BobBev

Another useful point was garnered the next weekend with a 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea, Mido equalising a few minutes after the visitors had taken the lead in the first half. The match was nothing to rave about but Angus was pleased to see that his team at least seemed to be becoming a bit more difficult to beat even if they were not playing exhilarating football every week. Mido was on the scoresheet again a week later as he opened the scoring at Portsmouth and Carlos Humberto Parades added a second to give the visitors a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. The veteran Paraguayan midfielder had done well to recover from a serious back injury at the start of the year and whilst not a permanent fixture in the first eleven Angus felt that the player still had a lot to offer. Pompey reduced the deficit before half time but when Mido scored his second just after the hour the Tykes looked like earning a good away win. Sadly it was not to be – Portsmouth scored their second within minutes of falling further behind and completed their fightback late in the game to take a point with a 3-3 draw.

They travelled to struggling Bolton for a midweek match at the end of the month and despite taking an early lead through an excellent Vukcevic free kick they failed to capitalise on their advantage. A poor defensive performance by Warnock and wayward finishing from Mido contributed to a 2-1 defeat as the home side turned the match around. To make matters worse Georgiev, who had been in good form after falling out of favour last season, suffered broken ribs and would miss several weeks of action. The defeat left Barnsley in 16th place, only goal difference keeping them out of the bottom three.

Another very makeable win was spurned on the first day of December at home to Blackburn and with his team a goal down at the break it took a half time roasting from Angus to spark enough of a performance to salvage a point thanks to Mido’s 10th goal of the season. Another match against a team near the foot of the table followed a week later with a trip to Everton and a miserable first half display saw Barnsley two goals down at the break. Another half time tongue lashing got them fired up for the second half but despite periods of intense pressure they failed to score and the 2-0 defeat left them deep in the relegation dogfight.

Lewis Maher was back in goal for the visit of Arsenal the next weekend and Angus was encouraged by his team’s efforts as they took the match to the title contenders. Unfortunately all bar one of their 15 scoring attempts failed to hit the target and they paid the inevitable price when they conceded a late goal to suffer an unjust 1-0 defeat. His team hit a new low at Crystal Palace, conceding four goals in an abject first-half performance. Angus laid into his players during the interval and to their credit they responded well, Mido and Aaritalo making the 4-2 final score a little more respectable.

Boxing Day brought a trip to Sunderland and an unlucky 1-0 defeat with the home keeper voted Man of the Match for a string of excellent saves. The final match of the year featured a visit from Birmingham and a Barnsley put in a battling performance that deserved better than their 2-1 defeat. They led through Mido and were unfortunate not to have more than a single goal to show for their efforts when the fates went against them. A dispute penalty in the 78th minute pulled Birmingham level and two minutes later they scored what proved to be the winning goal to condemn the Tykes to a miserable New Year. Their 5th straight defeat left them in 19th place in the Premiership, a point ahead of Ipswich who held a game in hand over the Yorkshire team.

Their poor run of form had left morale at the club at an all-time low and Angus knew how vital it was for his team to get a win or two under their belts. Any kind of win would do – a scrappy 1-0 would do the trick – as the longer their dreadful run of form continued the more deeply they would become mired in the relegation places. Old Trafford on New Years Day was not the most hopeful venue for such a result but Angus held on to the hope that his players had performed much better against the stronger sides in the Premiership even as they had struggled against the weaker teams in the division. However Angus knew that if they were to get anything out of the game they would need some luck and when Rooney smashed a shot against the bar in the first minute when he really should have scored the manager had a felling that it might just be their afternoon. However it was not to be and with 15 minutes of the match remaining Rooney finally fired home the winner and Barnsley slipped down to the bottom of the table.

A home match against opposition from the Conference in the 3rd round of the FA Cup provided the ideal opportunity to register a victory and despite the absence of three full backs (Warnock, Golanski and Stranzl) they did indeed get a victory, the 2-0 scoreline a pale reflection of their superiority on the day. However by the end of the match they had lost another full back, Luke Potter having twisted his knee and as a result the team travelled to high flying Manchester City without a recognised full back in the team. Having fought back from a goal down to square the game through Mido the concession of a second goal in the 89th minute was a real body blow to the players and all that Angus could do was to praise their efforts and tell them that their awful run of luck would come to an end soon.

