Ashley Barnes - Enough is enough......

[trueblue]

I'm not a idiot and haven't judged him on a penalty miss the follow up to it sums him up though. He really is not good enough for a team with ambitions to go up. People keep harking on about being played out wide blah blah, the chances he had, were directly in front of goal so that completely negates that argument.

What you're missing is the fact he quite often ends up in front of the goal, 30 seconds after being in our own penalty area.

 

[LamieRobertson]

No...I am going to judge him on the following.
1) Poor first touch....no close control...regularly loses the ball when it is played to him.
2) Poor passer of the ball. Specialises in under-hitting/over-hitting passes or simply passing straight to the opposition.
3) Can't head the ball. Misses straightforward opportunities. Can't win the ball in any ariel challenge.
4) Bottles out of tackles. Pulls out at the last minute. Dislikes physical contact.
5) Suspect temperament. Regularly sees red and goes looking for retribution. Right up there with worst disciplinary record in the club.
6) Lacks confidence. Finds successsful penalty taking method, then ditches it and now has no idea where he is putting it.
7) Lacks coolness in finishing. Snatches at chances. Misses plenty of sitters.
8) Australian.

Well most of that is crap...and as others have said Australian? poor attempt at criticism...i'd agree tuesday needs a change...maybe even CMS replaced by Hoskins as well..afteral squad rotation is in vogue these days

 

[trueblue]

Hoskins often played wide for Rovers. If any of the strikers have the attributes to do the same job as Barnes, it could be him. Otherwise it's a shift in the tactics - but at home that might not be a bad thing

 

[goldstone]

Ashley Barnes is not a bad player, however he is struggling at present a Saturday was definitely an off day for him.

I strongly suggest that Gus drops him to the bench on Tuesday (and CMS) and go with the pairing of Dobbie and Hoskins. Let's see what they can do. I am sure that Barnes will benefit from being taken out of the limelight. And Gus can see what our two "second string" strikers can do in tandem.

As far as his much-touted (by Gus) defensive contribution, surely with a strong back five and two/three good defensive midfielders we should not have a number 9 on the pitch because he defends well? That is just bizarre. Leave defending to the defense, supported by midfield.

 

[Camicus]

Ashley Barnes is not a bad player, however he is struggling at present a Saturday was definitely an off day for him.

I strongly suggest that Gus drops him to the bench on Tuesday (and CMS) and go with the pairing of Dobbie and Hoskins. Let's see what they can do. I am sure that Barnes will benefit from being taken out of the limelight. And Gus can see what our two "second string" strikers can do in tandem.

As far as his much-touted (by Gus) defensive contribution, surely with a strong back five and two/three good defensive midfielders we should not have a number 9 on the pitch because he defends well? That is just bizarre. Leave defending to the defense, supported by midfield.

This. Trouble is if he does get dropped to the bench and Dobbie and Hosks do well he wont make it back in

 

[El Sid]

Ashley Barnes is not a bad player, however he is struggling at present a Saturday was definitely an off day for him.

I strongly suggest that Gus drops him to the bench on Tuesday (and CMS) and go with the pairing of Dobbie and Hoskins. Let's see what they can do. I am sure that Barnes will benefit from being taken out of the limelight. And Gus can see what our two "second string" strikers can do in tandem.

As far as his much-touted (by Gus) defensive contribution, surely with a strong back five and two/three good defensive midfielders we should not have a number 9 on the pitch because he defends well? That is just bizarre. Leave defending to the defense, supported by midfield.

I agree with your comments about defensive duties.
But why would you want to drop CMS, the leading goal scorer. Surely it's time we saw CMS and Dobbie start a game.

 

[Acker79]

No...I am going to judge him on the following.
1) Poor first touch....no close control...regularly loses the ball when it is played to him.

That's nonsense. At least this yea. In previous seasons I've not noticed his control being particularly worse than team average, so I've paid particular attention to it this season and his first touch is usually good to very good (I've seen him stop balls dead at his feet after they've dropped from high). There ave been maybe one or two poor first touches in a match, as you get with any footballer.

2) Poor passer of the ball. Specialises in under-hitting/over-hitting passes or simply passing straight to the opposition.

Again, nonsense. Yes, he under-hits and over-hits some passes, just like every other player. On average, he doesn't do it any more frequently than the rest of the team (with obvious exceptions -Dicker is usually quite accurate, Vicente is very good of course).

3) Can't head the ball. Misses straightforward opportunities. Can't win the ball in any ariel challenge.

Nonsense. Barnes has taken on that Murray role of often being the player to head set pieces clear.

4) Bottles out of tackles. Pulls out at the last minute. Dislikes physical contact.

So does fifa. We keep hearing from "traditional" football fans that they're trying to make football a non-contact sport, perhaps Ashley's ahead of the curve on this one.

But seriously, I haven't noticed him pulling out of challenges much. But he does go down really easily.

5) Suspect temperament. Regularly sees red and goes looking for retribution. Right up there with worst disciplinary record in the club.

