April 2010
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Ian Wilkinson at 11:10:00 0
I will probably find more time to properly reflect on this season and no doubt seek some of the answers in the archive of this site to find my true feelings. But I suppose relief will be one emotion in there given the state of our club at just six games in.

Keep an eye out for that series of articles, plus other tit-bits, rumours and speculation.

So on to this weekend. Will we face promotion winners West Bromwich Albion in their own back yard for 90 minutes of torture? You know, you could be in for a surprise.

Since our return to the Championship, the sides have been fairly matched with two wins each and one draw. During which the Baggies have "Boing-Boinged" between the top flight and the Championship on one of the league's healthiest playing budget.

Realistically, it's a decade since our last victory on their soil and that came courtesy of Darren Barnard and his two goals back in January 2000.

Overall the league record states:

WBA Wins 23 | Draws 20 | Barnsley Wins 18

Originally known as West Bromwich Strollers, they have certainly demonstrated their ability to dominate the higher reaches of the Championship over the last six or seven years. Will their next season in the Premiership mimic the likes of Birmingham, Stoke City, Wigan Athletic or even closer neighbours Wolves?

Hopefully MR can have the fellas geared up for this one. Our season and dreams may be over, but we have it within our ability to slightly taint the promotion party at the Hawthorns on Sunday.

Barnsley FC Fans, add your comments > HERE
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Ian Wilkinson at 10:44:00 1
Has anyone heard this one?

Mohammed "Moa" Abdellaoue is a Norwegian forward currently playing for Vålerenga Fotball. Although there appears to have been plenty of interest from many clubs over the last two or three years, apparently MR has been given the nod of approval by Sir Alex on the merits of this player.

At 24 years of age, with an excellent scoring record of 60 goals in 141 career appearances, he probably fits the bill, but with the likes of Feyenoord and Celtic showing interest previously, it could be a tall tale!



Barnsley FC Fans, add your comments > HERE
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Ian Wilkinson at 17:20:00 0
Always good for a giggle, the speculation has already started on some of the names who could be on their way to Barnsley next season.

Perhaps some of the names being mentioned are not entirely new, the rumour on Le Fondre continues to exist, but their are new names being touted too including Charlton's current skipper, Nicky Bailey and the promising Gillingham striker, Simeon Jackson.

Interestingly, Steve Claridge wrote a piece on his own blog in the Guardian last year on Simeon Jackson, where he claimed that he "is a striker with strength, constant movement and, crucially, great character".

Adding, "there is no doubt Jackson is a goalscorer and he will probably be judged on whether or not he maintains his exceptional ratio of goals to games but this Canada Under-21 international has a little bit more in his armoury than just scoring".

Currently he has a strike rate of 35 goals in 99 appearances for The Gills, but could he make that crucial step up?

Following Saturday's result, there was plenty of debate on the kind of player Barnsley may need to equip themselves with next term. I think most fans expect changes in almost all positions, but our chat turned to the front-line.

Do we need a big lad up front, a nuisance for Championship defenders?

As if to mirror our opinion, there is whisper that the Beast could return to Barnsley. Yes, none other than Jon Parkin, whilst Andy Gray may be moved on to Huddersfield Town to make way for his arrival.

Taking Saturday's game as an example, are we looking for a player who can play the game sometimes "the wrong way", to turn the screw on the opposition in the last quarter?

A Barnsley lad to boot. 28 Years of Age. Many would be delighted with his signing.



Barnsley FC Fans, add your comments > HERE
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Ian Wilkinson at 19:46:00 0
Switch the clock back 18 months. An unproven "foreign" international is touted as the next Barnsley signing. Many Reds fans doubt Davey's judgement.

Switch forward to now and Bogy has become a prized asset. What happens next?

All I can say is, if you're watching fella ... look how much this means to the fans ...




Cheers to tyke999 for the clip

Barnsley FC Fans, add your comments > HERE
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Ian Wilkinson at 11:52:00 0
I doubt I give any Wednesday'ite much credit, but I have to admit they take the biscuit with their anagram of Neil Warnock.

