Ashley Barnes

[Acker79]

Oh come on Acker, be honest. You know that thread inside out. If anyone wanted to search it, it'll be quicker to ask you that do a search on google!!

Only inside, still working on the out part.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

Agree with the rest of your post, but not that. He's out of contract at the end of the season and I can't see a tribunal setting his fee anywhere near that. £3 would be nearer the mark I think.

Lolz! Fair point tho he probably knows deep dowm he wont be in an albion shirt next season.

 

[Husty]

It was his shot v portsmouth that CMS followed up, chalk off another 2 points.
Him closing down the peterborough goalkeeper led to the ball going to noone to score the first, he also won the free kick from which harley scored, chalk off another 2.
(he assisted both of cms's v leeds, but he also scored one so taking away his goal would have lost us the point anyway).
He made some good defensive contribution v hull, is that another point he can be credited with?

That would put us 20th-21st.

But of course, whoever we put on in his pace would have got them, too. Say, how did Paynter do again?

Again, you assume we were playing without ANYTHING to replace him in those games? And you call me stupid

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

It was his shot v portsmouth that CMS followed up, chalk off another 2 points.
Him closing down the peterborough goalkeeper led to the ball going to noone to score the first, he also won the free kick from which harley scored, chalk off another 2.
(he assisted both of cms's v leeds, but he also scored one so taking away his goal would have lost us the point anyway).
He made some good defensive contribution v hull, is that another point he can be credited with?

That would put us 20th-21st.

But of course, whoever we put on in his pace would have got them, too. Say, how did Paynter do again?

And forced the Derby defender into the mistake which allowed CMS to fire in the winner. And I've not seen an Albion player take penalties with such confidence since Danny Wilson apart from possibly Nicky Forster (some of Zamora's only went in because the keeper had dived). I do wonder if Gus made an error playing him in midfield, first against Palace, and then in every game he played before Middlesbrough, where admittedly he missed a complete sitter, which was a strange move after he had ripped the Leeds defence to bits to set up CMS's second. In my view, that seriously affected his confidence and he's not got it back. That said, he was rather lethargic yesterday.

 

[El Presidente]

And you call me stupid

How would you describe someone who criticises a player for two 'simple' missed chances within five minutes of the end of a match at Tranmere................and then later admits he did not attend the match.

Myself and Mr Burns have reached agreement with each other via PM BTW some time ago and settled our differences.

 

[Seagull over Canaryland]

Many strikers are not really renowned for racking up the miles on the pitch but to me Barnes' workrate is conspicuously average. I guess this season he is being shown up by CMS's duracell bunny efforts. This is compounded by Barnes rather negative body language, whinging attitude to his team mates and petulance towards Refs.

Would be less of a problem if Barnes scored more often or at least looked like he put a shift in each game. I would be interested to see those Champs League style stats showing how many metres each player covers per game compared to the team average.

If Hoskins had been fit then Barnes may well have warmed the bench for even more of this season and maybe this might have given him the motivation to make more of an impact when he got pitchtime. Then Billy Paynter coming in on loan and making no impact didn't seem to fire up Barnes either. In that situation if I were Barnes I would have been desperate to prove to Gus that I have much more to contribute to the team. Suggests to me that Barnes is not hungry enough. His reputation as a 20 goal League 1 striker has rapidly regressed to the point where now I don't think opposing teams will exactly be quaking in their boots if they see his name on the team sheet.

Like most Albion fans I want to see our players do well and recognise the Championship is a step up so may take time to adjust - but I do expect to see them all making the effort. Wouldn't surprise me if Barnes is moved on in the close season.

 

[El Presidente]

Many strikers are not really renowned for racking up the miles on the pitch but to me Barnes' workrate is conspicuously average. I guess this season he is being shown up by CMS's duracell bunny efforts. This is compounded by Barnes rather negative body language, whinging attitude to his team mates and petulance towards Refs.

Would be less of a problem if Barnes scored more often or at least looked like he put a shift in each game. I would be interested to see those Champs League style stats showing how many metres each player covers per game compared to the team average.

If Hoskins had been fit then Barnes may well have warmed the bench for even more of this season and maybe this might have given him the motivation to make more of an impact when he got pitchtime. Then Billy Paynter coming in on loan and making no impact didn't seem to fire up Barnes either. In that situation if I were Barnes I would have been desperate to prove to Gus that I have much more to contribute to the team. Suggests to me that Barnes is not hungry enough. His reputation as a 20 goal League 1 striker has rapidly regressed to the point where now I don't think opposing teams will exactly be quaking in their boots if they see his name on the team sheet.

Like most Albion fans I want to see our players do well and recognise the Championship is a step up so may take time to adjust - but I do expect to see them all making the effort. Wouldn't surprise me if Barnes is moved on in the close season.

