What we’re up against – Meeting Peterborough

Saturday’s draw against Ipswich was a funny result in many ways for the Reds.

First of all, it would be irresponsible not to take into account how poorly the team played from the off, allowing an Ipswich team that had previously looked devoid of confidence to boss us around, and although there was more than a little bit of fortune with their opening goal – one that Ben Alnwick won’t have wanted to see again in a hurry – it would be difficult to argue that we didn’t deserve to go in behind at half time.

However, in true footballing cliche style, it really was a game of two halves, with the Reds playing slick, passing, possession football in the second half, and ‘footballing’ Ipswich to death after the break. Stephen Dawson put in the kind of performance that you dream of from you midfield, capped by a magnificent goal that was worthy of winning any game, never mind leveling it up, and special mention should go to Jacob Mellis for the exquisite ball to his midfield partner.

So, a case of two points dropped rather than one gained? Perhaps, but it would also probably be fair to say that when taking the whole game into consideration, rather than just the pulsating second half, a point was arguably a fair result.

Next up to visit Oakwell are Peterborough, who, before Saturday, were yet to register a single point this season, although their three against Hull, thanks to a hat-trick from Emile Sinclair will have them brimming with confidence ahead of tonight’s game. Just our luck.

I got in touch with John Verrall of the Peterborough United Football Blog to see what we can expect from tonight’s encounter.

Dan: You picked up your first win, and points of the season on Saturday. What changed from your previous matches?

JV: “It’s hard to pin-point one thing really, but a change of formation definitely helped out. Darren Ferguson tried out a 3-5-2 formation and things seemed to click. Ferguson has tried out a number of formations this season – including the previously favoured diamond – but to little success, however, the first outing of this new system seemed to have the desired impact and was a big factor in getting our first win of the season.

“The other thing that helped was having an attacking outlet that seemed a constant threat. Tyrone Barnett, Lee Tomlin and the now Ipswich man, Paul Taylor, have been Ferguson’s main striker options throughout this season, but none have performed to the sort of standard needed. Sinclair, however, took his hat-trick brilliantly, creating two of his three goals for himself and finishing well on all three.”

Do you think you have the right man in the hotseat? Or is it time for a new approach?

“Myself, and most other Posh fans, are firmly beyond Darren Ferguson still. There have been a few murmurings of discontent towards his management, but I still believe he is a superb manager.

He, however, most take some criticism for our poor start. Constant tactical changes and strange team selections have been a common feature so far this season and, despite us clearly needing some added impetus to the team, they have done more harm than good.

He has also gone back on his word on a certain number of issues. The youngsters, Kosi Nthle and Joe Newell were supposed to be first-team regulars this season, but appear to already have lost their place and some of the player’s abilities have been publically questioned after Ferguson had earlier said he had assembled his best squad ever. Furthermore Saido Berhaino was brought in on loan yesterday despite Ferguson and Darragh MacAnthony, the chairman, stating we would not be using the loan market at-all this season.”

Our 4-3 win at your place was a stunning encounter last season. Are there any other memorable clashes between the two teams that stick in your head?

“It certainly was. Everything Barnsley touched seemed to go in and there were some absolutely unbelievable goals! Unfortunately, the return leg at Oakwell wasn’t so much of a spectacle.

I suppose the game which will forever be consigned to Posh history is the one at Oakwell in 2009-2010 which our relegation was confirmed. We had a young-squad out and battled to a rather surprising point, but it wasn’t enough to keep us from being mathematically relegated.”

Have you seen much of Barnsley this season? What do you make of us, if you have?

“I was travelling back from Posh when your game against Birmingham was on the television, but from the highlights on the ‘Football League Show’ you looked very impressive.

Initially I had you down as relegation certainties, but Keith Hill appears to be doing an excellent job and the form of players like Craig Davies is bound to a massive bonus.”

Who should we be worrying about coming up against on Saturday?

