Thought he was worthy of a separate thread. Not on for long but in the time he was, just outstanding, the way he muscled the defender for it to go through for Tella was just simply brilliant. Even after that he shaped his body on each occasion to win the ball from their much taller centre back. He was my match winner. Foster was never in the game, it seemed to pass him by but hopefully a few tips from our Ash and he’ll be up and running before long.Well done Ashley Barnes.

Completely agree. Everything he did was good !

Only listened to it on the radio but he was a 10/10 for me tonight

All the subs made a difference, Cullen was neat and tidy, Brownhill got in behind, Barnes as above , Churlinov was direct and JBG caused problems.

well said, for me he won the game for us

The Legend grows!

The BBC report said something like ‘the ball evaded Barnes and ran through to Tella’.

Good grief.

He is such an intelligent footballer

There's definitely a role for him next season if we are in the PL - limited playing time possibly but so much knowledge he could pass onto our hugely talented - but still inexperienced emerging younger players

He's back to his best. Said the same to my son at the game. He does so much ugly stuff at both ends of the pitch.

Blocked off a Norwich defender on Saturday that led to a goal, exactly the same tonight how he stopped that centre half reaching that long ball that fell for Tella.

He will be invaluable for the run in..

NL Claret wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 07, 2023 11:01 pm

All the subs made a difference, Cullen was neat and tidy, Brownhill got in behind, Barnes as above , Churlinov was direct and JBG caused problems.

Cullen just passes the ball so much quicker than any other of our midfielders. Something the game was crying out for all night to get through them..

We can see why VK refused to let him out on loan, been great for a while now.
Holds the ball up well, scares defenders to death. yes he'll be priceless in the run in.

UTC

Andreshotboots wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 07, 2023 11:18 pm

He's back to his best. Said the same to my son at the game. He does so much ugly stuff at both ends of the pitch.

Blocked off a Norwich defender on Saturday that led to a goal, exactly the same tonight how he stopped that centre half reaching that long ball that fell for Tella.

He will be invaluable for the run in..

Think he blocked for goals two and three, tonight the defender was blazing he got away with what he did. I just want to see a replay as we debated the ref could have given a foul.
But very clever from Ash tonight.

The only time all night that the ref’s ineptitude came to our aid.

Ash The Bash

This is what I wrote in my match report for the 4-2 win at Sunderland when he was substituted after a difficult first half. I was disgusted with the abuse he was getting from some of our fans.

"I was hugely disappointed with some Burnley fans who wanted to pin it all on Barnes, who was to be the player sacrificed before the start of the second half. He hadn’t played well, the blind man on Stan’s horse could see that, but we very definitely weren’t behind because of Barnes and he is deserving of so much more from Burnley fans."

Only on a few minutes tonight but effective and in the league, for me, he should now, on current form, be one of the first names on the team sheet.

basil6345789 wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 07, 2023 11:32 pm

Ash The Bash

fortunately he's become far more than that under Kompany, completely reborn and it's utterly delightful to see

ClaretTony wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 07, 2023 11:35 pm

This is what I wrote in my match report for the 4-2 win at Sunderland when he was substituted after a difficult first half. I was disgusted with the abuse he was getting from some of our fans.

"I was hugely disappointed with some Burnley fans who wanted to pin it all on Barnes, who was to be the player sacrificed before the start of the second half. He hadn’t played well, the blind man on Stan’s horse could see that, but we very definitely weren’t behind because of Barnes and he is deserving of so much more from Burnley fans."

Only on a few minutes tonight but effective and in the league, for me, he should now, on current form, be one of the first names on the team sheet.

Here, here. I was in Florida and reading the comments on Twitter after the Luton game in which he’d started. Seemed like everyone had written him off. A brilliant servant and will continue to be so.

Yes, totally agree about Barnes being the first name on the team sheet at present. He’s got his mojo back and now he is being allowed to be the good footballer he is under Kompany and will be crucial for us in the run in. He deserved another season with us and like others have said, our young players can learn from him what is needed to be a Burnley player. Invaluable for players like Foster, Twine, Tella etc.

ClaretTony wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 07, 2023 11:35 pm

This is what I wrote in my match report for the 4-2 win at Sunderland when he was substituted after a difficult first half. I was disgusted with the abuse he was getting from some of our fans.

"I was hugely disappointed with some Burnley fans who wanted to pin it all on Barnes, who was to be the player sacrificed before the start of the second half. He hadn’t played well, the blind man on Stan’s horse could see that, but we very definitely weren’t behind because of Barnes and he is deserving of so much more from Burnley fans."