Assuming you take the letters "Colin" out, there's just enough characters left to make a disparaging surname for the ex-Reds winger. You do the rest!

With QPR now safe, the race is on between both sides to consolidate a mid-table position. A win at home, which has been rare, would lift Barnsley above their opponents with just one game remaining.

And our record is good. You would have to go back to September 1996 since QPR overturned us at home, in a 1-3 defeat. Since then, Barnsley have followed this with five wins and just three draws.

Following their recent game with Watford, QPR may be forced to play a number of their youngsters with injuries to to midfielders Adel Taarabt, Akos Buzsaky and Alejandro Faurlin. Perhaps turning this particlar game in to some form experiment on NW's part, out of complete necessity.

So it's the last home game of the season. Can it deliver for us fans a signal of what exactly might be ahead next season? Mark Robins deserves three points to sign off with and so do we.

Plus, we always love to give a little bit of stick to Colin, don't we? Particularly as he has gone on record many times stating his love for visiting our great "little club".

Asked whether Wednesday fans would turn out for his funeral. "I doubt it," he replied. "Not unless they were just turning up to check that I really had gone."

Barnsley FC Fans, add your comments > HERE
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Ian Wilkinson at 11:20:00
What exactly is a Google Group?
According to Wikipedia:

Google Groups is a service from Google that supports discussion groups, including many Usenet (worldwide distributed Internet discussion system) newsgroups, based on common interests.

Membership in Google Groups is free of charge and many groups are anonymous. Users can find discussion groups related to their interests and participate in threaded conversations, either through a web interface or by e-mail. They can also start new groups.
Purpose:

Opening a Google Group for users of OnThePontyEnd.com is to ensure that both vibrant conversation and feedback can flow amongst Reds fans, regardless of time zone, country border or medium, with the advantage also that it allows access to the Group directly via email.

Join Other Barnsley FC Fans:

With the use of smartphones on the increase, you won't even need a browser to keep in touch and have your thoughts aired on the Blog, Podcast or any other issue you may want to open up.

This is the brand new group created exclusively for Barnsley FC fans, readers of OnThePontyEnd.com, and listeners of the Podcast. Here we really want to create a buzz amongst the community of Reds followers around the world.

Get involved, take part in the discussions and also receive regular updates from the site.

> Click Here For Further Information & Join
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Ian Wilkinson at 11:00:00 0
Blogging differs quite a bit from a regular website in that most are operated by private individuals, unpaid, rather than corporates or businesses. I have tons of respect for the people who bother to start and publish a blog and do so because they feel passionate to constantly write about their subject.

Naturally, all of us probably hope that we find an audience and that what we are writing might touch a nerve or make someone smile.

For that reason, I am open to showcasing other blogs that I feel readers of OnThePontyEnd.com may enjoy, perhaps as much as I do. Here, I review some of the sites that are currently featuring on my blog-list and invite readers of this site to follow them too.

Before I do, I think it's worth mentioning BarnsleyBill, who for me seemed to be a BlogSpot pioneer. Maybe he wasn't and although I haven't got to know him personally, I did enjoy the content that appeared on his blog over the many months I read it.

Perhaps a bit like my own aims, BB achieved some of my ambitions for OnThePontyEnd by bringing together a group of well humoured contributors who were all aiming to pool their opinions and thoughts together via a blog. Sadly, the site is no longer visible on Blogger. Gone, but not forgotten.

Barnsley FC | Full House Supporters Club

Okay, it's a bit of a cheeky one this, particularly as I'm a member and developed the site on a WordPress platform over a couple of idle days. That said, I do like to promote the site and the efforts of the members of the club on all of their activities.

This season, the Full House Supporters Club have been responsible for some fantastic fundraising activities including an Evening with John Hendrie which raised money for the likes of Help for Heroes, Army Benevolent Fund and also the local soldier Craig Wood

The highlight this season though would have to be the Player of The Season award which was presented to Daniel Bogdanovic in person. Here's hoping that similar efforts can continue throughout 2010/11.