Terk

Been slowly catching up with this Bob. Very enjoyable read, hopefully form turns round soon and you can escape the relegation horror.

BobBev

Cheers Simon, I'll keep plugging away.

After stints at Watford, Man City, Arsenal and Blackburn, Adrian Boothroyd was now ensconced in the manager’s chair at Derby and he had taken the unfancied Rams to second place in the Premiership so Angus knew that his struggling team would have a real match on their hands at Oakwell. Indeed the visitors had the ball in the Barnsley net in the 4th minute of the match but their effort was chalked off thanks to a narrow offside decision. The Tykes defended bravely and managed to hold the Derby attack at bay for the full 90 minutes, Lewis Maher voted Man of the Match for his efforts in goal and the goalless draw breaking a run of seven consecutive Premiership defeats.

A 1-0 defeat at fellow strugglers West Ham was made worse by the behaviour of midfielder Simon Vukcevic who was sent off for head butting an opponent. Angus was furious with the Montenegro international and slapped a two-week fine in him and relegated him to the reserves. The manager knew that his player would face severe punishment but even so he was dismayed at the subsequent five-match ban imposed on the errant midfielder.

Barnsley were given some relief from their nightmare league season the next weekend with a visit from Hull in the FA Cup and it was a relief for all at the club when they fashioned a welcome 2-0 win. Their final league match of them month truly was a must-win encounter as bottom of the table Ipswich came to Oakwell in midweek. The Tykes were just a point ahead of their opponents but had played two games more and a defeat would be disastrous for the Yorkshire team. It was an incredibly tense 90 minutes and the final whistle came as a huge relief for Angus as two goals from Mido gave his side an invaluable three points, their first league win since their epic 5-2 win over Aston Villa in early November. As precious as the win was Angus had no illusions about the precarious position that his team occupied. They remained in 19th place and it would be a real struggle to garner enough wins between now and the end of the season to escape the spectre of relegation.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Arsenal | 23 | 16 | 3 | 4 | 41 | 14 | +27 | 51 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Man City | 25 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 31 | 20 | +11 | 49 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | Chelsea | 23 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 37 | 21 | +16 | 48 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | Derby | 25 | 14 | 3 | 8 | 37 | 27 | +10 | 45 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | Newcastle | 25 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 44 | 31 | +13 | 43 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | Man Utd | 22 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 33 | 21 | +12 | 42 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | Liverpool | 22 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 31 | 23 | +8 | 35 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | Everton | 25 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 30 | 27 | +3 | 34 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | Aston Villa | 24 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 36 | 39 | -3 | 34 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | Birmingham | 25 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 28 | 30 | -2 | 32 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | Sunderland | 25 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 28 | 31 | -3 | 32 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | Blackburn | 25 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 28 | 34 | -6 | 32 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | Crystal Palace | 25 | 9 | 4 | 12 | 27 | 44 | -17 | 31 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | Charlton | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 32 | 39 | -7 | 30 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | Tottenham | 23 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 28 | 30 | -2 | 29 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | Bolton | 25 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 34 | 40 | -6 | 25 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | West Ham | 23 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 28 | 39 | -11 | 21 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | Portsmouth | 25 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 39 | -19 | 20 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | BARNSLEY | 25 | 4 | 7 | 14 | 24 | 36 | -12 | 19 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | Ipswich | 23 | 2 | 9 | 12 | 29 | 41 | -12 | 15 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Spav

Bob the writer,
Can he save them?
Bob the writer,
Yes he can!!

(That's to the tune of 'Bob the Builder' in case you don't recognise my moment of whimsy )

danny.harv

Lol :thup:

BobBev

Spav - not having any children I would have totally missed the Bob the Builder reference had you not pointed it out. I maybe should have given that a friend of a friend is a voiceover artist who works on the programme. Anyway, thanks for the tuneful support

Angus had no great hopes pinned on the trip to Liverpool on the first weekend of February but nonetheless the 3-0 defeat was a harsh reflection of the match as his team had worked hard. Their fight continued the next weekend at home to Tottenham and a deflected effort from Georgiev brought another point in a scrambled 1-1 draw. Their hopes took a turn for the worse during the next week when keeper Maher suffered a dislocated shoulder in training, the 21-year-old likely to miss most of the rest of the season.

