Away Fans Views: Barnsley looking to repeat 5-2 shock ryanlufc February 21, 2011 Away Fans Views 33 Comments Thanks to Ian Wilkinson from Barnsley FC blog On The Ponty End for taking part. You can also find Ian on Twitter @OnThePontyEnd Ryan – The 5-2 drubbing back in September at Oakwell, seems a distant memory for Leeds fans, but has much changed for Barnsley since then? Ian – Looking at some of your later questions, I doubt it remains a distant memory, you seem to recollect well with clarity. Going back to September and since, if anything Mark Robins has had more time to work with the squad which saw to the demise of the Whites at Oakwell. Back then, O’Connor was a new loanee, along with Trippier. But personnel wise, not a great deal has changed. Ryan – After the win, Barnsley were quick to release a full range of celebratory merchandise in the club shop, just how much did it mean to Barnsley to beat Leeds United? Will the commemorative t-shirts be getting an airing at Elland Road on Tuesday night? Ian – The economic reality for many clubs in the Championship means that revenue has to be maximised in whatever way it can be. The same would have happened had we played Wednesday, The Blunts or even the likes of Chelsea or Liverpool (who we also gave recent football lessons to). There’s clearly a market for this kind of merchandise, however from a personal perspective I don’t think it was a good idea,. the game didn’t have that kind of status. Ryan – 7,000 Leeds fans made the trip to Oakwell in September, what did you make of them that night and will Barnsley fans be travelling to Elland Road in strong numbers? Ian – Firstly, I congratulate the Leeds fans who made it that evening. It made for a great atmosphere. We’ve seen similar support from Wednesday over the last few years, so that definitely made up for the lost revenue there. Although I can remember spying the hurry as the North Stand started heading for Northbound on the M1 from about 70 minutes onwards. Which was understandable. From Barnsley, there may be 2,500 – 3,000, hopefully more. Ryan – We’ve both had mixed fortunes since that game but what are the chances of a repeat scoreline? Where do you realistically expect to finish this year? Ian – It’s a difficult one to answer really. Mixed form and inconsistency makes any result hard to predict at the moment, but given our shot-shy performance against Pompey at the weekend, we could perform a total reverse of this at your place. We have goalscorers in the team in various positions, they just need their shooting boots on. Regarding our final finish this season. We could finish in the top 10 come May and that would be considered outstanding work this season. Last year we faded badly in the last two or three months of the season. Every fan is expecting a better points haul this time round. But, as I’m sure you already know, there’s always one team making a late dive for the play-offs and until it’s mathematically impossible, we will continue to dream that a run might start tomorrow. Ryan – When we last met, Adam Hammill single handedly tore us apart but he has moved on since. Who should we be looking out for in your team this time around? Ian – You forget Jim O’Brien from that evening who was inspirational, as well as a scorer of one of the five goals. Jim hasn’t yet settled in at Barnsley FC, but will be an important player for us. He may get a starting position on Tuesday, but he may not be the linchpin if he does. Watch out for Danny Haynes, if you think that Hammill tore you apart, this lad has the same level of skill and is like “shit off a stick”. Ryan – If you could sign one current Leeds player for Barnsley, who would it be? Ian – Billy Paynter, who is probably lost at a club where he’s not the star attraction. I admire his ambition, but taking a step up ought to have meant he got minutes on the pitch too. He would get that here and get the profile he probably feels he needs. Ryan – The Championship 2010/11 – 3 up, 3 down? Ian – 3-Up: QPR, Notts Forest and Leicester City 3-Down: Preston North End, Scunthorpe United & Sheffield United Ryan – Finally, what’s your prediction for the game? I’m going for a 2-1 Leeds win! Ian – Good luck with that prediction, because I’m going to go for 3-0 to the Reds! Thanks to Ian for joining us this week, although we hope his prediction doesn’t come true. Don’t forget to add your predictions v Barnsley to the TSS Predictions League.