“Emile Sinclair will obviously be going in to the game full of confidence after his hat-trick at the weekend, but a big performance will be expected of Tyrone Barnett.

“Barnett was brought in for over £1m from Crawley and the start to his Posh career was scintillating. His form has tailed off since and, despite showing flashes of class, he has not scored yet this season or proved he has the ability to live-up to the record price tag, and with his strike-partner finding form, he will be determined not to be over-shadowed.”

Sinclair with his match ball

On a similar theme, are there any Barnsley players that you are worried about having to play against?

“Craig Davies is obviously a threat up-front and will cause problems for our defence – which looks leaky at best. I also like the look of Stephen Foster and Jacob Mellis from what I have seen.”

How would you expect your team to line up on Saturday? Do you have any big names missing?

“Olejnik; Rowe; Brisley, Alcock, Knight-Percieval; Alcock; Bostwick, Ferdinand; Boyd; Sinclair, Barnett.

“That leaves our club captain Gabriel Zakuani out for the second game running as I can’t see Ferguson changing a winning line-up. Zakuani was our player of the season last year, but his place has already been put under pressure this year with his faults – namely his lack of ability in possession – coming to the fore and, as it stands, it looks like he faces a fight to get his place back.”

And finally, can I trouble you for a prediction?

“I’ll go with a 1-1 draw in a scrappy game, but I’m normally terrible at predictions.”

My thanks go to John for taking his time to talk to us, and I wish him and Peterborough all the best for the remainder of the season, after tonight of course.

“Everyone could see that it was a blatant penalty” – A chat with Andy Liddell: Part two

Welcome back to my chat with Andy Liddell. Yesterday’s post, which you can access by clicking here, discussed the Bradford City game, what it was like at the start of the Premier League season, and how he had actually requested to leave the club during that summer.

Part two of our interview gets in to the cup run, that infamous game against Liverpool, and Danny Wilson’s decision to leave the club, as well as a little about Barnsley in modern times.

Enough of me wittering on though, you aren’t here to read this, you’re here to hear from our former star, ladies and gentlemen, Andy Liddell.

Dan: As the promotion squad was such a tight-knit bunch, and it was really a team, rather than star individuals, in your eyes, do you think Danny should have spent the money on English players that might have fit in better?

Andy: “I think Danny would probably say yes to this question himself, but hindsight is a wonderful thing, especially in football. It’s very difficult being a football manager, and Danny probably looked all over England, but the thing about shopping at home is you get quoted ridiculous prices, and then when you look abroad you can pick up international players for less money. The thing is, none of the players that we brought in were mugs, they were all international players, but it’s a culture shock for them. Adapting to the pace of the football is hard enough, never mind having to integrate into a new country, and a team where everyone knows each other well. They didn’t really work out as successfully as they would have hoped, or as Danny and Eric would have wanted, but I wouldn’t blame them for that, it’s just a matter of circumstances.

Yes Ashley and Darren came and did really well, but they knew the English league. The foreign lads were coming in to a league that they had no experience with, and they were used to international football which was, and still is, a lot different than the Premier League. The game’s much faster in England than it is internationally, and they just weren’t ready for it. They needed a period to acclimatise, but you don’t get that in football, especially not under the cameras of the Premier League. You’re judged on instant results and instant performances, which was unfortunate for them. They were all nice lads, they tried to integrate, but some struggled with the language, and Georgi put his foot right in it, but it was difficult for them.

To answer your question though, no, probably not. He probably tried to bring in English lads, but the prices will have been over the top. I know that Darren and Ashley both came in at reasonable prices, but that’s probably a case of it being two out of two hundred that he tried to bring in. Being on the other side of the game now, I see how hard managers work to sign players, and it can be really frustrating for them, and I’m sure that Danny became frustrated with the English transfer market and felt that he had to go abroad to get any kind of value for money.

