By Red Army
December 3 2020

 Barnsley came from behind to claim all three points away at Birmingham thanks to second-half goals from a Cauley Woodrow penalty and Callum Styles deflected shot. They fell behind early into the second period but fought back to claim a deserved away win after back to back defeats before this one.

At one stage it looked like being a similar story to Blackburn game as the reds created chances but failed to trouble the goalkeeper with their efforts.

Finishing off chances still looks to be a problem for me as we needed a penalty and deflection to secure all three points in this one.

And even though we are much better defensively now than this time 12 months ago, the Birmingham goal was quite comical.

How he managed to back heel it through both Helik and Andersen for a start. Why they both ran out there to the corner for another and then Styles poorly tracking and getting the wrong side of their lad who then put the ball in to the box.

I would say that that is Styles only slight weakness when he plays at a wingback, his positioning or awareness of the opposition player but in fairness to him he can usually recover. I would still prefer to see him in the middle of midfield but with so many midfield options I suppose left wing back is better than him being on the bench.

I thought he looked a lot better with Adeboyejo in the team as well, at least he can hold it up and is strong enough to off hold off defenders and bring others in to play. I won’t mention that poor touch he had when through on goal.

I am still hoping for two strikers/wide men to be signed in January to partner Woodrow. Then Chaplin and Adeboyejo can be used from the bench and we don’t have to bother with the likes of Thomas and Frieser again.

The usual reliable Alex Mowatt had an absolute stinker but everyone can have a bad game.

When you see that Mowatt and Kane are coming off and are being replaced by James and Palmer, it’s not a bad position to be in. And this manager isn’t afraid to make changes as he has showed previously and also in this one when he made four in one go.

We sit in mid table after these three points and makes we ponder where can we finish this season? Are any fans still worried about the possibility of a bad a run and being pulled in to a relegation fight still?  Or are we definitely better than that now? And if we are better than that now, would a long term injury to Woodrow reduce us back to relegation fodder?

In January I am thinking on bolstering our fire power but still wary that we could sell some of our better players should we receive some half decent bids, and such sales could completely derail us.

I suppose you just never know as a Barnsley fan. I would be more than happy with a comfortable mid table finish with no excitement this season but you get the feeling that’s just not the way we do things at Oakwell.

High flying Bournemouth next on Friday night but we have nothing to fear from anyone in this league.

COYR