WE CAN DO THIS - TOGETHER

The one thing that we of a Barnsley FC persuasion all want, is to remain a second tier club for next season. It's the objective that looked impossible just 3 months ago. It is now in our own hands, and entirely achievable.. 

So for the remainder of this season I will be 100% behind the club, it's management and of course each player that is selected to represent this little club that I adore. 

Anyone fortunate enough (or not..) to know me will know I'm an opinionated so and so. I can argue my point until the cows come home, and my enthusiasm for BFC knows no bounds. So of course I'm not going to be everybody's cup of tea, and so at times I can appear to be difficult.. 

It's dawned on me the last few days, that my motives - however honest - when posting my thoughts on our forum, or via twitter and facebook, are likely to appear questionable to others, and could in however small a way, affect the club I love in it's quest for Championship survival.. 

We all say things in the heat of the moment. We care passionately about something, we're then disappointed, and feel that certain things are influencing that unwanted outcome. 

That may be the case, it may not, but with just 10 games of this season to go I feel it's time for me personally, to put aside my differences, and to give the manager in particular my full support. 

Granted, David Flitcroft wasn't my choice for manager. Neither do I agree with his stance on Bobby Hassell, nor his blind spot when it comes to certain other players. But we're talking about a bloke who has won 9 of his 14 games in charge here. A bloke that has shown a level of passion both on the touchline and in interviews that I've been crying out for in the past. A bloke, who has managed to get a group of under-performing individuals to perform heroics as a team, together, united.. 

Of course, he's not the sole reason for the revival since the turn of the year. We have to afford some credit to both Mickey Mellon and Martin Scott, too. They must have had some influence. But again, who brought them into the club to assist him? 

I can't speak for everyone, but when learning of Jason Scotland's signing, I wasn't that excited. I looked at Ipswich, saw the poor strikers at their disposal, and wondered how good he could be if he couldn't get a look in at Portman Road. He's not exactly in his prime, either. So it's fair to say I had my doubts.. 

Surely, he's been the best January recruit so far as clubs at our level are concerned? 

How many games did Keith Hill have in charge of our club? How many of them, did we win after being a goal behind? 

This bloke, as I've stated already, has been in charge of 14 games - we have come from behind to win two of them already. Not only that, we've come from behind to draw two of them. And, we've been pegged back level in two, yet still gone on to win.. 

The FA Cup trouncing aside, we've scored in every game under Flitcroft.. 

The Bolton defeat, is the only game at Oakwell where we haven't been victorious. 

So, are my doubts, niggles with the manager, REALLY that important? 

Not for the remainder of the season. 

I'm not looking at the visit of Watford on Saturday as a game we're bound to lose. I would have thought just that, a few months ago. But since Flitcroft has taken the reins, he's clearly restored the belief that had evaporated throughout a torturous 2012 under his former gaffer.. 

During the international break, I hope the Tarn supporters find the time and money to get down to Oakwell and purchase a ticket for the Sheffield Wednesday game at Hillsborough on March 30th. 

We need to go there in numbers, and roar the lads on to a famous victory - a victory that could have a massive impact on each clubs survival prospects.. 

The Manchester City cup tie was a day out, but away days come no bigger than the one at S6 at the end of the month. 

That's pretty much it for this installment of the blog. But stay tuned in the week or so leading up to Wednesday away, where I hope to give you the kind of build-up a match of this magnitude deserves - with daily posts, fan opinion from both sides, and anything else I can come up with.. 

It's a time to fight.. to battle.. but as one and together, not with each other. 

Up The Tarn!