The incident that stands out featuring yourself during that season is Gary Neville’s ‘tackle’ at Old Trafford. What do you remember about that day?
“The cup game? Everyone could see that it was a blatant penalty. Gary Neville knew it was too, as when we jogged back to the halfway like I said to him: ‘You know as well as I do that was a penalty, I don’t believe that hasn’t been given’, and he just laughed and said: ‘What can I do? It hasn’t been given, so there’s not a lot of choice. I tried to get the ball, got you, and got away with it.’ That’s just how it goes. Even Alex Ferguson admitted that the referee had made a mistake, and I think it did get blown all out of proportion, with people talking about it in Parliament and such, but justice was done in the end. It was just a football incident, admittedly quite a big one, but that’s always the case with Manchester United. Everything gets blown up bigger than it is.

Justice was done with us knocking them out in the replay, and we deserved to, but if the penalty had been given, Redders would have probably slotted it away, because he didn’t miss many, and we’d have done it on the day. Saying that, I’m sure some fans are happy that we didn’t get it as they all got to see us knock them out of the cup at home instead, which was far better surely?”

Did you think at any point that it could have been our year in the cup?
“Yeah, I did actually. We’d knocked some good teams out and built up a bit of momentum. I’m sure nobody fancied playing us and we gave Newcastle a really good game, but if the referee had done his job properly, we would have probably finished a bit closer than we actually did to them, that was another occasion where an official made a cock up. I did think that it could have been us though. We’d built up some steam, knocked out good teams, but it wasn’t to be. That’s still the furthest that I ever got in the FA Cup, and it was a really good, enjoyable run.”

While we’re talking about referees again, I realise that you didn’t come on until the second half, but what are your memories of the Liverpool game at Oakwell (and Gary Willard)?

“That day… It was the first time I’d ever seen anything like that on a football pitch, and I’ve never seen it since. The referee just walking off the field because the atmosphere was intimidating, I thought that’s what fans and players were meant to try and create at a home ground. It was just bizarre, the whole day was bizarre. He was sending players off willy nilly, for nothing really, well, apart from Darren (Sheridan), he did punch someone in the face so he was always going, but the others were rubbish decisions.

It was bizarre. The noise was incredible, and we’d pulled it back to 2-2 with nine men and we had a chance, if I remember rightly, to draw level again at the end. If we’d done that with nine men, it would have been the result of the season.

But, again, it was bizarre. I remember the referee walking off the pitch, looking over at him and thinking: ‘where’s he going?’ I’ve never seen anything like it since.

It was a great game to play in, don’t get me wrong, it was end to end and there was incident after incident, and it was probably a great game to watch, but what the referee was doing or thinking on that day, only he could tell you. I know the fans were raging about it, and there were conspiracy theories and such flying around, but I genuinely just feel that he wasn’t up to doing his job, and afterwards, when you sit down in the cold light of day, you fell a little bit of sympathy for him. His mental state, to do what he did that day, must have been pretty fragile, and he crumbled underneath it. Different people, players and officials, have different levels of mental strength, and he obviously couldn’t cope with what was happening.”

Some Barnsley fans have suggested that defeat to Liverpool really knocked the stuffing out of us, and if we hadn’t of lost in the manner that we did, we may have got more points out of the final part of the season and stayed up. Would you agree?

“No, I don’t think it knocked the stuffing out of the players. Listen, we finished where we finished because that’s what we deserved. As a group we just weren’t strong enough to stay in the Premier League. We had some players that could cope with that division, and we had some that didn’t, and there’s no disgrace in that. We had a lot of players that were excellent in the division below, a lot, but we got into the top flight and as a group we just couldn’t handle it. Things like the Liverpool game didn’t help, of course they didn’t, but I wouldn’t say that it was when we all thought ‘oh god, what’s happened to us? We’re going down…’ It wasn’t that at all, we all still tried our hardest, but at the end of the day we just weren’t quite good enough. That’s not a crime, it’s just a fact.”

After we went down, what was your reaction to Danny Wilson leaving? Were the players shocked, or did you have an idea about what might be happening?

