Barnes: Let's do it all again (From The Argus)

HOVE PARK DISSIDENT is late.

I hope nothing's happened to him.
(LOL!)

gordongull wrote:
HOVE PARK DISSIDENT is late.

I hope nothing's happened to him.
(LOL!)

He must be at the dole office

Well done Ashley more to come from you next season,you weren,t my favourite player when you arrived at the club but you have improved so much that I see great things to come ,keep it going UTA

Great attitude from Ashley Barnes. I think he will do well next year and hopefully there is a deal to be done that benefits everyone unlike a certain predecessor of his. I feel for Jara. He was injured and unavailable to play but still gets a 10 game ban - more than a little harsh.

I can only see Barnes getting better and better. Great future ahead of him, pound for pound one of the best signings in a long time.

Keep up the hard work Ashley!

farside wrote:
Great attitude from Ashley Barnes. I think he will do well next year and hopefully there is a deal to be done that benefits everyone unlike a certain predecessor of his. I feel for Jara. He was injured and unavailable to play but still gets a 10 game ban - more than a little harsh.

Agree attitude is spot on but I think he will struggle next season to play as much as he did this season purely due to the 5-6 coming in, great squad player, punched well above his weight this season in my opinion.

Gus is unlikely to be assembling a Premiership side over the summer, so Ashley is likely to be an integral part of next season's squad. It is difficult to believe he is still only 22, after what he has achieved in the last two seasons.
Long may it continue!

Good to see Will Hoskins back at the Amex.. even if it is for treatment for a hernia..

He was also subject to some very unfair criticism this season from WSL at least. Totally undeserved IMHO. Ignore them Ash, the real fans appreciate your hard work and endeavour. And yes where is HOVEPARKRESIDENT? Perhaps his broadband has crashed...

Albion fan in London wrote:

gordongull wrote: HOVE PARK DISSIDENT is late. I hope nothing's happened to him. (LOL!)

He must be at the dole office

Who you gonna call?

He's right he does face a massive season and will need to prove himself again. 11 goals in 35 games this season isn't great for a striker. Think there was a red card as well. His strike rate was much better last season so is he heading in the right direction?

HOVEPARKRESIDENT wrote:
He's right he does face a massive season and will need to prove himself again. 11 goals in 35 games this season isn't great for a striker. Think there was a red card as well. His strike rate was much better last season so is he heading in the right direction?

Who we gonna call?

I was quite enjoying that thread til HPR spewed all over it......

Is Ash taking the mick out of CMS in the photo?

Can we still call AB a striker? Didn't really play that much in that (specific) role... Worked hard but sometimes a little bit lost when the tactics went awry (not his fault?).

He contributes all over the pitch and pops up with useful goals. I hope he does continue to improve. He is one of those players that Gus can rely on to do a job. I think El Abd fits that category as well. Neither is brilliantly gifted, but you know they will put in a shift and they can play in different positions and do what Gus wants. You need 2 or 3 of those in the team.

Come on chaps, reality check. Endeavour gets you 9th. Guile and power on the other hand.....

Barnes will get better, young enough to develop and mature. If he gets the same amount of games next season he will get more goals than this season. That said expecting we will sign another decent forward in summer which may limit goal scoring opportunitues for Barnes.

Ashley Barnes has an eye for goal, and until Reading, took some good pens, but all the talk about his contribution all over the pitch is misguided, in my view. His first touch is often woeful, he spends a lot of time falling over and appealing to the ref, he can't win a header and rarely even challenges for them. He has been playing out of position and he is young, but let's all get real if we think he will be a regular starter in a team challenging for promotion unless he improves massively.

fairweathersupporter wrote:
Can we still call AB a striker? Didn't really play that much in that (specific) role... Worked hard but sometimes a little bit lost when the tactics went awry (not his fault?).

Well if not a striker then a goal scoring midfielder. Any midfielder that scores into double figures is considered a valuable asset. How many midfielders have scored as many goals.

