This mirrors what has happened since January just 7 points in 11 games and whilst there are many factors but the obvious one is the midfield and the lack of cover it gives the defence. And as I pointed out here that the cause of this was moving to a 4-4-2 and leaving Barry and Petrov in the middle. Whilst both have good qualities and Petrov easily player of the season the problem is Gareth Barrry.

you are not as irreplacable as you think you are

Simply in a flat 4 in midfield he is too slow to be dynamic enough to cover the space, many times he fails to track attacking midfielders leaving Petrov to do a lot of cover up work for him. I do not like to have a go at MON but he is  too loyal to him and for me it is obvious he should have been dropped for either Sidwell, NRC or Gardner when they are fit and whoever is playing well.

On the forums too many fans in my view are wrong when they say Barry is irreplaceable and is the quality in our side that makes us tick, that on this season’s evidence is Petrov, what has never happened for us to make a judgement is that Barry rarely gets injured. Barry leaving in the summer could actually be a blessing in disguise as it will force MON to change his view on how the midfield should play.