Ashley Barnes

the_fat_shearer · Post by **the_fat_shearer** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 1:30 pm

While I do appreciate the point that people say that he doesn't score enough goals I think that you have to put it into context - we are not set up that way. You could describe all of our strikers as not scoring enough goals as we are not going to have one of them finish the season with 15+ but that would miss the point. We set up to keep things tight and stay in games, which suits us and has enabled us to get some vital points at home, particularly when we have scored late to take all 3. With our current system (which is working) we won't have one player scoring a hatful and that probably suits us also, not to be too reliant on one player - imagine if Defoe gets injured for Sunderland...

None of our strikers will break records this season and that's partly down to the way that we play, defensive solidity and winning games by the odd goal with goals coming from across the pitch.

I'm not saying that he can't improve in this area, all of our strikers have areas that they need to work on. We do need another striker for next season but for me, that's in addition to what we have. I think that if you are playing 2 up front you need 2 as backup and adding extra quality to what we already have wouldn't be a bad thing.

Aside from that, I love watching him, as others have said, he would be a nightmare to play against. I was surprised that when we went down to 10 men at Watford that Dyche initially had Barnes on the wing and Gray up front. It didn't take long for him to switch them to use Gray's pace on the wing and more importantly Barnes' ability to hold up the ball and draw fouls from the opposition to help our team get up the pitch. He's one of the players that fans can relate to as they see the effort that he puts in. Still, I don't think I've ever seen a Burnley player moan at the ref so much!!

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 1:40 pm

claptrappers_union wrote:I hate it when Ashley Barnes plays... well when I say 'plays', I mean he is employed just to fall forwards every time he jumps up with a defender to win free kicks.

I'm sure he is better player than that, maybe he talents are being wasted, but he is getting Burnley points I suppose.

You must be missing most of his play if that's what you think

Blackrod · Post by **Blackrod** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 1:58 pm

A huge part in us competing so well in the last few games. If you can't see that you aren't watching.

Vegas Claret · Post by **Vegas Claret** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 4:07 pm

he's been the biggest difference this season for us

3putt · Post by **3putt** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 6:40 pm

Out of interest why do you think that Vegas Claret?

He plays his part in unsettling the opposition defence, winning free kicks and scoring the odd goal but I would certainly put him behind, Heaton, Keane, Mee, Hendrick, Defour, Barton and Gray in terms of important contribution.

In term of making a real difference I would say Heaton and Keane are miles ahead in my opinion.

claptrappers_union · Post by **claptrappers_union** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 7:03 pm

ClaretTony wrote:You must be missing most of his play if that's what you think

I see his other play, but his main job is to win fouls around the penalty area

jurek · Post by **jurek** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 7:11 pm

I can appreciate what Barnes brings to the team and agree with most of what has been
said by previous posters but for me he just doesn't score enough goals.
Can't recall now how many he has scored but think it's either 3 or 4 in total this season.

Not sure that's enough for a Premier League striker.

lesxdp · Post by **lesxdp** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 7:12 pm

"You must be missing most of his play if that's what you think"

I agree with this entirely but on a lighter note in view of recent comments and the benefit of hindsight I just came across this racing result.
18~05 at TURFfontein the winner at 10/1 was WRECKING BALL. I wonder how many of our supporters saw it?

minnieclaret · Post by **minnieclaret** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 7:16 pm

claptrappers_union wrote:I see his other play, but his main job is to win fouls around the penalty area

He doesn't win fouls. He gets fouled. They don't have to come charging into the back of him, they choose to.
Bit strange really because dead balls are so important to us.

PWBFC · Post by **PWBFC** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 7:19 pm

Horrible to play against and for my money, he has the best first touch in the entire squad.

claptrappers_union · Post by **claptrappers_union** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 7:22 pm

minnieclaret wrote:He doesn't win fouls. He gets fouled. They don't have to come charging into the back of him, they choose to.

He jumps for the ball and soon as he feels contact from the player behind him, the leans forwards and collapses to the floor, and it looks like a push.

minnieclaret · Post by **minnieclaret** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 7:34 pm

claptrappers_union wrote:He jumps for the ball and soon as he feels contact from the player behind him, the leans forwards and collapses to the floor, and it looks like a push.

Don't totally agree but that's modern football. The ref is supposed to know the difference.

Vegas Claret · Post by **Vegas Claret** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 7:35 pm

Re: Ashley Barnes
Home
Postby 3putt » Tue Feb 14, 2017 6:40 pm

Out of interest why do you think that Vegas Claret?

He plays his part in unsettling the opposition defence, winning free kicks and scoring the odd goal but I would certainly put him behind, Heaton, Keane, Mee, Hendrick, Defour, Barton and Gray in terms of important contribution.

In term of making a real difference I would say Heaton and Keane are miles ahead in my opinion.

When Vokes was playing we struggled to relieve pressure, the minute Dyche started Barnes that all changed (specifically at home). He get's us further up the field and chases and batters a lot more than Sam (it's not slight on Sam, different type of player).

We all knew Heaton, Keane and Defour would be class at this level, we all hoped Mee and Hendrick would be - not sure many of us thought Barnes would be so influential and it's for those reasons really. You could say the same about Ward too to be honest who has been superb

3putt · Post by **3putt** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 9:21 pm

I see what you are saying Vegas Claret and he is no doubt good at doing what you have described. I don't think he offers enough in terms of goal scoring or assists, but we are going great guns and I feel certain that we'll avoid relegation by some distance. So what do I know?

Gnulty · Post by **Gnulty** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 9:48 pm

Always liked Barnes..not afraid and with a gentle, kind mean streak in him...he could have hit that baby behind the goal, but he did'nt!