Barnsley `til I Die

There's been numerous guises of this blog and writing from Oli for some time now. However, I would have to say that this present version is the best yet, packed with information, videos, articles and reader challenges galore!

What has always been refreshing is that Oli writes as a genuine fan. He doesn't flower up his opinions for the sake of it, often praise is due but equally so is critisism. Even if you don't always agree with his opinion, you can generally understand where he's coming from.

Recent news has it that he has launched yet a further blog for this summer's World Cup,  goodness knows where he finds the time, but clearly he enjoys blogging and this spills over in to how easy and fun a visit to Barnsley `til I Die continues to be. Well done fella, I-for-one will definitely keep coming back to this site to follow and read more!


Seeing Red

This Blog kicked off in January 2010, with the aim of publishing articles on "everything - the people we meet, the places we see, the points we may (or may not) win, and the whole experience that keeps us hooked on this beautiful game we follow so passionately".

In my opinion, Ponte End Tyke has achieved exactly that in every respect so far.

For me it offers a different experience of following the Reds than mine and that's something I'm always interested in reading or listening to. In particular, I enjoy the match reports thoroughly, partly because I often have a few pints with my mates after the game and never find the time to put my thoughts down on paper in time. Anyway, it all adds to the variety of information and articles written about the Reds, day-to-day and week-to-week.

All the best Ponte End Tyke, I'll keep visiting.

If there's something out there I've missed, let me know and I would be happy to visit and perhaps review those blogs at a later date. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy some of the sites featured above.
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Ian Wilkinson at 10:00:00 0
Have you ever forgotten the source or site of an interesting article or can't remember where you read it or how long ago it was written. Well, there's a fantastic feature embedded in to the sidebar of this blog which might be able to provide the answer.

"Search This Blog" is powered by Google and it's no ordinary search engine. It's set to work over four search areas, making it probably one of the most concise and comprehensive tools to dig out any information you are seeking on Players, Staff and related articles to Barnsley Football Club.

More so ... it's dead easy to use! Remember, look down the right hand sidebar of the site, it's just above the "Visitors Globe". Trial it out for yourself.


The "Super Engine", in the first instance delivers related content and articles, specifically matched to your search query within this site (fig.2).


At the users request, the engine also provides a filter of results, giving you the option to find related information from any site that is linked to OnThePontyEnd.com (fig.3)


The engine also provides a further filter to find related articles and other content from other Barnsley FC related blogs within this site's blog-list (fig.4)


Before finally presenting the type of typical search results you might normally see from Google.co.uk, and again this is at the users discretion if they wish to filter results this way (fig.5)


Go on ... try this feature for yourself. Hopefully, this allows you to search for literally tons of Barnsley FC related information, all from one single resource. Enjoy!
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Ian Wilkinson at 18:01:00 0
A little known space of all the pages of the site is the "Featured Video" section.

Regularly, this space has been used to mainly feature music videos that are widely available on sites such as YouTube or Vimeo and have generally been tracks from bands in my music collection or brand new releases that I wanted to promote a little bit.

Out there, there are many talented "home" producers of work relating to Barnsley FC and if you have an opportunity why not take a look at the YouTube Channels of toptyke, pontyender, stuartmoss and tykestv1.

Whilst many of these productions haven't generally gone in to the featured section, the work may have appeared in many of the previous posts on this site. For that, I'm grateful to all of those named and those who may not be named who have allowed this site to showcase just some examples of their videos in the past and maybe the future too.

If you have a local band and are looking for local and sometimes wider exposure, get in touch and we would be delighted to show your work in this section, with a mention in an article or two via the site.

Also, if you have any material, which can easily be embedded via YouTube or similar, let us know what it is and where it's hosted, we can do the rest.

