Well, a brilliant week so far for the Rovers, beating League one table toppers Scunthorpe and Premiership high fliers Manchester City; and with another local game coming up tomorrow at Oakwell, I had an interview with Tykes fan and TykesMad editor Rob Miles:
Q. Barnsley have made quite a positive start to the season, do you think it will last?
Hopefully but we've had too many false dawns. 2 seasons ago we were top early on and 4th in the January only to go on an 11 match winless run and end up 12th. It’s all about consistency in this league but for now it’s a nice feeling to be 6th.
Q. Do you think that Rovers will beat you by as many goals this season or do you think the matches this season will be much more tight and won by only 1 or 2 goals?
It should be a tighter game. One we are this season is strong at the back (currently the joint best defensive record in League) although iv probably just jinxed it now. Plus the boys should be looking for revenge from last season and with our team made up mostly of home grown players, they'll know what beating Doncaster means to the fans.
Q. Who would you say is the ‘one to watch’ in the Tykes squad?
At the minute Chris Shuker. Last seasons Player of the Year he started this campaign slowly but has since exploded. Also Paul Hayes has been tremendous, his goal against Gillingham was something else. The whole team has played well so far but Id single those two out as the dangermen.
Q. Who do you see as a threat in the Rovers team?
Well judging by last seasons games our own players! But seriously Michael McIndoe will be a handful but its nice to see Gregg Blundell has left as he grabbed a couple against us last term. Quite surprised to see him leave actually.
Q. Many of the Rovers fans think that Andy Ritchie is doing a very good job at Oakwell, in what respect would you say he has changed Barnsley FC the most?
Team spirit and belief. He has kept practically the same squad as last season with the exception of a couple of players, yet we look a different team. He's sat the players down and told them, " actually lads we can get out of this league" and it shows. We was going nowhere under Paul Hart and it was in fact Ritchie who was his assistant that did most of the shouting on the sidelines. Not everybody’s first choice in the summer but he's winning the fans around. He's really down to the earth and wants to succeed. A bit like Dave Penney!
Q. Where abouts in the table do you think you will be at the end of the 05/06 season?
Heart says play-offs but Id settle for top 10 ( obviously Id love promotion) We have only finished in the top half of a division once since 2000 so it would be nice to see us up there.
Q. Last but not least, score prediction for this Saturday?
It’s going to be incredibly tight and really tense but Ill say 2-1 Barnsley
Well, Rovers players will be brimming with confidence after the absolutely superb performance on Wednesday, so lets see what tomorrow holds for The Mighty Rovers! To view more, click here - http://www.barnsley-mad.co.uk/news/loadnews.asp?cid=TMNW&id=242388