Their schedule continued with an all-Yorkshire cup tie as they travelled to Sheffield United in the 5th round of the FA Cup. They spurned a number of good chances in the opening half hour before falling behind to a classic breakaway goal. The second half followed a similar pattern as Barnsley chased the game and United sealed a 2-0 win with a second goal 15 minutes from time. A late goal at Charlton denied Barnsley what would have been a useful point and as February turned into March the Tykes position looked worse than ever. The bottom three clubs were all tied on 20 points and losing ground from the rest of the division and it would take one heck of a turnaround to save them now.

When he looked back it was Barnsley’s 3-1 loss at home to Newcastle at the start of March that finally convinced Angus that his team were destined to be relegated. Shay Given pulled off a string of brilliant saves and the visitors scored with a soft penalty and an outrageous 35-yarder to kill off the game. A knee injury to keeper Andrew Moody a few days later merely served to deepen the manager’s feelings of gloom and by the end of the week he had no less than nine of his first team squad in the treatment room. It was some consolation that his team had a weekend off because of FA Cup matches but by the time the team travelled to Aston Villa he still had what could best be described as a makeshift team selection. His first choice keeper was 17-year-old Gary Lowe with another teenager, Gary Godfrey, as backup on the bench. In the circumstances their 1-0 win was nothing short of miraculous as teenager Lowe played the game of his short life to keep a clean sheet and Rodriguez snatched what proved to be the winning goal midway through the first half.

Another weekend break for World Cup qualifiers brought a little respite and allowed a couple of injured players to get back into training but this was more than cancelled out by injuries to Gravgaard and Rodriguez and the absence of Mido on international duty. However another gritty performance produced a goalless draw at home to Manchester City with youngster Lowe keeping another clean sheet.

April got underway with a trip to league leaders Chelsea and the home side took less than five minutes to open the scoring. They went on to double their lead on the half hour and secure a comfortable 2-0 win to all but seal Barnsley’s relegation. The Tykes were now ten points from safety and had just six matches left to play, a situation made much worse by the fact that the teams that they were trying to overtake had games in hand over the Yorkshire side. A visit by bottom of the table Portsmouth would be a vital match, a potential six-pointer for the winning side. Pompey took the lead on 20 minutes but the home side fought back, scoring twice in ten minutes to go into the last ten minutes in front. But football has a habit of kicking teams when they are down and Portsmouth equalised in the 88th minute with a controversial goal that television replays later showed should have been disallowed for offside.

Another point was gained in a goalless draw at home to Bolton but what the team needed was wins, not draws and as each match finished relegation drew closer and closer. By this time an increasingly desperate Angus was chopping and changing his starting lineup for each match as players started to come back from injury. But the Oakwell treatment room should perhaps have been fitted with a revolving door as no sooner had one player returned to training than another took his place on the treatment table. For the trip to Blackburn he even abandoned his favoured 4-5-1 formation for a 4-4-2 in order to bring more strike power to bear but once again luck was not on his side and the game ended goalless.

BobBev

As April drew to a close Barnsley welcomed the visit of Everton knowing that a win was essential if they were to have any hope of avoiding the drop. Ipswich had lost to Portsmouth to confirm their place in the Championship and Pompey were now four points clear of the Tykes with Crystal Palace a further three points away in the safety zone. By the time that the final whistle sounded on an extraordinary match Angus had bitten his fingernails to the quick and, had he any hair left, he would have pulled it out in frustration. Barnsley got off to the perfect start with a goal after quarter of an hour, Stephen Guthrie heading home a Georgiev corner. The young Scot had come of age in a difficult season and was one of the few Barnsley players to have performed consistently well all year. The lead lasted until the half hour when James McFadden equalised with a deflected shot. Minutes later the home side re-took the lead when Mattiioli’s cross was headed into his own net by Rene Mihilic who had been put under intense pressure by Rodriguez. On the strike of half time the visitors scored again, Guy Assulin almost bursting the net with a fierce free kick. On 58 the Toffees went ahead, Emelio Nsue romping through the middle of the Barnsley defence to finish emphatically. On 64 the match was squared once more when Mido scored with a looping header and on 78 Georgiev sent the home fans wild when he shot home from the corner of the 18-yard box. But the drama was not over yet and as the game entered stoppage time the Barnsley defence failed to deal with a corner and Nathan Sturgis headed a dramatic equaliser.