The only requirement is that the video must be of local (Barnsley) interest; it could relate to Music, Football or Local Community information. Simply > Get In Touch Here
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Ian Wilkinson at 12:21:00 0
Contrary to earlier reports in the week, John Breckin hasn't calculated that the fixture between Palace and Wednesday, on the last game of the season, has now assured Barnsley of their Championship status. Neither side can now mount more points than us without forcing the other in to that final relegation spot.

Wasn't the match against Derby another frustrating 90 minutes? But we gained the point that did it as the spoils on Saturday ... and yes, Wilky Junior had a great time throughout. Especially devouring every morsel of his pack-up before half-time. It looks like it's going to be a regular date.

An away day for the Reds is next as they travel to Wales and the Liberty Stadium. It's going to be a tough fixture given that both 'Boro and Blackpool are breathing down their knecks for that possible sixth position in the league. We can't expect any gifts.

Our luck in South Wales hasn't been great over the last twenty-five years either. With the exception of the Play-Off final, we haven't registered three points away from home in this fixture since August 1974.

Overall in the league, the record states:

Swansea City Wins (29) | Draws (12) | Barnsley Wins (22)

If you thought that Barnsley were toothless in front of goal this season, take a look at the opposition. Swansea have the lowest tally of goals scored (37) in the Championship, but seemingly this has been negated by the fact that they have also had the second lowest total of goals (34) scored against them. It's likely to be a lean affair, unless we can get in to the groove quickly, retain possession and hopefully convert more than once.

Bogy now looks out for the season (hamstring), meaning that our firepower will have to come from MR's pick of Hume, Macken or Gray, but I would certainly encourage a supporting role for Devaney in this match. Disco could make the starting line-up and is looking fresher every time he gets an opportunity to play.

With the gaffer seeking a top place finish in the "Yorkshire League", the games are running out. Nothing less that three victories would secure that position at the end of the season.

Barnsley FC Fans, add your comments > HERE
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Ian Wilkinson at 10:30:00 0
Typically, as the season now draws to a close, with just two home games remaining, the questions are bound to turn to which new faces might join the Reds this summer.

With confirmation yesterday that Jacob Butterfield has signed an extension to his deal, the club must be actively shortlisting potential targets and working on a list of players they wish to retain for the next season or two.

Personally, I would like to see a strong No.2 to Luke Steele brought in and have heard whispers that Sunderland may be looking off-load Márton Fülöp, after a couple of "wilderness" seasons.

The spine of the side also needs some drastic work, but speculation is fairly thin in this respect. Have deals already been done on Le Fondre and Montgomery?

Add your feedback if you've heard anything for other readers.

Barnsley FC Fans, add your comments > HERE
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Ian Wilkinson at 11:30:00 0
Was the performance on Bank Holiday Monday better?

Well it had goals in it; too many from an opposition that had only accrued ten away all season, but the drought for the Reds ended up front, with Hume's double.

Please keep it going lads. Especially for Jnr.

The last time these sides met at Oakwell was in August 2008, when just over 14,200 attended to witness Barnsley record a 2-0 victory over Derby County, courtesy of goals from Hume and Foster. I would certainly settle for that again.

Since our return to the Chamionship, victories and draws are tied between the two sides, but Barnsley edge the stats on seven goals scored against Derby's six.

Overall in the league, the record states:

Barnsley Wins (17) | Draws (10) | Derby County Wins (24)

Why not take a look at the home form table. It's not pretty reading from our perspective with us sittting in a lowly 20th position. I think we all know that we haven't been operating in a fortress this time out.

However, on away form, Derby County haven't fared well either, with just three victories away from Pride Park. The outcome on Saturday could swing either way.

Ryan Shotton should return to the start-up after serving his two-match ban. Whilst Martin Devaney may also keep his place in the starting line-up. Bogy and Teixeira may find that this fixture has arrived too soon, Monday's performance should do him no harm whatsoever.

Especially for Jnr. Come On You Reds!

