You've said it there 'Koumas at his best' - did he feature so strongly game in game out for half a season ? Barnes attacking game is all at high pace which it needs to be in the modern game. He wouldn't have had that many goals and assists if his decision making was poor.
By Koumas at his best I didn't just mean the odd performance, but during his peak years. You think that Koumas didn't feature strongly game in game out for half a season? Perhaps you're joking.
Koumas was the Championship player of the 2006-2007 season, and was in the Championship team of the season on at least one other occasion.
You mention pace in the modern game. Read my post. I say that Barnes is athletic and has pace but his decision making is lacking, which in my opinion it is. Koumas was more the opposite, a highly intelligent footballer who lacked natural athleticism.
As to Barnes' decision making, I am talking about this attribute as it is applied throughout a match on every aspect of a players performance. I've seen enough of Barnes to see that he needs to improve massively in this area. In fact it's probably at least partly why he was loaned out in the first place. This improvement might come with time and experience but these things aren't guaranteed.
Barnes is not only not the best Championship player Albion have had, he's not even the best player we have this season. I'm not saying he's not going to be missed, but I don't think he's anywhere near as good as what people seem to believe.