Barnsley v QPR Match Preview Monday, 25th Feb 2008 21:27 QPR face a difficult trip north on Tuesday night for their Championship game in hand against Barnsley Barnsley (17th) v Queens Park Rangers (16th) So, following in from the 1-1 draw with Sheffield United on Saturday, next up for us is a fixture against another South Yorkshire club, this time Barnsley at their Oakwell ground. This game of course was due to have taken place earlier on this month at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon, however due to Barnsley’s FA Cup tie at Liverpool in the fifth round taking place that day, we now find ourselves facing another long trip up there midweek. Tuesday night’s game will actually be their first game at home since their Anfield exploits, so for those of us making our way up there, we’re sure to expect plenty of Wemberleee chants from the home faithful with them having drawn Chelsea at home in the quarter finals. Incidentally that game will be taking place on the same day as our game at Sheffield Wednesday, albeit their match kicks off later on, that Saturday is sure to be a nice little overtime bonus for South Yorkshire police. Their players wouldn’t be human if they’re already thinking about that game at the back of the minds. Can we take advantage of them possibly being a tad distracted in the league at this current time? Well, Norwich City managed it on Saturday, but with them being at home it will be a different kettle of fish for us, so we’ll need to be on our toes for this one. Five minutes on Barnsley If Tykes fans thought this was bad, then they didn’t know that worse was to follow, because the following season it was announced that the club were entering into administration. In fact, things looked so bad for them at one time that fans did a 30-mile walk to their game at Chesterfield in a bid to help their club raise funds (hmmm, there is a very familiar sound to this story isn’t there?) and it was nearing Christmas before new buyers were found for the club. The mayor of Barnsley put his name into the hat and proved to be the successful one out of a number of interested parties. The next couple of seasons saw the club stabilise in League 1, though they did have a couple of managers during that time - Paul Hart, and then Andy Ritchie. It was with Ritchie that the club made the play off final at the end of the 2005/06 season. They over came local rivals Huddersfield in the semi finals, with a certain Danny Nardiello scoring the all important goal for them in that second leg that sent them into a play off final against the then favourites Swansea City. The Tykes however defied the odds, and went on to beat the Swans in a memorable penalty shoot-out, and so it was that four years after tumbling out of the old First Division (now the Championship) that they found themselves back there. Last season was all about staying up for them, and fair enough they achieved that. They did take all three points off us up there on a cold January night that sent us bottom of the league (though I still remained positive even then!). This season I guess is all about consolidation, and whilst they’ve been a bit up and down (especially away from home) personally I think they’ve done, and will continue to do, enough to secure themselves a mid/mid-bottom place for the end of this season. Their squad (and we’ll take a closer look below at who we can expect to start against us) looks good enough, but let’s just hope they don’t decide to raise their game against us as those of us making the trip up there really do not want to see us lose there once again on a cold winter’s night for the second successive season. Simon Davey was appointed as their first team manager midway through last season following Andy Ritchie’s departure. Simon had originally joined Barnsley only during that summer as the new manager of their academy and is highly regarded. As a player he played for Swansea, Carlisle and Preston, and it was at Preston that he had to hang up his playing boots at the early age of 27 after sustaining an injury that put paid to his playing career. Hearing him talk on Goals on Sunday on Sky a couple of weeks ago it was refreshing to hear him talk about getting on with things and subsequently throwing himself into coaching, such was his enthusiasm to stay in the game. He was very complimentary towards David Moyes, saying he learnt a lot from him during his time at Preston and after a year now in charge at Barnsley it’s fair to say he’s been doing a good job there. Whether they get to hang on to him in the summer is of course another matter. Who to watch out for In the midfield they have pacy winger, Martin Devaney, who originally caught the eye whilst at Cheltenham Town; Brazilian Anderson De Silva, who signed from Everton after a successful loan; Diego Leon, an ex La Liga player who is described as a playmaker in the middle of the field; and Jamal Campbell-Ryce. Jamal certainly caught my eye in the game at Loftus Road a few weeks ago. He started his professional football career off at Charlton, but then went on to have spells at Leyton Orient, Chesterfield and Rotherham, before moving to Southend in the summer of 2006. He spent a season there before signing for the Tykes at the start of this season. When we played them at our place, much of the play came from the little man and should he start against us, will definitely need watching. Up front they will be missing Daniel Nardiello, so I would expect to see a partnership of two from Kayode Odejayi, Istvan Ferenczi or Jonathan Macken. Macken is a seasoned pro, who’s played for Manchester City, Preston, Crystal Palace and Ipswich in the past. Davey signed him from Derby County on loan in November to add some depth to their squad. He is a former £5m pound man, with Manchester City having paid this fee for his services after he hit prolific form for Preston at the turn of the new Millennium. However, he never showed the same form for them, which must have miffed them and he moved on to Crystal Palace a couple of seasons ago. Odejayi is a former Cheltenham Town player, scoring 13 goals for them last season. He signed for his new club in the summer but has yet to start making his mark with them this season, so long may that continue against us! Ferenczi is a Hungarian international player who signed for the club a year ago last January. He has featured quite regularly for them so far this season, and I expect he’ll be exchanging a few comments with our own Akos either before or after the game, He currently has four goals under his belt so far this campaign. *Tracy’s star man Past Meetings Barnsley: Colgan 7, Hassell 6, Reid 6, Togwell 6, Richards 7, Howard, 8, Kay 6 (K Reid 74, 7), Eckersley 6, Nardiello 6, Devaney 7, McCann 6 QPR: Royce 6, Rehman 5 (Nygaard 85, -), Bolder 6, Lomas 6 (Ainsworth 74, 5), Cook 7, Stewart 6, Timoska 6, Furlong 5 (Jones 70, 5), Blackstock 7, Smith 5, Mancienne 6 At Loftus Road in January Rangers ran out 2-0 winners thanks to two goals in the first half Patrick Agyemang got the first after five minutes when he chipped the keeper and then nodded home as the ball returned to earth, Rowan Vine got the second after two nice one twos with Agyemang on the edge of the area. QPR: Camp 7, Connolly 7, Hall 7 (Mancienne 7), Stewart 7 (Lee -), Delaney 8, Vine 8, Rowlands 8+, Leigertwood 8, Buzsaky 6, Blackstock 5 (Ephraim -), Agyemang 8 Barnsley: Muller 6, Hassell 6, Van Homoet 5, Foster 6, Tininho 6, Campbell-Ryce 8, Howard 6, Coulson 5 (Odejayi 55, 5), Devaney 5 (Ricketts 70, 6), Leon 7 (Ferenczi 54, 5), Souza 5. Head to Head Previous Rangers results against Barnsley: Team News For us, we wait to hear if Gavin Mahon will be ok after missing out on the game against the Blades, he experienced discomfort when striking the ball in training and wasn’t fit enough to take part in that 1-1 draw. Both Connolly and Rowlands picked up minor knocks but should be alright to start. Akos Buzsaky will be back after his one match suspension, so expect to see him feature. Referee What’s going on elsewhere? Form Our February forum hasn’t been too bad with two wins, one defeat and a draw for us so far. If we win, we can lift ourselves two places up the table to 14th, a loss however would send Barnsley above us, and depending on whether Coventry win their game, could also potentially send us down to 18th place. But, I am confident that is not going to happen. Prediction
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