Barnsley FC Fans, add your comments > HERE
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Ian Wilkinson at 17:44:00 2
Carl Dickinson, the Stoke City loan left-back has played 27 times this season for the Reds, but was forced off against Crystal Palace due to a knee cartilage tear.

Exactly how Stoke boss Tony Pulis views next season's situation is not clear, he may be a further gem who will sparkle in the future at the Britannia Stadium. But if Barnsley do harbour an ambition to improve yet further, this lad has to be worth consideration and a decent contract.

Speaking recently to the local press, Dickinson said:

"It's been brilliant for me playing football every week

"I haven't a clue what the future holds, but I've got two years left on my Stoke contract after this season. All I can do is get my head down and come back as fit as possible next season."

In the meantime, thanks for some excellent memories this season Carl. Especially the "Gladiatorial" entrance you gave before every kick-off to rouse the Ponty End support. We lapped it up.

Perhaps though, the following clip endeared you most to the Oakwell faithful.



Barnsley FC Fans, add your comments > HERE
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Ian Wilkinson at 14:56:00 0
This Saturday, the day will have finally arrived when my lad, let's just call him "Wilky Junior", takes his first steps in to Oakwell, for our forthcoming match against Derby County. To be honest, I'm like a nervous kitten.

Will he enjoy it? Will Barnsley FC become as important to him as they have been for me? Will they win? ... And many more question and worries are plaguing me at the moment.

It reminds me of the first occasion that both me and my elder brother attended our first match with our Dad, Grandad and Great Grandad. In those days we stood in the West Stand lower, just behind the manager's dugout, albeit we would tend to gravitate to the front and find an alternative position just on the perimeter wall.

That match was in 1976 in the old division four, where the Reds played Newport County. The result that day was 2-0 to Barnsley, but my memory does not serve me with any stand-out or spectacular events to make this a huge occasion for me.

I just seem to remember that sporting a "tash" seemed to be a pre-requisite to play for Barnsley, unless you were Peter Springett. At first, I must have thought the comedian Mick Miller was in the nets that day.

It would be fantastic to hear from other readers and learn about their first time at Oakwell and how their experience went. Maybe these can be a permanent record on the site of how Barnsley fans became drawn to the club they love and support.

Hopefully for my lad, this will be the first step of many more to come in the future. Who knows, but in another fifty years I might have returned to the West Stand lower too, updating a digital blog on Barnsley's victory in the Champions League, with my Son, Grandson and Great Grandson too.

Barnsley FC Fans, add your comments > HERE

"Your First Match", submit your article > HERE
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Ian Wilkinson at 20:12:00 0
Maybe this time, Barnsley can get rid of the blues at Oakwell this Bank Holiday Monday.

It's generally a very rare fixture, with only five games being played in the league at Oakwell in over twenty five years. In the history between the two sides, only two other games have occurred in this (The Championship) league / or the old second division.

The last time these sides met at Oakwell was in League One when a rampant Michael Chopra scored a hat-trick, accompanied by a strike from Chris Shuker, to give Barnsley the spoils in a 4-0 drubbing of Peterborough in front of a crowd of just over 8,500

Overall in the league, the record states:

Barnsley Wins (9) | Draws (2) | Peterborough United Wins (12)

Of course, Barnsley have had a miserable time of late. Unable to score in the last 270 minutes of football played at home or away. Perhaps this is the time to end that drought.

Peterborough currently sit bottom of the Championship, having only scored ten goals away from London Road all season. Hopefully, that kind of form will not be suddenly transformed.

Mark Robins' squad however is still thread-bare, with doubts over midfielder Emil Hallfredsson who was forced out of Saturday's goalless draw at Shefffield United with an ankle injury.

In addition, the Reds will be without suspended central defender Ryan Shotton, who sits out the second game of his two-match ban. Bogy will no doubt be missing (hamstring), Filipe Teixeira (abdominal strain) and defenders Bobby Hassell and Rob Kozluk were not available on Saturday and this game may be too early for either man.

