor striker.

On the other hand, twice after Worrall came on he threw himself at the back post to try and get on the end of a ball that looked like it could have gone in. The first time, he got tangled in the net and could easily have damaged himself. Massive effort from Worral
 
I can't disagree with your assessment of Barnard based on things so far this season. What I just don't understand is why he seems to be no longer the striker we remember from his first spell with us. He had a full pre-season and took part in the friendlies with no noticeable injuries so it's not as if that is the cause. Any professional footballer who has performed well in the Championship should not lose his eye for a goal or the right positioning for a chance, and that was what Barnard was good at. So why is it that he just doesn't look up to it any more? I know team tactics can affect players, but we are creating chances so he should be thriving on the service. Even when a player loses pace, the footballing brain should still there, so It really is a complete mystery to me.


Age and injury in a nutshell.
Once a forward lose their yard of pace the end is nigh,Lee was always a quick thinking striker who would pounce on the half chance and bury it,sadly those times appear to be long gone as no nonsense league 2 defenders do not mess about.
Plus the tactics definitely do not help any of our forwards.
 
I think frustration has creeped into his game as well, as he seems to foul all the time now, he never used too. He also suffers from the same thing as Barry Corr, lack of pace means that he is trying to steal a yard head start with the marking defender, hence always getting caught offside. Both these things are infuriating to watch as it breaks up our attack and gives the ball back to the opposition.
 
It's a very strange one. In his first spell he was quality, he's now at the age where he's supposed to be in his absolute prime, hasn't really had any career defining injuries and doesn't seem to be living up to expectations.

I've not seen a lot of Barnard since he rejoined but his appearance at the weekend looked just like the Barnard of old. Admittedly he didn't score but he was making the same runs off the shoulder (runs that Weston never makes despite his pace), and he was in general putting himself about and making a nuisance of himself as he used to. Watching him in the warmup he still seems to have a decent shot on him.

Ultimately it's a very strange one, and I know he hasn't delivered for a long time, but I can't help thinking with some people on his wave length slotting balls in for his on the shoulder runs he could be in the goals again. Personally I'd like to see him given more time, but I know many will think he's already had too much. I'm sure there's a good player in there, and he hasn't seemed to have lost any desire.

I'd like to see Barnard given more time, we all know we're crying out for a goalscorer.
 
Personally I'd like to see him given more time, but I know many will think he's already had too much. I'm sure there's a good player in there, and he hasn't seemed to have lost any desire.

And this is what is so frustrating. The guy is 30, no age at all. I don't buy the bit about him not having it any more, but neither do I have a clue how it should be re-ignited............neither does Brown by the look of things.
 
I think frustration has creeped into his game as well, as he seems to foul all the time now, he never used too. He also suffers from the same thing as Barry Corr, lack of pace means that he is trying to steal a yard head start with the marking defender, hence always getting caught offside. Both these things are infuriating to watch as it breaks up our attack and gives the ball back to the opposition.

The easy thing to say is that the desire has gone, he was picking up big wages and invested in a lot of property, basically setting himself up for life. He does seem to be really frustrated though and I genuinely think he has a love for the game, I just don’t think he is a very good player. He scored goals for us before granted but like Jam Man I was never overly impressed and a fair few were pens IIRC. A run of form saw him do well in league 1 but as soon as Southampton were in the championship he only made 6 league appearances without a single goal. So in conclusion my opinion is that he is trying, he just isn’t that good.
 
Send him out on loan ? He clearly doesn't fit into our current system and is never first on the team sheet. Changing the subject slightly but as others have mentioned him I think Worral has been really unlucky that our midfield have been so strong, I would start him, love his attitude, maybe time to bring him in for Hurst or Weston ? Always looking to be getting on the end of things.
 
Send him out on loan ? He clearly doesn't fit into our current system and is never first on the team sheet. Changing the subject slightly but as others have mentioned him I think Worral has been really unlucky that our midfield have been so strong, I would start him, love his attitude, maybe time to bring him in for Hurst or Weston ? Always looking to be getting on the end of things.

Unfortunately cant see any club in our league wanting to pay more than 20/30% of his wages so wouldn't make any sense for us, might as well keep him as backup. Agree about Worrall, Weston started well this season but has faded in recent weeks. Still feel over the season Hurst will reach double figures for assists and notch us a few important goals along the way.
 
I always think Barnard needs to start matches in order to be effective. I think coming off of the bench isn't his strongest asset.

I would rather see Barnard start as the striker than Weston whose being played out of position
 
Not sure we can really 100% judge a player that has had less then 45 mins football over the season. I don't think he has been good based on last years performance but he needs games.

People would have said Thompson was crap before this run and now we all seem to think he is a good prospect.

Give him 5 games and lets judge. I suspect he would have the same strike record as Weston for example if he played the same number of games. Not the player he once was but that is why we got him.
 
Not sure we can really 100% judge a player that has had less then 45 mins football over the season. I don't think he has been good based on last years performance but he needs games.

People would have said Thompson was crap before this run and now we all seem to think he is a good prospect.

Give him 5 games and lets judge. I suspect he would have the same strike record as Weston for example if he played the same number of games. Not the player he once was but that is why we got him.


Since his return Lee has played 977 minutes in total .
 
Since his return Lee has played 977 minutes in total .

He's been back since January 24th and in that time has completed just shy of 11 games...
I can remember only three starts (Oxford, Torquay, Walsall)
He needs to start more games
 
Since his return Lee has played 977 minutes in total .

But DtS is correct.

This season in the league he's not played for more than 27 mins in a single match. He's been limited to cameos and some strikers are great at coming of the bench and making a difference, and some aren't.

My feeling is that Barney has been pretty ***** in his second-coming, but also it's not fair to judge him given his limited time on the pitch. Brown doesn't rate him enough for a start, but if he was to get a bit of a run in the team then it could be a turning point.
 
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He's been back since January 24th and in that time has completed just shy of 11 games...
I can remember only three starts (Oxford, Torquay, Walsall)
He needs to start more games


Maybe?

Compare Shaq's 907 minutes so far to Lee's 977 .Strange!
 
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