When the final whistle sounded many of the Barnsley players dropped to the turf where they stood, unable to believe that they had lost such a pulsating encounter. However the point was just enough to keep them alive and they were now hanging on to their place in the Premiership by their fingernails. Their fate was not in their own hands but they were still alive!

They travelled to London at the start of May knowing that they had to win at Arsenal and hope that Crystal Palace failed to pick up a point at home to Champions Chelsea on Monday evening. They fought like tigers and seldom can a manager have been prouder of his players than Angus was at the end of the match. The team had decided that they would not just sit back and defend but that they would try to take the game to their opponents and the result was a tremendous match of back and forth football, both keepers pulling off some stunning saves to keep the game goalless. With seven minutes of normal time remaining Barnsley took the lead, Aaritalo scrambling the ball home from a corner. Cue some frantic defending but a few minutes later it looked as though the game was up when Arturo Lupoli had the ball in the net but their bacon was saved by what turned out to be a correct offside call.

The rest of the results over that penultimate weekend also went the right way for Angus – Portsmouth lost 1-0 at Blackburn and Chelsea won 2-1 at Crystal Palace, but both were close run things. Pompey conceded in the 90th minute and Palace were just seven minutes from survival when they conceded the winning goal. The net result was that Barnsley went into their final game of the season with their fate in their own hands – they would host Crystal Palace knowing that a win would keep them up. They had a vastly superior goal difference over both Palace and Pompey and if all three teams ended up on the same points then that would be good enough for survival. But first they had to beat Palace!

BobBev

The tension inside Oakwell was palpable and Angus did his level best to keep his players as relaxed as possible in the dressing room as kick off time approached. There was no doubting the fact that his players were up for it – rarely had he seen such a pumped-up dressing room – but he didn’t want them to go out and lose the game by being too aggressive and it was a difficult balance to achieve. What he wanted more than anything was an early goal but by half time the game was still goalless. That changed within minutes of the restart when Nugent, making a rare start up front, finally got a shot on target and scored from the narrowest of angles. Palace knew that their Premiership survival depended on getting a goal but the Barnsley defence held firm and never really looked like being breached. Angus would have preferred the cushion of another goal or two but in the end the 1-0 win was more comfortable than the scoreline suggested. Anyway, all that mattered was the final result and when the final whistle sounded a packed Oakwell erupted – Barnsley had somehow risen from the dead and pulled off a near-miraculous escape.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | ECC | Chelsea | 38 | 25 | 9 | 4 | 61 | 28 | +33 | 84 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | ECC | Arsenal | 38 | 22 | 6 | 10 | 59 | 34 | +25 | 72 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | ECC | Man Utd | 38 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 50 | 35 | +15 | 70 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | EC | Man City | 38 | 19 | 11 | 8 | 46 | 29 | +17 | 68 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | EC | Liverpool | 38 | 18 | 12 | 8 | 57 | 41 | +16 | 66 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Derby | 38 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 53 | 41 | +12 | 63 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Newcastle | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 58 | 50 | +8 | 58 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Aston Villa | 38 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 52 | 53 | -1 | 58 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Charlton | 38 | 18 | 1 | 19 | 53 | 57 | -4 | 55 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | EC | Everton | 38 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 54 | 51 | +3 | 53 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | EC | West Ham | 38 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 55 | 56 | -1 | 49 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Blackburn | 38 | 14 | 7 | 17 | 44 | 52 | -8 | 49 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Birmingham | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 48 | 47 | +1 | 46 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Tottenham | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 48 | 49 | -1 | 46 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Sunderland | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 44 | 51 | -7 | 43 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Bolton | 38 | 9 | 15 | 14 | 53 | 53 | 0 | 42 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | BARNSLEY | 38 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 36 | 53 | -17 | 34 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | R | Crystal Palace | 38 | 10 | 4 | 24 | 33 | 70 | -37 | 34 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | R | Portsmouth | 38 | 8 | 7 | 23 | 32 | 62 | -30 | 31 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | R | Ipswich | 38 | 4 | 13 | 21 | 46 | 70 | -24 | 25 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
It had been a long and stressful season, perhaps the most stressful in his managerial career thus far, and Angus was in desperate need of a break. He had a lot of questions to ask himself – was his team’s underperformance his fault, for example – and he was sure that he would learn much from his experience after a period of reflection. He was also aware that he had some difficult decisions to make regarding his playing squad as a number of his older players were out of contract in the summer. There were few in his squad that had performed to their potential – Guthrie had been fantastic in central defence alongside the veteran Gravgaard and the Dane had already been given a one-year extension. Mido’s 18 goals had been crucial but there were few other players who had stood out, although he had to admit that is team did deliver when the chips were down. However he was only too aware that had Palace managed to sneak just one more point over the course of the season then it would be his side and not the Londoners dropping down to the Championship.