Come On You Reds!

Barnsley FC Fans, add your comments > HERE
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Ian Wilkinson at 12:22:00 0
Will Barnsley step up and play their part in this local derby?

Since returning to the Championship, Barnsley have not had the best of times against United, with close losses occurring at both Oakwell and Brammall Lane. In fact, you would have to go back nearly a decade to April 2001, for the last time the Reds recorded victory there.

On that occasion, Neil Shipperley and Martin Bullock recorded goals for Barnsley in yet another tight 1-2 game. The hapless keeper on that day was none other than current Reds coach Simon Tracey in the net for the opposition.

Last year, in another tense affair, there were three goals in the last ten minutes between the two sides with goals in the 82nd, 87th and 90th minute, with the latter being Bogy's consolidation goal for Barnsley. Over 27,000 attended on that occasion.

Overall in the league, the record states:

Sheffield United Wins (24) | Draws (18) | Barnsley Wins (13)

Generally, these games are never high scoring affairs. In fact, Barnsley have never recorded a victory margin greater that 0-2 at Brammall Lane and that was right back in September 1950.

United appear to be fairly firm at home also with only three losses to fate in the Championship this season, at the hands of Cardiff City, Newcastle United and Scunthorpe United.

Mark Robins appears to be down to the bare bones too, resigned to the outcome of a late fitness test to Daniel Bogdanovic ahead of the clash and Philipe Teixeira is a doubt.

Bobby Hassell has missed the last two matches and is still a doubt whilst full-back Rob Kozluk has only just returned to training following a knee injury so the game will come too soon for him.

Icelandic midfielder Emil Hallfredsson has a shoulder injury and faces a late fitness test also.

Barnsley FC Fans, add your comments > HERE
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Ian Wilkinson at 09:00:00 0
Football League Bigwigs may be at it again in a further attempt to bring about parity amongst it's member clubs.

The latest television package, sold to Sky and BBC in November 2007, is worth £264m between 2009 to 2012. This works out at just over £1.2m per Football League club per season, with most of that amount going to Championship sides.

The prospects for Leagues One and Two therefore, at present seem particularly grim.

Allegedly, plans are being drawn up in preparation for negotiations on the next deal. It is suggested that the League could be set to re-adopt a system similar to the one which operated between 1921-1958 in the "old" third division; meaning that in effect two regional championship leagues (North & South) would be established from 2012-2013 season onwards.

As a major drive to help clubs economically; providing shorter distances to travel to away matches, gate revenues and attendances could also increase significantly. It also hoped that revenue distributed from any future television deal could be distributed far more proportionately amongst it's members.

The Champions of each League would be rewarded with automatic promotion to the Premier League, leaving just one single "Springboard" position to be fought for amongst the sides placed second, third, fourth and fifth in their respective Northern or Southern Leagues; thus creating a bumper play-off system from Quarter Finals right down to the Wembley "Springboard Promotion Final".

In a further highly complicated twist, in season one, relegation places would be highly dependent on the influx of teams dropping out of the Premier League. Theoretically, three teams from the North would effectively force the relegation of three Northern teams in to the football league basement.

As a potential trapdoor, in respect to clubs up North, promotion places from the bottom division in season two onwards would be highly dependent on the influx of relegated Northern Premier League sides first.

Confusingly in this instance, two down, would trigger a play-off system for survival between the four bottom "Championship North" teams, with the winning finalists saved. Whilst the losing finalists would get a second shot at survival versus the highest placed, regional member, from the bottom division.

No doubt, there could be some major complications with this system, with many current established championship teams being frozen out in the basement of the football league for many seasons to come, whilst others now in League One would gain the automatic spoils of the new regional system.

Could we expect more foreign ownership with Oligarks in at Oldham, Yanks in at Yeovil and Indian Billionaires at Ipswich, all chasing the spoils of new TV and Online Revenue?

Make your feelings count > SIGN OUR PETITION HERE
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