That is a fair, balanced assessment. I think Barnes has impressed Gus however by being willing to play an advanced wide midfield role, and this has contributed towards improving the supply line to CMS at the start of the season, but less so in the last couple of months.

 

[Acker79]

Again, you assume we were playing without ANYTHING to replace him in those games? And you call me stupid

You didn't even read my post, did you?

 

[Husty]

How would you describe someone who criticises a player for two 'simple' missed chances within five minutes of the end of a match at Tranmere................and then later admits he did not attend the match.

I don't know why you included that second bit but your just putting my words into my mouth with the quoted segment, I never once suggested that I attended the game, and I stick by my comments.

 

[Husty]

You didn't even read my post, did you?

Yes I did, you still havn't worked out the comparison to paynter was just fishing, and you cannot possibly say we would have lost points if he hadn't played, because you have absolutely no way of knowing what would have happened without him on the pitch (my guess: a lot more)

 

[Seagull over Canaryland]

That is a fair, balanced assessment. I think Barnes has impressed Gus however by being willing to play an advanced wide midfield role, and this has contributed towards improving the supply line to CMS at the start of the season, but less so in the last couple of months.

Fair point - Barnes has been asked to play deeper at times so has some bearing on his goals per game etc but even so his efforts look average. Nothing would please me more than to see him hit a rich vein of form.

 

[APACHE]

Sorry, but I'm i'm going to say it, yesterday showed that Barnes can't lead the line on his own, he's too lightweight. If he's going to kept going short for the ball to be played up to him he's got to be stronged, they were knocking him off the ball and at times under-pressure his ball-control was poor. Yesterday was a chance to put this tie to bed, now they'll be fired-up with the chance to play Newcastle and it'll make the replay twice as hard. We need a proper centreforward. With Barnes we've seen this sort of display for most of this season.

 

[Acker79]

Yes I did, you still havn't worked out the comparison to paynter was just fishing, and you cannot possibly say we would have lost points if he hadn't played, because you have absolutely no way of knowing what would have happened without him on the pitch (my guess: a lot more)

Paynter was just an example for my point, and whether you were fishing or trying to save face by claiming you were fishing is irrelevant to his inclusion in the post of mine you quoted.

Some people seem to assume barnes has contributed nothing and when people show what he has achieved the immediate reply is "well, we wouldn't have played with 10 men, we'd have someone replacing him". Of course we'd have someone replacing him, by citing Paynter, someone who we can actually look at what he achieved in our team in Barnes's place, we can see it's not so simple.

But ultimately,I shouldn't have responded with that. I should have explained that with this hypothetical we are looking at what he has contributed to the team, and looked at what we'd achieve if we took his contribution away to show what value it has. That is, we are showing the difference between the hypothetical team, of which ashley barnes is the 11th man, but he didn't contribute the things that he has; and the actual team, which includes his real contribution, to show what he brings to our team. Which is more than the nothing so many people claim. We aren't taken ashley out of the team, just removing his goals and contribution.

 

[El Presidente]

I stick by my comments.

So you stick by.....

2 clear cut open goals from 6 yards, the sort of thing your 10 year old son would put away with ease and both have gone sailing over the bar?

..........even though you did not see either chance? You then claim you don't have a vendetta against Barnes?

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

Sorry, but I'm i'm going to say it, yesterday showed that Barnes can't lead the line on his own, he's too lightweight.

This is true, and he struggled the one time I'd seen him do it before, at Swindon away the first game of last season. However, when he and CMS were up front together (before the Palace game), they had formed a good understanding, which showed particularly in the Cardiff and Leeds games, especially Leeds where together they tore the Leeds defence apart. After that though, he was played in midfield, which has been a confidence destroyer in my view. The one time since Leeds I have seen him play up alongside CMS for any length of time was at Middlesbrough, where as I said, he missed a sitter. Saying that, Middlesbrough away was CMS's worst game for the Albion. True, he didn't miss any chances, but his first touch was woeful, and he was getting plenty of service in the second half. Again, at Reading, he missed two sitters, which could have changed the game if he had put them away. Sure, Barnes isn't in CMS's league, and clearly isn't the answer at the moment, but he does seem to be the target for some pretty heavy abuse, which CMS has not been subject to, even though he has been well off his game since Derby.

 

[Birdie Boy]

Fact: AB hasn't scored since 23rd September
Fact: Majority of goals have been penalties
Fact: AB has not played well all season, even when scoring at the beginning; he missed some shockers as well as lacking effort
Opinion: Formation of one up front does not suit him, should be played alongside somebody. This won't happen until we have better midfielders. Hopefully Hoskins will eventually get fit and replace Barnes
Opinion: AB is not good enough
Opinion: He was woeful against Wrexham and in many over games
Fact: I want all Albion players to do well