BobBev

Season 08 – 2013/2014

Angus had spent some of his summer break looking back on the previous season and his team’s narrowest of escapes from relegation. His final conclusion was that much of the blame for their travails should be placed on his own doorstep. He felt he had brought in too many players too quickly and not allowed his squad to develop as a team. He also questioned his own choice of formation, noting that a switch to a 4-4-2 lineup late in the season had seemed to produce better results, although he did recognise that the desperation of their situation had also served as a motivating factor. As a consequence he was much more cautious in his dealings in the free agent market, bringing in just one new player over the summer, Romanian international Nicolae Mitea who had been released after a couple of unhappy seasons at West Ham.

New contracts were agreed with Gary Caldwell, Stephen Warnock, Luke Potter and Blagoy Georgiev whilst Aleksandr Vukovic, Radoslav Kovac, Tomas Zapotocny, Alex Geijo, Nicky Wroe and Mika Aaritalo were all allowed to depart. In addition Carlos Humberto Parades had decided to retire so the net result was a more compact senior squad. His scouts had been tracking several promising youngsters but he had not made a move because he was advised that it would be impossible to obtain work permits for his targets. But a link up with a Belgian side, Waasland, gave him an opportunity to secure a couple of his shortlisted players when they became available, both being sent to Belgium on loan. Dor Cohen (no relation) was an 18-year-old left back who had spent two seasons at Hapoel Tel Aviv and Juan Pablo Cabrera was a 19-year-old Argentinean right back, both playing in positions that the manager wanted to strengthen.

His Chairman had once again stuck with his no-fee transfer policy but had agreed a significant hike in the wage budget to £825K a week. An excellent pre-season campaign had introduced a degree of match-fitness and the mood at Oakwell was positive as they welcomed Sunderland in the season opener. The team’s only problem concerned a number of players who had picked up injuries in pre-season and they would start without Maher, Mido, Rodriguez, Galbraith and Georgiev. With both teams looking to play attacking football the home fans enjoyed an exciting match which was made all the better by the fact that their team came out victorious. Two goals from Italo Mattioli and one each from Leandro Lima and Steven Naismith secured a 4-2 win and with Sunderland hitting the bar and Barnsley striking the woodwork twice there could have been more goals to enjoy.

There was less for the travelling support to cheer a few days later as they saw their side suffer a 3-2 defeat at Everton in a match that neither side deserved to lose. Barnsley put in another good home performance at the weekend, drawing 1-1 with Manchester United, although on chances created they really should have sealed a win long before Rooney equalised Nugent’s opener.

The late summer international break gave Barnsley’s injured players some further recovery time and several of the casualties had returned to full training by the time the team travelled to Bolton in mid-September. Simon Vukcevic gave a glimpse of his abilities by scoring twice to overturn a one-goal deficit but the Tykes were denied a deserved win when the home side equalised in stoppage time to snatch a 2-2 draw. However he was a different player in their next match at home to Arsenal, misplacing passes and resorting to ambitious long shots rather than bringing other players into the game. Despite enjoying spells of pressure the home side found themselves two goals down after 55 minutes but then a goal from Mitea sparked a recovery and on 81 Nugent grabbed an equaliser. But with typical lack of concentration they were caught on the break and the deadly Niclas Bendtner scored a late winner to deprive them of a brave point.

