It's make-or-break time for Peterborough United as the manager is struggling to get a tune out of the current squad no matter what variations on a theme he tries

The current squad are performing like strong relegation candidates. The manager is struggling to get a tune out of them no matter how many variations on a theme he tries. Defensively they have been a shambles all season – they now have the worst goals conceded record in the division – and even the get out of free jail card of a free-scoring forward line has become spent.

Posh barely created chances against bad sides like Burton Albion and Northampton Town in December so not making better teams like Mansfield Town and Barnsley sweat at the back in the last two London Road outings hardly came as a surprise. Cian Hayes did well for a couple of games covering for Kwame Poku, but match-by-match the injured winger’s absence becomes more keenly felt. That’s not the fault of Hayes, but no attacking player at the club comes remotely close to Poku’s technical excellence and threat level hence the wearing of metaphorical slippers by opposition goalkeepers in recent games.

Even those Darren Ferguson probably thought he could rely on are not performing. Archie Collins has enjoyed a good spell, but his form has dipped again. Hector Kyprianou hasn’t got going at all. Ferguson clearly doesn’t trust Joel Randall – absent from the squad altogether yesterday – in a fight. Posh might have regrets about not taking the £1.5 million offered for Randall in the summer.

Make no mistake, refereeing controversies aside, Barnsley were far superior to a Posh team who won one corner all game and delivered two shots on target, one from the penalty spot. This squad is heading in one direction only. Even the New Year’s Day trip to bottom club Burton looks extremely perilous with ‘The Brewers’ doubtless confident they can complete a quickfire win double over Ferguson’s feeble side.

The transfer window opens the following day and messrs MacAnthony, Fry and Ferguson need to work some magic. It’s nothing they haven’t done before, but it’s never been this urgent.

TALKING POINTS FROM POSH 1, BARNSLEY 3…

1) The season-ending injury to left-back Rio Adebisi has probably complicated Posh plans for January. They might well have tried to offload Jack Sparkes and used Harley Mills as Adebisi’s deputy. Sparkes returned to the starting line-up yesterday, but didn’t last an hour. Mills was an improvement, but was sent off. Problems at the back are piling up.

2) If Posh do sign a centre-back make sure he’s left-footed, or as classy as Ronnie Edwards so he can cope with playing on the ‘wrong’ side. Emmanuel Fernandez and Oscar Wallin have both struggled on the left of two central defenders this season and the former never looked comfortable there against Barnsley.

3) The change of formation didn’t really work, but it was nonetheless understandable. Ferguson needed to try something given the dreadful run of results. The diamond offered more protection to the centre-backs, but left Posh exposed out wide, particularly on the left as Ryan De Havilland looked ill at ease as a right-footed player stationed on the left of the diamond.

4) Chris Conn-Clarke deserves a run of starts and he is impressively aggressive, although his passing left a lot to be desired yesterday. But no Randall on the bench? That looked self-defeating. Given recent evidence Randall would have struggled in the crowded midfield area for the opening 45 minutes, but when games open up he could thrive in the extra space. He has good movement and can be hard to mark.

5) Posh tried to play a more risk averse style yesterday which certainly makes sense in the early part of games, but if you intend to hit long balls they need to be delivered with power over the heads of defenders to get the best out of Ricky-Jade Jones and Malik Mothersille. Neither player will win many headers, but both have natural speed. Too many balls were chipped forward and easily intercepted.

6) I held back from hammering the Boxing Day referee and his refusal to show what should have been mandatory yellow cards in the Boxing game against Mansfield. It would too easily have been construed as a show of sour grapes and anyway it hardly affected the outcome. But referees like Alex Chilowicz make my blood boil. Again he made little difference to the final scoreline, but he was all theatrical hand signals which made little sense and dramatic dashes across the pitch when foul play was suspected which all seemed a little attention-seeking as did his remonstrations with Ferguson in the technical area. Every time I looked down that way I saw Barnsley officials doing what the Posh boss was punished for, but without sanction. You can take a bit of showmanship if the decisions are correct and consistent, but that didn’t apply to Chilowicz who was horribly inconsistent, totally disinterested in a player sitting down to enable tactical breaks in play or acting on some sly delay of restart tactics. Even when blowing the final whistle he did it accompanied by dramatic gestures. It’s a truism you don’t notice the best referees.