BEING a football fan is truly a unique passion in life; one week it can create unforgettable memories that stay with you forever, the next you want to forget that you drove 360 miles to watch your team be humiliated.

Over my life I've managed to break a few fingers, break my arm, lose the tip of my finger and that still wasn't as painful as watching Swindon in South Yorkshire last Saturday.

Without Captain Nathan Thompson we looked rudderless, Jordan Turnbull had a rare bad game and possibly his worse for Town.

Along with Turnbull, the enigma that is Raphael Rossi Branco wasn’t at the races, I'm sure he will continue his inconsistent start to the season this Saturday when we will be treated to a top-class display.

The midfield was also anonymous, Anton Rodgers took a slight step backwards after his improvement so far this season, Yaser Kasim didn't look interested throughout, and became a liability as the game went on.

Hopefully now that he’s retired from international football, he will be more focused on his career at Swindon Town.

The strikers didn’t fair much better with Nicky Ajose spurring 2-3 good chances over the 90 minutes.

Wes Thomas also had a glorious chance in the second half when he just had to slot it home, but he shot straight at the keeper.

I'm certain Nicky and Wes will come good as the season goes on, both have been starved of first team action for a while, once they have a dozen games under their belt, they will find the net consistently.

One thing was cemented in my mind last Saturday, the quality of teams in League One this season is one the worst I’ve ever seen.

Despite winning 4-1, Barnsley were also terrible on the day, and they like Town are one of the favourites to finish inside the playoffs, this season we have no excuse not to finish inside the top six.

Despite the nightmare at Oakwell, there were some positives to take away.

Town’s new Estonian midfielder Henrik Ojamaa looks a good buy, he caused problems for the Barnsley full-back, he doesn’t shy away from taking on the defender, which is always exciting to watch, but like our new strikers, he desperately needs game time.

It was also great to see Louis Thompson back in a Town shirt, he couldn’t have much impact on the game as it was already lost, but going forward his influence over the entire loan spell can’t be underestimated on and off the pitch.

Follow me on Twitter @danwjonson

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