Interesting read for the lad who was at the game....... http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/queensparkrangers/news/43571/barnsley-burst-qpr-bubble--report
Sounds like a worrying performance by Smithies. Also sounds like Cousins should move back to the centre in place of Henry.
Thanks for posting this Tramore. It depressingly confirms the general impression I got from the highlights and stats. Would be good to hear from any posters at the match. With many players being described as tired and Hall, Henry and Smithies all having poor games after previous good ones, probably equally knackered, plus the injuries and suspension, our squad is looking thin just 4 games into the season, Les.
Os, Yorkshire Hoopster was at the game and he has posted he observations at post #201 on the Match Day Thread.........
It's all about managing expectations, we are not going to be transformed from the average Championship side that we were last season to title winners overnight. We have quite a few new players and I'm sure there will be more additions to come, once the squad is completed then hopefully consistency will follow.
I think what made it worse for us was the way we lost it after having fought our way back into contention. I don't agree about Smithies but he was certainly in the wrong place for the free kick. When was the last time that you saw a kick hit to the side of the wall and the side the goalie was standing? A further yard to his left and he would have saved it. The edited highlights are misleading. They give the impression that apart from Chery's free kick and the two penalties we posed no threat at all and that it was all Barnsley. After the first 20 minutes or so we had won the 50/50s, nullified their aerial threat and got our act together up to the edge of their area We were the more creative team but wouldn't have hit the proverbial barn door in open play. The interplay between the forwards was beginning to make inroads although to be fair while Polter was effective, we did over rely on him being able to win the tussles with his marker. A bit more variety in our attacking strategy would have been more productive as Ngbakoto and Chery were getting a fair share of success when they get the ball delivered to them. Apart from the defence as a whole and Hall in particular looking a bit dodgy, the one player who disappointed me was Cousins. I may be being unfair but from the write ups I had expected more from him. It took him a long time to get into the game and when he did he tired fairly soon after one shot from outside the area you won't have seen because it was such a weak effort. As I said before we need to get some shooting practice as we seem to be unable to take chances we create in open play. Overall, a draw would have been a fair result for what had been an entertaining game. .
