This afternoon, David Flitcroft was named as the new manager of Barnsley FC, after impressing during a short stint as caretaker following the sacking of his best friend Keith Hill on the 29th of last month.
Yesterdays annual home victory over local rivals Leeds United, and indeed the manner of it were no doubt a crucial factor in him getting the job.
So what better way of beginning this particular article than going through events at Oakwell just 24 hours ago, where once again we gave the mighty club from up the road a footballing lesson...
I took up my usual seat in the upper tier of the West Stand just in time to see the players make their entrance.
The reds were unchanged from the victory over Burnley in the FA Cup last weekend. But there was a recall to the substitutes bench for Kelvin Etuhu, and the fit again Jacob Mellis.
Before kick off, everyone in the stadium rose as one to take part in a minutes applause to commemorate another fallen serviceman.
It was as ever at Oakwell, impeccably observed. And it was great to hear both sets of supporters chanting "Yorkshire, Yorkshire..." in unison.
The reds lined up in the now familiar 3-5-2 formation.
We started brightly. Jim O'Brien's deflected curler forced Leeds keeper Paddy Kenny into a save early on, as did Stephen Dawson with a 25 yard drive.
It was all us, and after a period of sustained pressure in and around the Leeds box, Marlon Harewood was next to try his luck from just outside the area but his low strike cannoned back out off the base of Kenny's near post.
It was surely a matter of time...
But again the same post came to Leeds rescue. Martin Cranie's header from O'Brien's corner finding the woodwork.
The Ponty End net was leading a charmed life.
We lost O'Brien to injury just after the half hour mark, and whilst it was a blow to lose his energy, it was good to see Mellis back in the side. We've missed the lads ability in recent weeks.
Just before the break, Chris Dagnall failed to connect when well-placed. It left me wondering if the bloke would ever score a league goal. Number 13 indeed.
Leeds were virtually anonymous as an attacking force in that first half, and were booed off by the near 5,000 travelling Whites supporters as they left the field at half time.
The display from the boys in red and white was spot on. I couldn't fault them. Of course we should have been in front, but none of the chances missed were sitters. A combination of wood and Kenny thwarted us. I still retained hope going into the break.
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| Substitute Jacob Mellis made a great impact |
As the second half began, Leeds had made two substitutions. The ineffective David Norris (brother of Chuck) and El-Hadji Diouf were replaced by Paul Green and Ross McCormack. This allowed Everton youngster, and new Elland Road loanee Ross Barkley to see more of the ball in threatening areas of the field, and the visitors started off much the brighter of the two sides.
That man Barkley had already blasted just wide from way out, when after a clever knockdown from Luciano Becchio the former Wednesday loanee spun his marker Jimmy McNulty before crashing a volley against the underside of Luke Steele's crossbar.
It would have been a travesty had that gone in. You can't help thinking that had it been Keith Hill in the dugout it probably would have gone in..
But that was about all the Whites had to offer yesterday, as the midfield dynamo's that are David Perkins and Stephen Dawson began to wrestle back the initiative in midfield, and gave Mellis the platform to work his magic.
It was a lovely ball down the reds left from Mellis, which Dagnall latched onto and scurried in his inimitable style towards the Leeds box. Both Alan Tate and the highly-rated Sam Byram backed off him and as Daggers swerved left it was young Byram that clipped his ankles with a poor challenge. Penalty.
Now, without the departed Craig Davies it was a guessing game regards who was to step up and take it. I was praying that Daggers would be the man. He'd won it, and if ever he could get off the mark here was the golden opportunity to do so.
I think both Harewood and Mellis were keen to take it, but little Chris wasn't having any of it, clutching the ball and making it clear he was having it. Either way, Dawson came over and guided Marlon away, and after getting the nod from referee Craig Pawson, Dagnall sent the keeper the wrong way and gave us a deserved lead.
It's fair to say, I went barmy.
But not quite as barmy as I did just a few minutes later when after a sublime move of short passing found Mellis wide left, he fed Harewood just outside the box and the big man rolled Tate before slipping in Daggers who fired low into the bottom corner before Kenny had time to react. It was a clinical finish. And as Daggers wheeled away in delight, mobbed by his teammates as they rushed towards the dugout, I was hugging random strangers and realising just why I support my club. For moments exactly like this.
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| Dangerous Dagnall |
Leeds never looked likely to mount any sort of comeback. In fact, they didn't muster a shot on target, nor a corner in the whole 93 minutes of the game.
Yes, they were poor. But I'm not sure they'd have got anything even if they'd been at their best.
We bullied them all over the park, and if anything we should have won by a greater margin.
The standing ovation given to Dagnall as Flicker withdrew him on 93 minutes was great to see, and well deserved.
And the reaction from fans, players and coaches alike at full time left me in no doubt that this group weren't relinquishing their second tier status without a fight. It also looked clear to me that it would take a brave man to tell Flicker to join his best mate back home in Bolton..
I got home and was glued to twitter for a couple of hours, hoping for some kind of clue regards the managerial position, as well as offering my own thoughts.
I'll be honest, whilst I wasn't against the club appointing Flicker, he wouldn't have been my choice to take the reins full time. And that's what I said last night on twitter. Most of the reds fans I converse with on that platform were all for him to get the gig, certainly after that performance. So it made for a good hours debate. But as I said before switching off the laptop for the evening, I couldn't help wondering that should the club lose the next couple of games, would these same 'converts' still be as glowing in their praise and vigorous in their support for him..?
Nowt as fickle as some football fans. And it was only a few days before that the majority of Tarn supporters wanted him nowhere near the club. Again, I'll gladly accept that I was part of that group.
