Barrett's Banter: New boys keeping us all amused

9:16am Thursday 28th August 2008

TWO more new faces have been added to the squad in the last week with Lee Sawyer and Hal Robson-Kanu coming in on loan.

Of course we always try and welcome players to the club but Lee did get an awful lot of stick the first time we met him as he was wearing an England tracksuit.

He could have got it from playing internationally at youth level but we think he probably bought if from JJB and the lads hammered him for it.

We still have a fine system in place among the players and the boys were trying to make him pay up for wearing this tracksuit!

Surprisingly the experienced old professional Paul Furlong is top of the fine charts at the moment.

He was a little bit late for the first home game of the season so it wasn’t the best way for him to start. He’s been fined and apparently his children have been forced to abandon some of the activities they had booked during the summer holidays!

It’s all good fun between the lads and it’s the gaffer collecting the money this season, not me. That’s even better and while it’s a laugh it does also instil more discipline which can only be a good thing – despite how much everyone moans!

Most of the money raised goes into funding our Christmas party and once that’s out of the way the fines tend to ease off a little bit.

BRIGHTON GAME WAS A MASSIVE FRUSTRATION FOR US ALL

FRIDAY night’s game against Brighton was just so frustrating.

We played really well for an hour and before Franck Moussa got sent off I could really only see one side going onto to win it.

Sadly, going down to 10 men cost us and completely changed the course of the game and we lost 2-0.

Much has already been said and written about the decision but it was harsh to say the least.

I just hope the authorities take a look at it on the video, realise they made a mistake and stop Franck being suspended because we need all the players we can get right now.

While it was disappointing to lose I think it’s important to remain positive.

We more than matched a very good Brighton side for a long time and we now need to keep on playing like that for the rest of the season if we’re going to be successful.

>WALSALL has never been an easy place to go but we’ve made a good start in the league and there’s certainly no reason why we can’t get a result there on Saturday.

They were up towards the top last season and will want to do the same this year – but so do we.

We’re feeling good about things too and I believe we won’t be coming up against one of our former players Michael Ricketts as he is suspended.

That’s a boost for us because, when he fancies it he’s still a good player, but they have one or two others we need to keep an eye on and it’s going to be close. Jabo Ibehre is in good form for them, scoring twice in three games and he’s someone we know from his days with Leyton Orient.

He’s started off well at Walsall though and just like us they will be looking to bounce back from a defeat after they lost 2-1 at Crewe last Saturday.

>MUCH has been made of the Football Association’s respect campaign to improve the relationship between players and referees but I think it’s a good idea.

Something certainly needed to be done because it was getting a little bit silly and out of hand and I do think this will make a difference.

The main thing I’ve noticed so far is that referees are talking to us more and that’s something which should be encouraged.

It wasn’t always that way but it definitely helps.

It’s a two way thing though and our disciplinary record certainly didn’t help us last season.

I think I’m right in saying it was the worst in the league and with a smaller squad this year we don’t want to be picking up unnecessary suspensions because they are going to hit us harder than ever if we do.