Sure i saw Romeu go down holding his face BEFORE Barnes got near him? maybe he should take some lessons from Joey, make sure the ref sees you fouled a few time before employing the "dark arts"

I wouldn't say ️Joey is dirty or employs the dark arts.He just likes a hard challenge. I think Barnes is dirty. He does elbow players pretty much every game but he does it slyly. Still love Barnes tho. Type of player defenders hate

We've a good cop in Big Sam.
We've a bad cop with Ash....

Start dirty on tuesday, barnes ,vokes and gray up front with joey on from the start

If he is, it's because he deserves it. He puts himself about and upsets defenders. They don't like it up em. But referees will be aware of it.

It's a well-earned reputation.

He was pretty ineffective today giving lots of cheap free kicks away.

I wish he would pack half of it in, every challenge he goes for leads to a free kick one way or the other. He can score some good goals when he concentrates on football instead.

'getting'?????,!!!!!!!

His chest control is second to none.

He is a very skillful and underrated player.

He was in various tight situations at both ends of the pitch today and brought the ball under control from virtually every height / angle that he received it from.

Add his tenacity and will to win to the obvious talent and eye for a goal he has and you not only have the perfect foil for Gray but a very good centre forward who is improving all the time at this level.

billyhamilton82 wrote:His chest control is second to none.

He is a very skillful and underrated player.

He was in various tight situations at both ends of the pitch today and brought the ball under control from virtually every height / angle that he received it from.

Add his tenacity and will to win to the obvious talent and eye for a goal he has and you not only have the perfect foil for Gray but a very good centre forward who is improving all the time at this level.

Correct, for a big lad he has a great touch! He is the only player who consistently plays the premier league way!

Barnes was a dirty sod at Brighton and still is now. Always over exaggerates his arm position in order to scare off / hurt opponents.

He doesn't get send off often so I don't see the problem. He doesn't give away free kicks in dangerous areas either



What he does do is really unsettle defenders

If you watch the Sunderland goal where both players went for the header leaving grey free, I am sure one of them was more interested in landing one on Barnes than wining the ball. Trying to get pay back. Resulting in it going tits up and leaving grey clean through.

I like him he really pisses defenders off

A rep with refs...barnes goes up with arm for leverage, oppo goes down.free kick. oppo stays up barnes wins, barnes goes down? pick the bones out of that. Barnes should continue to bully CB's and take the early hits...like joey then do his artistic dives.

I'm with Darnhill. He grafted hard for his reputation at Brighton and brought it with him to us.

We know he's niggly *******, He knows he's a niggly *******, and Dyche knows he's a niggly *******.

We love players like that, always have, and so does Dyche, that's why he brought him here.

I haven't seen anything from him that suggests he shouldn't be the first name on the team sheet.

He'd probably still be under the radar if it wasn't for the incident at Chelsea a couple of years ago. But in answer to the question, yes I think everyone knows his game now.

I personally wouldn't ever want to see Barnes change or lose his nasty streak, he gives opposing CB's such a tough time and it's not something they're used to or comfortable with. I'm always hearing that Vokes is too nice, well Ashley hasn't heard of nice and I love it.

Jose mourinho had his number..

he's made a MASSIVE difference to us this season and let's not forget how quickly he got up to speed after his serious injury, he's a credit to himself imho

I think the fact that Barnes has got back up to 100%, and has been a major factor in our results, has led to Bamford going back without getting much of a sniff.

I think players like Romeu going down in simulation is just more to do with poor gamesmanship in football nowadays rather than Barnes. I think Barnes had a tough time of it yesterday up against two very good centre halves but still had a decent game, particularly holding the ball up. If only his pass into Gray had been a little bit better! I know some fans don't like his 'cheating' side but I think he manages it well - gets stuck in and does the little things needed to rough up the opposition without losing it and getting sent off. Fine by me, particularly when we're trying to survive.

I wish Vokes was more like Barnes, a genuine physical presence. Vokes is far too soft for a big lad, wish he'd throw his weight around a bit more, he'd be twice the player for it.

With you there KRBFC, same goes for Gray too really, who I also thinks gets outbattled an awful lot.

He certainly unsettled Forsyer who punched the ball when he saw Barnes flying towards him!

KRBFC wrote:I wish Vokes was more like Barnes, a genuine physical presence. Vokes is far too soft for a big lad, wish he'd throw his weight around a bit more, he'd be twice the player for it.

A fair point. I like Vokes a lot but it'd be great to see him with Barnes' aggression

taio wrote:A fair point. I like Vokes a lot but it'd be great to see him with Barnes' aggression

I agree with this. Vokes is a bit too gentlemanly for me, maybe some tuition required from Andy Lochhead would help here.

billyhamilton82 wrote:His chest control is second to none.

He is a very skillful and underrated player.

He was in various tight situations at both ends of the pitch today and brought the ball under control from virtually every height / angle that he received it from.

Add his tenacity and will to win to the obvious talent and eye for a goal he has and you not only have the perfect foil for Gray but a very good centre forward who is improving all the time at this level.

I agree! He is deceptively skilful and sees opportunities well.

For being a much better player than I and many Burnley fans thought when we signed him.He has come back from an horrendous injury and turning in some class performances

"He was pretty ineffective today giving lots of cheap free kicks away." This is a joke comment I hope. I thought he was brilliant yesterday getting in the defenders faces, did some great runs, unlucky at times, his chest control is second to none. I'm sure Dyche was very pleased with his contribution.

He rattles defenders as said above but he is not short of skill. His control is better than Vokes or Gray. Didn't used to be a fan but now I enjoy watching him play.

Barnes could do with watching videos of Sean Long, who manages to con refs and should be brought 'to book' far more often - now he's a real cheat but very skilful too. Quite a handful for us but Southampton had some blatant two armed push in the back merchants just as the ball comes over and Tierney was oblivious - made some very poor decisions at the weekend.

It's not that long ago Barnes got a long ban for legging up a referee. Of course he's got a reputation. He's a very physical player. What I find frustrating with refs and Barnes is that the very first challenge between AB and a defender they look desperate to give it as a foul to the opposition. You're allowed to challenge someone in the air without it being a foul. Half of the fouls given either against or to AB just aren't fouls and play should continue, as it did for Gray's opener against Sunderland.

Can't wait to see him up against David Luiz on the 12th. Btw, does Matic have sturdy shin pads?

Barnes is our pantomime villain. Every team has one (some have 11)and I'm just glad we're not innocent as we have been before in the prem and give as good as we get.

If you can't beat them, join them.

Yeah it means he's less likely to win free kicks, the refs know what he's up to. But it's about getting under defenders skins and winning the psychological and physical battles. How mad would you be as a defender if you were cautioned for his dive and then he elbowed in the next challenge afterwards. Ashley is looking for them to lose their rag and he does that well.

Played really well on Saturday. i doubted that he was good enough at this level at the start of 14/15 but he has more than proved me wrong.

Saxoman wrote:Jose mourinho had his number..

To be fair he only guessed it as he picked so many