Only on a few minutes tonight but effective and in the league, for me, he should now, on current form, be one of the first names on the team sheet.

We have some simply clueless fans. They should hang their heads in shame. This season he has had a Renaissance in this new team and new system. Playing more facing the goal than with his back to it and has shown his vast experience and that he can play.

Ash at his best is probably one of my all time favourite players to watch. Sure, we've had better 'footballers' than him, even got some in this very team, we've had better goal scorers than him, we've had quicker players, we've had more creative and more technical players, but he literally plays like how I imagine I would were I good enough to play for Burnley. (And yes, I'm a grown man and still imagine playing for Burnley when I'm daydreaming, and I know everyone else does too so don't laugh.)

EarbyClaret wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 07, 2023 11:09 pm

He is such an intelligent footballer

There's definitely a role for him next season if we are in the PL - limited playing time possibly but so much knowledge he could pass onto our hugely talented - but still inexperienced emerging younger players

For a not so smart fella, he is very football intelligent.

Brilliant impact tonight.

Pound for pound possibly the best 500k we have ever spent.
I was buzzing for him after the horse fiddlers game this season.
Whatever he does beyond this season, he will always be a Burnley legend for me

Some of us never stopped appreciating him!....LEGEND.

My missus turned to me as we walked off and said that defender was distracted by Ash leaving Tella free" spot on.

It probably was a foul, and VAR would have definitely chalked it off, but at this level he can get away with the dark arts.

Almost certainly a foul but the ref couldn't spot a foul all night

He's been brilliant, and its great to see that he's come back after being absolutely toilet (possibly due to injuries and the level above being too much for him these days)

He will always be a legend, and I'm pleased that his swansong is going to be full of good memories, rather than the awful ones of his non performances in the last couple of seasons

Barnes is our first choice striker at the moment.

Jay’s been off it for a few months (although played well when he came on vs WBA), Obafemi obviously isn’t match fit and Foster looks like he’s going to take a while to get up to speed on last nights evidence.

I really don’t see why references to previous seasons poor form is relevant when in some respects he was playing almost a different sport given the differences in possession based to non-possession based football. This guy at the latter stage of his career has had a new coaching team and has needed time to adapt to it. He has played around half the minutes of our other strikers too.

The fact that you can clearly teach an old dog new tricks is testament to our new management team and their implementation of brilliant tactics. However, it takes a very special player to spend so many years playing for fouls and second balls and then to be able to play so well in this team.

Whatever his age, on current form, he is our best attacker.

He’s scored in 1 prem match and a league cup vs Crawley .
People talk about him “ using his experience “ he’s just chalked up 250 appearances for us ,and bulk of that in the prem of course he’s experienced .People giving him 10/10 for a few touches , get a grip ffs.

While he’s rightly a bona fida BFC legend , he’s competing because the level is a world away from the Prem.I love the guy and it’s great to see him having a decent swansong,but he’s simply a cheerleader .

I shall done my tin hat and retreat to the baggage train .

Hibsclaret wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 08, 2023 7:46 am

I really don’t see why references to previous seasons poor form is relevant when in some respects he was playing almost a different sport given the differences in possession based to non-possession based football. This guy at the latter stage of his career has had a new coaching team and has needed time to adapt to it. He has played around half the minutes of our other strikers too.

The fact that you can clearly teach an old dog new tricks is testament to our new management team and their implementation of brilliant tactics. However, it takes a very special player to spend so many years playing for fouls and second balls and then to be able to play so well in this team.

Whatever his age, on current form, he is our best attacker.

Because people are saying he deserves a new contract when we are in the prem

No doubt at the moment he looks our best striker, but in the prem?

Not a chance

Lancasterclaret wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 08, 2023 8:58 am

Because people are saying he deserves a new contract when we are in the prem

No doubt at the moment he looks our best striker, but in the prem?

Not a chance

Actually, that a bit harsh

What I mean is that I don't think he'll be anywhere near effective enough at a level above

Barnes is one of the best in the country at what he does.

One last hurrah from him next season? It's a yes from me, and more importantly, I think it'll be a yes from the manager.

All the subs made a difference. It was crying out for changes through the middle. Cullen was the standout for me.

If we haven't got 3 strikers better than both Barnes and Jay next season in the Prem we are gonna struggle. Would be happy to keep either of them as 4th choice but if we end up with them both in our 25 man squad (or whatever it is) and one of them is considered third choice then the recruitment will have been poor in this area.

