THE Barnsley PA announcer struggled to pronounce his name, but neither he, nor anyone else at Oakwell will forget Yala Bolasie's Championship debut for Argyle in Saturday's 3-1 win at Oakwell.
The pre-match 'Bosalie' had degenerated to what sounded like someone clearing their throat by the time Yala was introduced as a 55th-minute substitute for Craig Noone.
However, his direct, pacy wing play caused Barnsley all sorts of problems, and helped Argyle maintain the forward momentum that turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 victory.
"The introduction of Bolasie was a breath of fresh air," said Pilgrims' head coach Paul Mariner.
"I think even the Barnsley fans would probably say they liked to see what he was doing. He brought a lot to the table for us.
"He's a young player who has got a lot of assets, going forward. The one thing you have got to do in this division is get goal-side of the ball, and that's one of the things he really needs to work hard on.
"He was fortunate that he was on the left-hand side of midfield, so that he had [Chris] Barker at the back of him, and he had John Carver and myself helping him out. He's obviously listened and I felt he did very well."
Skipper Carl Fletcher said: "Lala did well when he came on. He changed the game a little bit for us. We see him doing that in training every day, so it was good for him to bring it out on to the pitch.
"In training, we know how difficult he can be - even when he loses the ball, he looks like he's still got it - and he gave us another dimension.
"Nooney came in and worked hard for the team, so we have got strength in depth in this squad, and, to get results in this league, it's not going to be on the 11 on the pitch, it's going to be the whole squad."
Paul Mariner said: "Barnsley are a good team. If I'm being impartial, I actually liked watching them play in the first half. They have some lovely players who get [the ball; down] and stroke it around, and some power players, so it's not an easy game to play in.
"I thought [Noone] acquitted himself very, very well."