“I was totally shocked, I had no idea. We had all come back from the close season, a couple of players had left, a couple had signed, and it really came as a shock.

The pull of Sheffield Wednesday for him was quite big, and you can see why, but it didn’t really work out for him as he would have liked. Obviously, the fans were in uproar about it, but speaking for myself, I had no idea that it was going to happen.

He did what he did, and then John took over, but no, I had no idea that he was going to do that.”

Was John a popular choice among the players? How did you react to his appointment?
“That was an even bigger shock! John had no experience of being a manager and he’d no experience coaching… Obviously he was a popular figure among the fans, and the players liked him, but it came as a real surprise.

Unfortunately, as the job went on, I felt a bit sorry for John. I’ve never had a conversation with him about it, but it looked like he wasn’t enjoying himself. Obviously, there is a lot of pressure on managers, and having been thrown in at the deep end somewhat, I did feel sorry for him. He’d been put in the situation, but to be fair if they’d asked any of the senior players if they wanted to take over they would have probably jumped on it, as we had a good team, and it was a good club, we had the parachute payments and a few quid in the bank, but it just seemed to be put on him and, well he lost his job in the end, but the pressure seemed to get to him…

It was a big surprise though, yeah. I’ll always remember it, we were sat in the stadium and the chairman said to us: “Here’s the new manager…” And in walked John, and we all just sat around going, ‘Okay, where… That’s John…’

I think any of the players will tell you the same, it was a huge shock.”

If you could look back on the season as a whole, and change one thing about it, what would it be?

“From a purely selfish perspective, it would be that I started more games. I think I started maybe 15 or 16, and I got to go to some magnificent stadiums to play some top teams, but I’d loved to have started more.

From a group point of view, that we’d stayed up. You stay up that first year, the club builds, you can attract better players, the ones that you have improve… Just staying up in the best league in the world would have been invaluable.”

Of all the players that you played alongside up front for Barnsley, who did you think you struck up the best partnership with?

“I really liked playing alongside Ashley when I had the opportunity, because he was a really great player and worked really hard for the team. He suited my game when we played together. He held the ball up really well, and knocked a lot of balls on for me to run on to. So I would say it would be Ashley. He really was a Premier League player was Ashley. You can see that throughout his career, and he was a fantastic signing for Danny.

I really enjoyed playing with Paul Wilkinson too, we had a good partnership going, and I scored a lot of goals while I was up top with Paul, but I’d probably just say Ashley. When you look at his career, he played most of it in the top flight, he went for a lot of money, and scored a lot of goals, so it would have to be him.”

Do you think that, with the way that football is changing, a team like Barnsley could ever make it back to the top flight?

“I’d never say never to anything in football, as I’ve seen some things that would make your eyes curl, so I wouldn’t say no, but it would be as big an achievement as us getting promoted back then.

The budget that Barnsley have got compared to the rest of the Championship is miniscule, but they’ve got a fantastic young manager there in Keith, with some good young players in there, but, at the moment, with the finances available, staying in the Championship is a massive achievement. They’re battling against teams that are spending millions on players, and paying them wages that you wouldn’t believe, so to do it again would be incredible. Unless, of course, some big money man comes in, spends a fortune and buys the success.

I’d never say never, but it would be very difficult for them to get out of this league.”

And, finally, if the chance even arose, would you go back to Barnsley, in one capacity or the other?

“I’d love to roll back the years and go back to play for them, yeah. The job I have now is great, and I’m really enjoying it, but no-one can predict the future, so you never know. Especially in this business, people lose their jobs for nothing and it’s crackers really. You’ve got to be a certain kind of character to survive in it, but I would never say never, but more than anything I’d like to take the time back and go back to play for them.”

And with that, all I can do is thank Andy for taking the time to talk to me, and for everything that he did in his time at Barnsley. I’m sure each and every Barnsley fan wishes him all the best in his future career, and if you want to keep up to date with what he’s doing, go follow him on Twitter – @Lidds7.