I was the biggest of Hillcroft supporters. I wanted them here from day one. But the last 12 months chipped away at my faith and when Keith departed Oakwell after the Blackburn Rovers defeat I was hoping that his sidekick would join him on the way out. I wanted a clean break, a new broom etc.
That's nothing against David at all. But he was admittedly 50% to blame for the last 12 months, and both he and Keith were one and the same.
Check this quote he gave the official site upon their arrival back on the 1st of June 2011...
"We are pretty inseperable. It's the tightest-knit relationship in football. Cut his head off, I'll grow two. Cut my arm off and Keith will grow three. That's how close we are.
We need each other. Our footballing philosophy is mirrored. There's nothing I hate more than what I call 'moon-walking' assistants' who you see backing down into the dugout when they concede a goal. They say they'll back the manager, but don't. I'm not like that. I tell Keith when I don't agree with something but we are always on the same page."
It's that that scares me. You can't tell me all of a sudden that he had nothing to do with our football, our recruitment, our tactics and our results during the Hillcroft era. And neither will I buy into this myth now circulating that everything that went right in their tenure was 'probably' down to Flitcroft.
I repeat though, I'm not against David Flitcroft. He's our manager now. He gets my unwavering support at Oakwell, as he has since he took the job as caretaker. Just as I give any manager and any player that pulls on the red shirt. Whilst I'm at Oakwell, that is..
Once I'm home, and I take to twitter, facebook and especially our forum, they're all fair game. I won't apologise for that. I pay my money (far too bloody much) and I'm entitled to use such vehicles to criticise or praise where I see fit.
I always find it amusing when footballers whinge when they read a bit of criticism on these online platforms. Especially those who are all too quick to 'retweet' any bit of praise they may get on twitter.
It works both ways, and my advice to them would be to steer clear if you're thin-skinned.
Basically, I don't believe that what we supporters bleat about online makes the slightest bit of difference down Oakwell. If it did, we'd have £20 ticket prices every week, Keith would have gone weeks ago, and if they'd have listened to me last October they'd have terminated Ricardo Vaz Te's contract just before his purple patch....
One good thing out of all this, is that just with Ricardo I've again been proven wrong.
I wanted Keith, he failed. I wanted Spackman, he failed. I never wanted Dave Bassett, he succeeded. I never wanted Flicker.........
Having read a few things online, I know that some people won't even give Flicker a chance. Some have even suggested that they won't attend Oakwell. That's their prerogative.
I might not have wanted him here, nor did I want him as manager, but I love my club and nobody keeps me from supporting it. Nothing, nobody.
And I'll end on a positive note.
The title of this article suggests I wonder whether Flicker is his own man. Or just 'Sidekick' as I've been calling him for over a fortnight. Well, as I said on twitter last night, the performance against Leeds helped me come some way to accepting him, in his own right, and so I agreed to drop the 'Sidekick' taunts.
I didn't see the Peterborough game. But I read the reports, listened to those who did attend, saw the highlights etc.
I attended the Burnley fixture. And obviously I was there yesterday, too. So I'm more than willing to accept that in just 3 games David Flitcroft has proven he's nobody's sidekick, that he's got his own mind and his own vision.
The idea of playing with wing-backs is nothing new. It's how I've always set my teams up to play on Football Manager/FIFA etc.... (when I used to have time to play games)
And it's the shape that our most successful side of all time lined up in.
I applaud Flicker (and Mickey Mellon/Martin Scott) for having the gonads to implement it. And applaud them further for getting it - thus far - to work.
He's brought those two guys in (Mellon and Scott) and again, that looks a shrewd move on his part.
He says he needed 'new eyes' and from what I've witnessed in the last two games at home they've shown him where things perhaps needed tweaking.
Yesterday was case in point. Every few minutes, Scott would come down from his view further up the West Stand, sometimes up the old tunnel, and have a word with Flicker. Similarly, Mellon would often come across and do the same. I've also heard the latter instructing the likes of McNulty and Perkins to be more direct. There does seem to be a proper 'plan' now. Because under Keith's management, certainly towards it's death, there looked to be nothing at all coming from the dugout as regards instructions.
Yes it's nothing revolutionary, but it's the simple things that often pay off in a big way.
It's then no coincidence that Harewood and McNulty look much better players this month. In fact, Jimmy put in a display yesterday that made a mockery of his performances under Keith this season. He's great at being in the right places at the right times, and he's decent in the air/tackle. What he struggled with, was marking and passing. Not that he can't pass, but I'm guessing he was encouraged to always find a red shirt. Whereas the supporters have always wanted him to get shut of it when under pressure. Yesterday, he did just that. Instead of dallying, trying to play it short, or going back to Steele, he'd send it upfield. That's not long balling it. That's common sense.
I'm hopeful that the forgotten men can also improve under this new management, with new ideas. The likes of Toni Silva, Lee Collins, Rob Edwards, Kelvin Etuhu and Tomasz Cywka. If not, then we move them on.
And then there's the lads that have struggled. Namely Matty Done and Scott Wiseman.
I'd personally get rid of them both, as I believe we have better players ahead of them. I don't see Done as any better than the likes of Reuben Noble-Lazarus, O'Brien, Mellis or Cywka. And neither do I see him fitting in this current system.
I suppose Wiseman may have something to offer. Certainly should John Stones be poached this window, he may be worth retaining. But the fans have turned on him, and so it would take a big turnaround in form for it to happen. But then, who would have foreseen Chris Dagnall receiving a standing ovation just 6 months ago..??
Anyway, thanks for reading, and remember you can follow me 'HERE' on twitter where I'll keep you updated on any further BFC related musings.
UP THE TARN!