Last season he was got 6 yellows and 1 red, Dunk had 12 yellows, Greer 8 yellows and 1 red, El Ab had 6 yellows, Navarro 8 yellows, Sparrow 8 yellows 2 reds, Calderon had 7 yellows, and Bridcutt had 11. Barnes' red is generally considered to have been wrongly awarded (the burnley player lunged in on him and then grabbed him by the throat). The season before he had two yellows to Murray's 6, Calderon's 5(+1red), Elphick's 8, El Ab's 12, Painter's 5, Bennett's 4, Kishishev's 3, Sparrow's 3(+1red), Dicker's 4, Greer's 4(+2reds), Bridcutt's 5(+1red). Even this season, Bridcutt has more yellow cards.

6) Lacks confidence. Finds successsful penalty taking method, then ditches it and now has no idea where he is putting it.

Confidence comes and goes in all players. His successful penalty taking method includes putting variety into were he puts the ball. The penalty that was saved on aturday was the same one he scored v Wrexham, the one that was saved v Leicester was the same one that was scored v Cardiff.

7) Lacks coolness in finishing. Snatches at chances. Misses plenty of sitters.

He is 22ish and plays for a upper mid-table championship team, he's not going to score every chance. No one does. Last season, Van Persie scored from 17.3 percent of his shots. Suarez from 8.6%, rooney from 17.2%.

8) Australian.

This would make me think your entire post was a fishing exercise. He is british born to british parents. He represented Austria at under 21 level because his grandmother on his father's side made him eligible.

 

[goldstone]

I agree with your comments about defensive duties.
But why would you want to drop CMS, the leading goal scorer. Surely it's time we saw CMS and Dobbie start a game.

I thought CMS also had a poor game on Saturday so why not start with two different strikers? That's what I would do ... maybe just as well I'm not the manager!

 

[trueblue]

As far as his much-touted (by Gus) defensive contribution, surely with a strong back five and two/three good defensive midfielders we should not have a number 9 on the pitch because he defends well? That is just bizarre. Leave defending to the defense, supported by midfield.

Aerial presence. More often than not he's the one heading away corners and free-kicks. We haven't got many players strong in the air which is a key reason he stays in the team.

 

[Wickerman]

I'm fed up of hearing fans(?) around me knocking Barnes. He is a great asset at the moment and may be for a couple more years, but all this criticism is not helping Ashley at all. I hope that he doesn't look at this stuff. My personal view is that he is a hard worker and always does his best but he seems to playing out of position at the moment. More so this season than last so is it a change in tactics by Gus? The truth will be that if we do get to the Premier League in the next couple of seasons then he probably won't be good enough. In the meantime he will, no doubt, prove to his bashers that he will become "flavour of the month" again at some point this season.

 

[Questions]

Aerial presence. More often than not he's the one heading away corners and free-kicks. We haven't got many players strong in the air which is a key reason he stays in the team.

I reckon that his heading prowess at defending corners is a myth. Sure he gets in the way of the poorly hit, near post one which any half decent player above 5ft 4in should be able to defend but he won't win the ones against the real danger men. He would just do, 'The push in the back' manoeuvre which he does 10 times a game.

 

[narly101]

Interestingly enough had he not handballed on the left, we wouldn't have scored. Oh and did anyone else see him leave his foot on the challenge in the second half. Very close to a stamp. Personally I think he's a meat head, and he shouldnt be wearing the stripes.

 

[trueblue]

I reckon that his heading prowess at defending corners is a myth. Sure he gets in the way of the poorly hit, near post one which any half decent player above 5ft 4in should be able to defend but he won't win the ones against the real danger men. He would just do, 'The push in the back' manoeuvre which he does 10 times a game.

You missed the thumping header clear from Eagles' free-kick just after we scored then?

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

What you're missing is the fact he quite often ends up in front of the goal, 30 seconds after being in our own penalty area.

And Usain Bolt could do it even quicker, your point is? No good getting in those positions if the end product is so poor.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

I'm fed up of hearing fans(?) around me knocking Barnes. He is a great asset at the moment and may be for a couple more years, but all this criticism is not helping Ashley at all. I hope that he doesn't look at this stuff. My personal view is that he is a hard worker and always does his best but he seems to playing out of position at the moment. More so this season than last so is it a change in tactics by Gus? The truth will be that if we do get to the Premier League in the next couple of seasons then he probably won't be good enough. In the meantime he will, no doubt, prove to his bashers that he will become "flavour of the month" again at some point this season.

Those that wish to protect him with, he's played in the wrong position, is grasping at straws. Three times, plus a penalty he was directly in front of the goal and failed, plain and simple.

Some of you can't it have both ways, saying he's played out of position and then say he's the one who gets the right place at the right time. Frankly due to the others around him creating the chances for him he gets plenty of opportunity to get on the score sheet.

 

[Questions]

You missed the thumping header clear from Eagles' free-kick just after we scored then?

Being too slow to get out of the way doesn't count.

 

[Dominoid]

I mean, seriously. 3 minutes into the game now and only one goal? Get rid.

 

[portslade seagull]

Well done Barnsey always knew the goals would come

 

[Bring back Bryan wade!!]

I mean, seriously. 3 minutes into the game now and only one goal? Get rid.

So that's his first goal in HOW many games??

 

[Husty]

One swallow doesn't make a summer.