Be sure to check back to the blog soon, there are more interviews on the way, as well as build up to the Middlesbrough game, including a chat with one of our former heroes, who happened to play for them too…

“I would have really liked to have played more” – A chat with Andy Liddell: Part one

After chats with Darren Barnard and Nicky Eaden, I tracked down another star from the promotion and Premier League campaigns to discuss his time at the club.

Andy Liddell came through the ranks at Barnsley, making his debut for the club against Portsmouth way back in 1992, the first of 198 appearances for the Tykes. Undoubtedly a popular figure among the fans (and even more-so with my mum), Andy will go down in Tykes history as one of our finest.

I spoke to him about our time in the top flight, the Bradford City match, and everything that happened once we had finally lost our battle to stay in the top flight. Thanks to the quality of the interview that Andy provided, I’m going to split this into two parts again, with the second coming tomorrow, so be sure to come back for that, but, for now, here’s me and Andy..

Dan: Hi Andy, thanks for talking to me. Let’s start with the one that no-one will ever forget. The Bradford City game, what are your memories of that day, and how did it feel to be a part of it all?

Andy: “If I remember rightly, I don’t think I’d actually played the couple of games before it, so I probably thought that I wouldn’t actually be playing in it. As soon as John (Hendrie) arrived from Middlesbrough, he kind of took my place in the team. I was playing up front with Paul (Wilkinson) and I was a bit put out about that. I had started the season well, and was scoring quite a few goals, but the signing meant that I was in and out of the team a lot. I did feature in a lot of the games, but didn’t start as many as I wanted to, so on that day, I was quite surprised to be starting.

I just remember the atmosphere really, I’m pretty sure that it was absolutely chucking it down, and Bradford needed points to stay up, so it was a big game for them too. I remember us scoring, when Wilko put us in front, then it was just a really tight match. From what I can remember, Bradford then went down the left and their lad ended up missing one of the easiest chances you’ll ever see in your life and he hit the post with an open goal. It was one of those chances that an idiot could have put in the net – no offence – but he somehow contrived to miss, and I thought to myself: ‘that’s it, we’re not going to lose this game’. I think Clint came on for me then, but I definitely wasn’t on the pitch when we got our second. I just knew, as soon as their lad hit the post, that was it.

The atmosphere is what will stay with me, and the euphoria of the fans sprinting on to the pitch, it was electric, and it’s a game that I’ll always remember.”

Approaching the new season, going into the top flight for the first time in our history, did you think that we had what it took to compete?

“I didn’t know, I’d no idea to be honest. A lot of us were going in to the unknown, and none of us were established Premier League players. We had a couple of players that had played there, but none of us younger ones that had come through at Barnsley had experienced it before, so we had no idea if we were going to be good enough to stay up or not. I knew that we had some decent players, and that we’d added players too, but until you’re actually in there among the big boys then you never know. Ultimately, it was proven that we weren’t actually good enough, but at the start of the season, I couldn’t have told you how we would have done. The players you’re coming up against in that league are fantastic, especially the top four or five teams, and we didn’t disgrace ourselves, but you can only hope that you’re good enough to match them.”

And what was the atmosphere like in the dressing room ahead of the West Ham game?

“It was the same as what had been happening in the town all summer I think, we were excited. All summer, everyone in Barnsley had been talking about the start of the new season, and I lived in the town, so didn’t miss out on any of that, and the players were too. When you start pre-season, the first game always seems a long way away, but I remember that it actually came around pretty quickly. One of the pre-season games we played was against the Brazilian team Santos at Oakwell, and we got a right hammering. We were all thinking: ‘Oh my god, if they’re all like this, we’re going to get battered every week’.

The West Ham game was all about atmosphere too. It was a red-hot day. I don’t think I started, I was on the bench, but we scored first and it was like a carnival in the ground, like there was a huge party going on. Obviously we got beat in the end, but it was still like a huge party that day.”

