By dixon9
March 9 2008

As the Oakwell faithful invaded the pitch at the end of this encounter it was hard to begrudge them the result – there was even something there that reminded me of ourselves many years ago. The Yorkshire side worked hard and defended valiantly, contested every ball and closed us down at nearly every opportunity.

There was something of “The Tortoise and the Hare” story about this match. 

Our players, with the exception of Joe Cole, seemed to lack any real urgency, there was neither spark nor inspiration.  The feeling seemed to be that we would at some point score so we could relax; we were superior and they could run around as much as they liked but they weren’t going to do to us what they did to Liverpool.  Even when they scored….hmmm…so what...we´ll do em at the Bridge.  But we didn’t score, the inspiration didn’t come and we were out the FA Cup. 

Grant had made 6 changes from the side that so convincingly beat Olympiakos including Lampard who remained behind in London to watch the youth team play at Stamford Bridge.   

No Drogba, Makelele nor Ashley Cole either but there should have been more than enough to see off Barnsley – but there can be no excuses. 

Too many had an off day; Cuducini seemed erratic, Bridge too one dimensional, Wright-Phillips in general again showed that out on the wing is strangely not his position and Ballack lacked his normal assured precision. 

Grant also insisted on the 4-3-3 (until the end where there was no discernable formation at all – we just attacked their penalty area Sunday League style!). 

The first half saw few chances to speak of and despite Joe Cole with a whipped in shot on 15mins deflected off for a corner (although no corner was given) the warning signs were there. 

Barnsley relied on Campell-Ryce, Ferenczi and Odejayi to carve out what they could up front and on the 21^st minute Cuducini cocked-up a backpass on a bobbly pitch (it used to be a really nice pitch years ago….anyway...) which let in Odejayi who thankfully prodded his effort wide.

Odejayi was to go close again and forced Cuducini to save with his legs and the message should have been there that at half-time Grant would need to inspire his men.

The 2^nd half we dominated in terms of possession but not in shots on goal -   whatever shots we could manage were blocked by Barnsley bodies throwing themselves in front of the ball as if they were at the Alamo.

The worst was about to happen when on 62 mins during a frantic break from the onslaught, Ferenczi fed Devaney who couldn’t believe his luck when Bridge retreated to cover Van Homoet, the looping cross came, our defence looked onwards, Cuducini flapped but Odejayi was inexplicably in front of our keeper to head home.  1-0 and Oakwell erupted. 

Naturally we drove forward in the 2^nd half. We huffed and puffed to no avail, Grant remained motionless and soon the final whistle sounded. 

How did we go out?  Grant? The tactics? The formation? The players? The magic of the cup factor?  Probably a combination of all but many were thinking back to those glorious days when a certain Portuguese was at the helm – would we have gone through to the semis if he was still with us? 

Maybe that’s not it though.  Maybe the moon is in a strange position this weekend?!  Scotland beat England, Man Utd lost at home to Portsmouth, our debacle in Yorkshire and Wigan largely outplayed Arsenal. 

Funny ol game!  (But I just can’t bring myself to laugh). 

Another One Bites the Dust: Barnsley 1 Chelsea 0

Discussion started by 50 Years Over 100 Years , 09/03/2008 19:02

50 Years Over 100 Years
09/03/2008 19:02

Another One Bites the Dust: Barnsley 1 Chelsea 0

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Barnsley dave
10/03/2008 09:13

That's a fair assesment.

I thought Joe Cole was superb - the best player on the pitch. I know he got some stick from our fans but it was a foul at the edge of the box and he was wrongly given offside when he was in a dangerous position.

I thought the atmosphere was superb before, during and after the match.

It doesn't matter who we draw in the Semis today - a day or a weekend in London is coming with a trip to the new Wembley.

We didn't do too bad considering our team cost £625,000 - about a months wage for some of your players

Good luck in Europe - I always support British clubs against foreign teams.

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dixon9
10/03/2008 16:57

.



"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.

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