Some goal scoring midfielders that have flair are sometimes lax with other duties but it's only the great goals they score that get them noticed

Of course there is always room for improvement, maybe a few acting classes would help, but joking aside he has done alright for his first season in the Champ and it has been good experience in preparation for next season.

good attitude, hope they all feel the same! no one has the divine right to a new contract, but some are more deserving than others. work hard, and you will get your rewards. we need to concentrate on starting to build a premiership quality side, with some good young players.

seagull31 wrote:
Ashley Barnes has an eye for goal, and until Reading, took some good pens, but all the talk about his contribution all over the pitch is misguided, in my view. His first touch is often woeful, he spends a lot of time falling over and appealing to the ref, he can't win a header and rarely even challenges for them. He has been playing out of position and he is young, but let's all get real if we think he will be a regular starter in a team challenging for promotion unless he improves massively.

"...if we think he will be a regular starter in a team challenging for promotion..."

Weren't we challenging for promotion a month or two ago, when he WAS a regular starter?

I love Barnes, and can appreciate his all round game. Yes, he may go down quite easily (but then he is far from alone in that regard), and everyone goes on about his first touch. But when he does lose the ball, he chases back and does his utmost to get it back.

A telling sign in the Watford game, when we played 442 was the fact that the midfield missed Barnes' defensive presence, and, for me, that may a big difference in the overall performance.

I don't agree with people that use the "he's only young" argument, because there are a lot of experienced, quality players under 22. However, what I would say is he is learning all the time and subsequently getting better and better.

Considering where he came from, and what the club paid for him, that's value for money.

Gazza by the sea wrote:
Come on chaps, reality check. Endeavour gets you 9th. Guile and power on the other hand.....

I think that the creative players need hard working players like Barnes around them as Chi Gull said in a post higher up on this thread.
However one appreciates AB is not the finished product and I am not sure what his best position is (striker or playing the link role behind the striker).
What cannot be denied is that AB was our top scorer this year and scored a number of critical goals eg against Wrexham.
In summary he has proved to be a really valuable member of the squad this season.

Cabin fever wrote:

seagull31 wrote: Ashley Barnes has an eye for goal, and until Reading, took some good pens, but all the talk about his contribution all over the pitch is misguided, in my view. His first touch is often woeful, he spends a lot of time falling over and appealing to the ref, he can't win a header and rarely even challenges for them. He has been playing out of position and he is young, but let's all get real if we think he will be a regular starter in a team challenging for promotion unless he improves massively.

"...if we think he will be a regular starter in a team challenging for promotion..." Weren't we challenging for promotion a month or two ago, when he WAS a regular starter? I love Barnes, and can appreciate his all round game. Yes, he may go down quite easily (but then he is far from alone in that regard), and everyone goes on about his first touch. But when he does lose the ball, he chases back and does his utmost to get it back. A telling sign in the Watford game, when we played 442 was the fact that the midfield missed Barnes' defensive presence, and, for me, that may a big difference in the overall performance. I don't agree with people that use the "he's only young" argument, because there are a lot of experienced, quality players under 22. However, what I would say is he is learning all the time and subsequently getting better and better. Considering where he came from, and what the club paid for him, that's value for money.

Was that the same Watford match that Barnes' rash tackle in the penalty area gave them a 2-0 lead?

seagull31 wrote:

Cabin fever wrote:

seagull31 wrote: Ashley Barnes has an eye for goal, and until Reading, took some good pens, but all the talk about his contribution all over the pitch is misguided, in my view. His first touch is often woeful, he spends a lot of time falling over and appealing to the ref, he can't win a header and rarely even challenges for them. He has been playing out of position and he is young, but let's all get real if we think he will be a regular starter in a team challenging for promotion unless he improves massively.

"...if we think he will be a regular starter in a team challenging for promotion..." Weren't we challenging for promotion a month or two ago, when he WAS a regular starter? I love Barnes, and can appreciate his all round game. Yes, he may go down quite easily (but then he is far from alone in that regard), and everyone goes on about his first touch. But when he does lose the ball, he chases back and does his utmost to get it back. A telling sign in the Watford game, when we played 442 was the fact that the midfield missed Barnes' defensive presence, and, for me, that may a big difference in the overall performance. I don't agree with people that use the "he's only young" argument, because there are a lot of experienced, quality players under 22. However, what I would say is he is learning all the time and subsequently getting better and better. Considering where he came from, and what the club paid for him, that's value for money.

Was that the same Watford match that Barnes' rash tackle in the penalty area gave them a 2-0 lead?

I'll do you the courtesy of answering your (rhetorical) question, even though you seem to have ignored mine, and all of the other points I raised.