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 10:26 pm

cutsy123 wrote:If greys 1st touch was better of if he won more ball knock3d forward then yes. Barnes is ther better striker for me

You are talking utter nonsense, so basically a striker has to be the full package to be a PL level striker? There are plenty of strikers past and present who have done extremely well in the PL without having the speed, good first touch. If Gray had the first touch and won more balls knocked forward he would be playing at a top 4 club not Burnley. Strikers who aren't at the top four clubs have strengths and weaknesses, the important thing is how they use their strengths. Gray isn't a player suited to winning long balls forward, that isn't his game so to criticise him for it is quite remarkable. Gray should be judged on how he uses his strengths and what his strengths are. Running in behind with pace and power, rolling defenders and scoring goals... he's a damn good striker all those things considered. If you want to judge him on his link up play, Van bastenesque touches and Didier Drogba's aireal strength then yeah, he's probably crap. It's like criticising Vokes for not being quick like Gray. Complete stupidity if you don't realise players with no weakness in their game wouldn't be playing for us. Infact, all players in world football have weaknesses, Ronaldo and Messi included.

3putt · Post by **3putt** » Wed Feb 15, 2017 8:26 am

You need to stop sitting on the fence KRBFC.

I do agree though, we have an excellent striker in Gray, if we find a player to give him better service, he will score 15-20 goals in the Prem.

ontario claret · Post by **ontario claret** » Wed Feb 15, 2017 10:33 pm

Foshiznik. You must live on the other side of the dual carriageway, in Shirehampton. (Either that, in Sea Mills, or burrowed into the bank of the railway line.) Drop into the clubhouse sometime, ask for Geoff Sellek, and tell them that you know Bill Vipond. A free pint of scrumpy will no doubt be on it's way. You might even come to enjoy the football. (They're going up, y'know.)

ontario claret · Post by **ontario claret** » Wed Feb 15, 2017 10:35 pm

You're right, KRBFC. Messi is a terrible defender.

MDWat · Post by **MDWat** » Wed Feb 15, 2017 10:42 pm

Shane Long would be my target for the summer.

Steve1956 · Post by **Steve1956** » Wed Feb 15, 2017 10:46 pm

MDWat wrote:Shane Long would be my target for the summer.

The striker I want plays for Southampton ...it's not Shane Long though.

Foshiznik · Post by **Foshiznik** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 10:53 am

ontario claret wrote:Foshiznik. You must live on the other side of the dual carriageway, in Shirehampton. (Either that, in Sea Mills, or burrowed into the bank of the railway line.) Drop into the clubhouse sometime, ask for Geoff Sellek, and tell them that you know Bill Vipond. A free pint of scrumpy will no doubt be on it's way. You might even come to enjoy the football. (They're going up, y'know.)

I live on Sea Mills Lane. Good knowledge!

HiroshimaClaret · Post by **HiroshimaClaret** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 11:01 am

the_fat_shearer wrote:While I do appreciate the point that people say that he doesn't score enough goals I think that you have to put it into context - we are not set up that way. You could describe all of our strikers as not scoring enough goals as we are not going to have one of them finish the season with 15+ but that would miss the point. We set up to keep things tight and stay in games, which suits us and has enabled us to get some vital points at home, particularly when we have scored late to take all 3. With our current system (which is working) we won't have one player scoring a hatful and that probably suits us also, not to be too reliant on one player - imagine if Defoe gets injured for Sunderland...

None of our strikers will break records this season and that's partly down to the way that we play, defensive solidity and winning games by the odd goal with goals coming from across the pitch.

I'm not saying that he can't improve in this area, all of our strikers have areas that they need to work on. We do need another striker for next season but for me, that's in addition to what we have. I think that if you are playing 2 up front you need 2 as backup and adding extra quality to what we already have wouldn't be a bad thing.

Aside from that, I love watching him, as others have said, he would be a nightmare to play against. I was surprised that when we went down to 10 men at Watford that Dyche initially had Barnes on the wing and Gray up front. It didn't take long for him to switch them to use Gray's pace on the wing and more importantly Barnes' ability to hold up the ball and draw fouls from the opposition to help our team get up the pitch. He's one of the players that fans can relate to as they see the effort that he puts in. Still, I don't think I've ever seen a Burnley player moan at the ref so much!!

Absolutely spot on! He is invaluable to the cause. In a dream world of Brian Clough-like proportions where the grass is green and gentlemen play football, there`d be no need for him but this is the real world and we`re in a league in which previously we were horrendously naive. Dyche HAS learned and adapted (at home for the most part...competitive I know away now but still only 1 point) and the likes of Barnes (physicality) and Barton (in the ear of the referee) are VITAL to our survival.

ontario claret · Post by **ontario claret** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 11:00 pm

Here's another one, Foshiznik. Sea Mills FC plays in a regional Bristol league. But where is their clubhouse? Sea Mills isn't that big (other than the railway station), so where is their ground?

Vegas Claret · Post by **Vegas Claret** » Sat Feb 18, 2017 3:10 pm

We saw today why Barnes is important to us

ontario claret · Post by **ontario claret** » Sat Feb 18, 2017 9:11 pm

Actually, I hardly noticed him when he came on. He just became another member of the mob.

boatshed bill · Post by **boatshed bill** » Sat Feb 18, 2017 9:12 pm

ontario claret wrote:Actually, I hardly noticed him when he came on. He just became another member of the mob.

That's a fairly accurate assessment.

mdd2 · Post by **mdd2** » Sat Feb 18, 2017 9:12 pm

what Vegas said

ontario claret · Post by **ontario claret** » Sat Feb 18, 2017 9:49 pm

The game totally lacked any sense of formation or organization. That's what happens when you change 7 players from the previous game.