A new season starts and Loftus Road was rocking again! good performance all-round considering it was our first competitive game...Barton made us tick and I hope he stays. Ali played well and Junior looked great, he will score loads this season! I think Austin and AJ will start next as I feel BZ is not in their class...All in all I left feeling buoyant and happy, the first time in a long time, that's for sure.... COYRS
totally agree eddie, Hoillet played today how i wanted him to play last year, constant threat!! would love to see austin and Remy up top, would fire us straight back up...
I hate to say it, but I actually felt a bit sorry for Barton, can't have been easy the way we ousted him, both fans and club, to then have a great season abroad only for it to all fall through and end up back in the championship, maybe that's his punishment. But I was very surprised at the reception he got, as was he as he's just tweeted saying he wasn't expecting it and didn't deserve it and that he felt very humble. But what he did show today was that he is just what we need in midfield, some of his passes today were sublime. I still haven't forgiven him, but I'm starting to hope he can turn it around and we all be singing his name in may.
As I said on another thread, he was excellent AND he was lucky, that his foul in the penalty box wasn't given. If he'd got a second yellow, the game could have gone a very different way
Yeah, but that is what happens when you are a leader. He was lucky that the ref judged that he dived, but Barton was where he should have been, getting stuck in. Gary Linekar never got booked, because...
I agree it's him getting stuck in ( and I like many stood up to applaud him when he went off because of his commitment and some great crosses etc) but what I'm saying going forward is that he has a tendency to go over the top during periods of the game. He got red cards when he was with us in the Prem. It's a flaw in his game that Harry need to resolve imho.
Surely you could see bettween 30-45 mins when they were kicking us all over the pitch and the ref let most of it go (never in the PL) and we were on the back foot? Barton is the bloke (and Henry/Derry) that stand up and give it back.
But he didn't lose it one bit today. As I said on another thread it was never a pen as the TV pictures I saw.
I don't know whether he'll stay or not, but for me he was clear MOM today. A really good performance. As Total says, he kept us in it during our bad periods espepioally whenwe were 1 -0 down 1st half.
Joey was very good today. One guy behind me in W block was giving him a load of stick but otherwise reception was good. If he stays and plays like that week in week out he has my vote. That said, MoM by a mile was Ale today, top class.
As I said on match thread, it looked like Barton was already walking off the pitch when the ref went for his pocket and looked really surprised and relieved when he saw the card was for the dive. I never thought it was a foul, he did have minimal contact, but it was a clear dive. I would love to see Barton with us for the season, and maybe beyond, he's just what we need in midfield. A bit of steel and you could see him giving advice and encouragement to others throughout the game, he's a leader on the pitch.
I'm not saying he lost his temper but the yellow card and the incident in the penalty box came close together. He gets period in a match where he can be rash, and going forward, this may cause problems imo. However, I don't want to take away from Joey the fact that he came back and gave an excellent performance, so credit to him for that
As I said, he is in the mix where games are won and lost. He is a winner and a battler. We are playing in the Championship - on a cold day in December, in Northsomewhere, Barton or Boswanka?