Out of the season as whole, which matches do you look back on most fondly?

“From the team point of view, it would have to be the game that we won at Anfield. To go to a place like that, to play a team like that, and to beat them one-nil was fantastic, and the atmosphere in the changing room after that was absolutely brilliant. Obviously, no-one had given us a prayer because we’d had a few hammerings and were going to play one of the biggest teams in Europe, but although we were under the cosh for a lot of the game, we actually played alright and played some decent football. The goal might have come because of a mistake, but that’s the game, from the team point of view, that I’ll remember, purely because of the result and who it was.”

I must admit that I missed the goal on that day as I was too busy appealing for a penalty. Did you think that you were fouled by David James?

“The thing is, he actually touched the ball. A few of us that had come through the youth team and had been coached by Eric (Winstanley) had always been taught that if it’s a penalty, it’s a penalty, but if you have a chance to get up and get the ball, then jump up and get it. That was the reason that I didn’t stay down. You know, I wasn’t a diver, I wasn’t a cheating sort of player, so after he touched the ball I thought: ‘He’s got a touch on that, the ref might not give it’. My reactions told me to get up and cross it, and then they made a cock-up and Ashley stuck it in the net. If it was now, they’d probably give a penalty for it, you get one if someone breathes on you these days, but in that game James touched the ball so I just wanted to get up. It wasn’t a very good cross at all, but it turned out to be when it mattered.”

And which do you think was your best performance?

“The best game that I personally had was the Leeds United game at home, ironically, as I’m a big Leeds fan. I was looking forward to that game as soon as the fixtures came out. We got beat 3-2, but that was a great game for me. I scored, I had one cleared off the line and I just played really well in that game. It was an added bonus that it was against my boyhood team, the team that I supported, and I’ve got a lot of family and friends who are also Leeds fans, and I used to go and watch them as a kid, so that made it double special for me.”

Because you were such an important part of the promotion team, and as you said, were disappointed when John signed, were you then unhappy not to play more games in the Premier League?

“I was yeah, and I actually handed a transfer request in during the summer. When we got promoted, I handed a request in to Danny because I could see what was coming. I wasn’t the most experienced at the time, but I knew that we’d signed John, and it was clear that more players would be coming too. I had confidence in my own ability that I had what it took to be in the team, but any promoted side will sign players, and I thought: ‘I’m not going to get a game here’. I knew there would be other teams interested in me, as I was a decent player and I’d just been involved in the promotion team, which looks good on your CV. I was confident that I could find another team, while also being disappointed. If I was playing for Barnsley, and thought I’d be getting games, then I wouldn’t have ever wanted to leave. But I wasn’t, so I handed in the request, but Danny turned it down and said “No, you’re staying, we want to offer you a new contract.”

Now, I got offered a new contract, but it was loads and loads less than any of the other players that had been offered new deals, and that kind of told me a story, really. I was and am still big mates with Nicky Eaden, and he’d been offered one too. He’d told me what he’d got before I went to see Danny, so I was kind of expecting to get the same but, no, mine was no-where near it, not even half. So, obviously, I got the hump and thought – the club are saying they want to keep me, but at the end of the day, money is money, and you want to be earning the same as players that are of a similar stature to yourself. I can’t lie, I was really annoyed about that, and with the new players coming in too, but what can you do? My transfer request had been turned down, so I just had to get my head down and get on with it. Although it did feel to me that the other players had been rewarded for helping the club get promotion, but I hadn’t really. It didn’t seem fair to me, and I told the club what I felt, but it wasn’t a case of me throwing my toys out of the pram, like I said, I just got on with it.

With the new players coming in I kind of read the script that I wasn’t going to be playing much, on top of the contract offer that I had no real choice but to sign, but I would have really liked to have played more.”

I hope you enjoyed part one of the chat. Be sure to come back tomorrow for part two, including Gary Neville’s ‘tackle’, Liverpool at home, Danny Wilson leaving, and more…