I suspect we expect Foster and Obafemi to be ahead of them come next year and I would definitely expect another striker to be signed in the summer

For now its great to see the way Barnes has improved under VK and with Foster not hitting the ground running, Obafemi short of fitness and Jay not in the best form Barnes has been immensely invaluable to the team

Also I wouldn't criticise any one having a go at his ability earlier on in the season as he was rubbish the last two seasons of the Prem and looked well short in terms of how VKs teams set up and play for the first 3rd of this season

He hardly played in the first third of this season. Most probably because he was being coached to be at his best in this system, much like the rest of the younger players tbh. Ultimately if Vinnie thinks he’s good enough for next season as a bit part player as he has really been this season, then that should be good enough for any of us and totally irrelevant to how good or bad he may have been for 3 years previously.

Hibsclaret wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 08, 2023 9:18 am

He hardly played in the first third of this season. Most probably because he was being coached to be at his best in this system, much like the rest of the younger players tbh. Ultimately if Vinnie thinks he’s good enough for next season as a bit part player as he has really been this season, then that should be good enough for any of us and totally irrelevant to how good or bad he may have been for 3 years previously.

As 4th choice, to come on and disrupt things in the last 10 mins if we need a goal, or defend a lead, then yeah

Otherwise, no

And I keep mentioning his previous three years because he was shite, got done for drink driving and generally wasn't worth the money we were paying him

I think he's been brilliant for us over his whole career, but I'm not one of these people who ignores stuff like that when advocating whether we should give him a new contract or not

The question might come to be - if push comes to shove - who would you rather have in our Premier League squad, Jay or Barnes?

I am leaning towards Barnes at this current time. It would mean we would need to find a taker for Jay though to do that as he has another year.

jedi_master wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 08, 2023 9:23 am

The question might come to be - if push comes to shove - who would you rather have in our Premier League squad, Jay or Barnes?

I am leaning towards Barnes at this current time. It would mean we would need to find a taker for Jay though to do that as he has another year.

I'm not sure he'd be as effective with VAR watching every move

Playing more facing the goal than with his back to it and having to feed off scraps, has shown he is a decent footballer. Talking about the prem did anyone see the abject perfomance of the Everton CF on Saturday? And they won!!!

So he’s fine as 4th choice as a drink driver. One would assume if you need to be a total upstanding pillar of society to play top level football the pickings would be pretty slim tbh. Maybe just leave it for Vinnie to decide.

Hibsclaret wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 08, 2023 9:59 am

So he’s fine as 4th choice as a drink driver. One would assume if you need to be a total upstanding pillar of society to play top level football the pickings would be pretty slim tbh. Maybe just leave it for Vinnie to decide.

Its up to the manager

I'm pointing out that just because he's been great for the last few games (in the last few months of his contract) doesn't change the fact that he's been less than focused for a while

That also doesn't change the fact that he's a legend of the club either btw

If he continues to play like this, then he probably deserves another contract, but we have to bear in mind that we can't go down the route of handing out contracts to old players just because we can

If you genuinely think a 34 year old Barnes can make enough of a difference in a VAR environment, then that is of course 100% your prerogative

My feelings are that this should be his last season, and I hope he continues to play like he is doing, as its nice to be reminded of how good he can be, rather than remembering the last three seasons when he wasn't good at all

Stayingup wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 08, 2023 9:58 am

Talking about the prem did anyone see the abject perfomance of the Everton CF on Saturday?

I didn't see it as I was watching Burnley beat Norwich but I guess it was a harder choice to you

Devils_Advocate wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 08, 2023 10:31 am

I didn't see it as I was watching Burnley beat Norwich but I guess it was a harder choice to you

I watched Burnley too of course I did.. But I was pleased for Dyche and watched the highlights of their game later. They beat Arsenal you know and have Leeds in their sights now.

Stayingup wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 08, 2023 10:36 am

I watched Burnley too of course I did.. But I was pleased for Dyche and watched the highlights of their game later. They beat Arsenal you know and have Leeds in their sights now.

What a

So just by watching the highlights you are judging Everton beating the best team in the country at the moment an abject performance. Did you also think it was an abject performance by Burnley when we won 1-0 away at Liverpool after offering virtually nothing going forward and riding our luck in defence

jedi_master wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 08, 2023 9:23 am

The question might come to be - if push comes to shove - who would you rather have in our Premier League squad, Jay or Barnes?

I am leaning towards Barnes at this current time. It would mean we would need to find a taker for Jay though to do that as he has another year.

Can't disagree, but it's a moot point. Jay was great early doors, he looks like he's carrying an injury. So basically people are saying they prefer Ash, because Jay is injured. Madness.
They both deserve more respect than that. I'm happy to leave it to VK and team to decide whether either or both, will be useful next season.
Whatever the outcome, both are legends.