Yes, it was the same match, and I can't believe you missed that out in your criticism of him.

On the other hand, you could talk about all the fouls he's won that have led to goals, or got us out of trouble in our own half. What about his record against CMS, not just this season, but the last time he was in the Championship with Peterborough.

I'm not saying AB's a footballing genius, but a lot of the effort he puts in seems to be ignored by too many people. I'm happy to be proved wrong, but I've got a feeling he'll have a great 2012/2013 season here.

I like Barnes, although I found the shot in the head incident quite amusing, in a harmless way.

Maybe the instructions from Gus has been, go to ground easy, and Barnes hasn’t yet got this down to a fine art, or the choice of when should do it. Yep something he can work on.

Next season is a new start with this year’s experience. I am not really worried about sifting through a list of previous shaky performances by the team or individuals, this is really up to the club and what is seen and done on the training ground.

I like Barnes - Ive been frustrated by the flack he gets from fans who pick on his every mistake, yet ignore that fact that the "favourites" in the team are just as guilty at times.
Yes, he gave away the pen v Watford, but he's usually to be found tracking back to the edge of our box helping out - its obvious that occasionally you will get a tackle wrong.
Top goalscorer.

Cabin fever wrote:

seagull31 wrote:

Cabin fever wrote:

seagull31 wrote: Ashley Barnes has an eye for goal, and until Reading, took some good pens, but all the talk about his contribution all over the pitch is misguided, in my view. His first touch is often woeful, he spends a lot of time falling over and appealing to the ref, he can't win a header and rarely even challenges for them. He has been playing out of position and he is young, but let's all get real if we think he will be a regular starter in a team challenging for promotion unless he improves massively.

"...if we think he will be a regular starter in a team challenging for promotion..." Weren't we challenging for promotion a month or two ago, when he WAS a regular starter? I love Barnes, and can appreciate his all round game. Yes, he may go down quite easily (but then he is far from alone in that regard), and everyone goes on about his first touch. But when he does lose the ball, he chases back and does his utmost to get it back. A telling sign in the Watford game, when we played 442 was the fact that the midfield missed Barnes' defensive presence, and, for me, that may a big difference in the overall performance. I don't agree with people that use the "he's only young" argument, because there are a lot of experienced, quality players under 22. However, what I would say is he is learning all the time and subsequently getting better and better. Considering where he came from, and what the club paid for him, that's value for money.

Was that the same Watford match that Barnes' rash tackle in the penalty area gave them a 2-0 lead?

I'll do you the courtesy of answering your (rhetorical) question, even though you seem to have ignored mine, and all of the other points I raised.

Yes, it was the same match, and I can't believe you missed that out in your criticism of him.

On the other hand, you could talk about all the fouls he's won that have led to goals, or got us out of trouble in our own half. What about his record against CMS, not just this season, but the last time he was in the Championship with Peterborough.

I'm not saying AB's a footballing genius, but a lot of the effort he puts in seems to be ignored by too many people. I'm happy to be proved wrong, but I've got a feeling he'll have a great 2012/2013 season here.

I guess you're right, we were challenging for promotion with him in the team, but in my mind there is a big difference between the 6th to 10th position that we ultimately will get/deserve (still impressive) and 1st to 5th that we want next year! You are right that we are exposed if we play 4--4-2, that is a big issue and explains why we have struggled with goals. I watch Barnes a lot, and his work rate is good, but no more than I'd expect. But for all my criticism, Gus knows more about footie than me and he sees something in him! Although he does make some odd decisions as well, and I just think his persistence with AB over the quality of JFC or Vincelot is one of them. Anyway, looking forward to Barnsley tomorrow, been a great year.

Agree with Chi Gull (again!) and Cabin Fever.

Regards Ballantrrae's point about important goals, the Wrexham strike paved the way for £1m+ income from the Newcastle and Liverpool TV games...far more than paying the club back his transfer fee in one fell swoop!

Good debate Cabin Fever / Seagull31. Reasoned and measured. I think in effect you are both right. Barnesy does work hard and has helped the defence but his deeper role does limit attacking outlets. If you look to the Leeds home game, CMS and AB linked really well for all three goals....but we conceded three, too. Therein lies the problem.

Seagull31, your suggestion of JFC being the solution is pertinent and probably the long term answer.