Thoughts of a Carling Cup run evaporated at the first hurdle as they lost a scrappy game 3-1 at home to Championship leaders West Brom. They shrugged off the disappointment of that defeat by getting their second league win of the season, overcoming ten-man Reading 3-0, two late goals putting a gloss on the scoreline after they had struggled to take advantage of their superior numbers. Their final game of the month was at home to Derby, a team that had enjoyed an excellent campaign last season but who were struggling badly this time around. However it was the visitors who reached the break in front after a sluggish 45 minutes from the home side. Some encouraging words from Angus sent his team out reinvigorated though and they pummelled the Derby goal for the remainder of the match. Mattioli squared the match on 55 but with the visiting keeper performing miracles it looked like the Rams might hold on for a point until substitute Galbraith broke the deadlock on 78. Rodriguez added a 3rd near the end of the match to seal a deserved win and end the month in style.

Mattioli’s fine start to the season earned him a second consecutive Player of the Month award, having also secured the prize at the end of August. He had now scored 5 times in 8 starts and having often been used as a wide midfielder when Angus played with a single striker he was clearly enjoying playing in his preferred position up front.

BobBev

World Cup qualifiers meant a delayed start back to league action for Barnsley and it was past mid-October before Aston Villa visited. By this time Mido was back in the side and he scored the game’s opener early in the match. An enthralling contest finally ended 3-2 in favour of the home side as Villa fought every inch of the way. They still trailed at the break but squared the match ten minutes after the restart. Goals from Naismith and Vukcevic in the closing 20 minutes seemed to have sealed the win but the visitors kept plugging away and scored in the 90th minute to set up a tense four minutes of stoppage time. Impressive young keeper Lewis Maher took Man of the Match honours for his fine display and the win took the Tykes up to a heady 2nd place in the Premiership table. The only negative was an injury to Mattioli who turned his ankle and was likely to be out for a month or so.

Their excellent form continued with a 4-2 win at Newcastle, all the more impressive as they came back from a goal down against a Newcastle side that played really well for most of the first half. Mido sparked the recovery minutes before half time with Rodriguez putting the visitors in front two minutes later. The Colombian scored again ten minutes from time and substitute Galbraith put the icing on the cake with a goal in stoppage time. Unbelievably the win took Barnsley to the top of the table, the highest league position in the club’s history. Sadly the wheels came off big time at the end of the month at West Ham as they slumped to a 3-0 defeat, all of the goals coming in the first half. Angus could only sympathise with his team as they created as many chances as the home side did but found their best efforts repelled by an inspired keeper. On the one occasion that they hit the back of the net the goal was ruled out by the referee for an infringement that no one else in the stadium spotted. Mido’s impressive return to action saw him crowned as Player of the Month to complete a Barnsley hat trick of consecutive awards.

November opened with a quite extraordinary 6-3 win at home to Liverpool. The two sides made light of some appalling weather conditions to put on a feast of attacking football with a Mido hat trick the highlight. The Egyptian gave them the lead on 16 but the visitors struck back within minutes before taking the lead from the penalty spot on 39. However this time it was the home side who produced a quick equaliser through Vukcevic and the first half ended at 2-2. Naismith put Barnsley back in front on 52 only for Liverpool to square the game again two minutes later. Mido scored his second on 64 to put the Tykes back in the lead and with Liverpool chasing the game the home side scored twice late on, first through Rodriguez and then Mido securing his hat trick in stoppage time.

The international break saw a number of Barnsley players representing their countries but none made a bigger impact than Steven Naismith as Scotland came through a playoff against the Czech Republic to secure their place in the 2014 World Cup Finals. The Scots won 1-0 both home and away with Naismith scoring the winning goals in each match to become a national hero north of the border.

Injuries meant some enforced changes in their next league match at home to Wigan and having fallen behind midway through the first half it was Mido who secured an equaliser to gain a 1-1 draw. The dropped points saw Barnsley drop down to second as Manchester United overtook them at the top of the table. An inexplicable 4-2 defeat at Tottenham followed, the win taking the Londoners top, as young keeper Lewis Maher put in an unusually hesitant display. Dave Nugent had his pleas for first team football answered when he was named in the starting eleven for the visit of Blackburn and he responded by scoring all of his team’s goals in the 4-1 win. His sensational finishing and Maher’s excellent goalkeeping made all the difference in an otherwise close affair. They were 2-0 down at half time in their final game of the month at Charlton but second-half goals from Vukcevic and Mido secured a point in a spirited fightback. Mido’s goalscoring exploits saw him win his second consecutive Player of the Month award with his second goal against Liverpool singled out as the Goal of the Month.