Barnsley clinging to hope of avoiding the drop - season review

Pre-season had just begun, a honeymoon period for virtually every promoted side – or so the theory goes. Unfortunately, no-one had sent the brochure to Herr Stendel.

Instead of enthusing about the task in hand, pitting his wits against the likes of Leeds United, Sheffield Wednesday and West Brom, the German – an emotional individual at the best of times – struggled to conceal his concern regarding the Reds’ palpable lack of Championship nous, more especially at the back.

He was right to be worried.

It set the tone, with experience – or specifically the lack of it – being the definitive story of Barnsley’s season.

Stendel was to depart relatively early in the piece on October 8, with the manner of his exit revealed in a terse and short club statement, which left a very bad taste in the mouth of Reds supporters after everything that the former Hannover boss had achieved in galvanising the club following his arrival in June 2017.

He deserved better.

The reaction of many fans was illustrative of a growing disconnect between sections of the club’s supporters and the Oakwell hierarchy which has barely thawed since.

Clubs with issues behind the scenes invariably struggle on it.

It is to Gerhard Struber’s credit that he has just about kept Barnsley in the game since arriving in November. They may prop up the table, but are not down and out just yet, even if they need the equivalent of at least one snooker.

Back at the beginning of the season, the equivalent of an oasis in a desert appeared when Barnsley beat relegated Fulham – in the visitors’ first game back in the second tier after dropping down from the Premier League.

Just for good measure, the Reds beat the Londoners 3-0 in the reverse fixture on February 15. Even accounting for the crazy nature of the Championship, this was a result from the realms of incomprehension.

Unfortunately, much of what has happened in between has been more predictable, even if Barnsley have stirred into life on occasion.

After the opening-day win over Fulham, reality had bitten by the end of the month amid a run which saw them go 19 matches without a win in all competitions.

Unless something special happens when – or if – the season resumes, it is likely to be the key development in 2019-20. Hardly any side can endure such a punishing run and expect to retain their divisional status.

A comprehensive away defeat at a streetwise Sheffield Wednesday planted the first seed of doubt closely followed by an inept and alarming home loss to a fellow promoted side in Luton, which made a total mockery of chairman Paul Conway’s assertion that the club could look back on their summer transfer business as their ‘best window ever’.

It is a quote which quickly took on a certain degree of infamy among Reds followers.

It was a close season which saw senior men depart in the shape of Adam Davies, Ethan Pinnock and Liam Lindsay and a plethora of rookies with next to no experience of English football, yet alone the second tier, come in.

The club’s owners stayed true – many would say stubborn or blind – to their policy of recruiting young, hungry, emerging players under 23. It may bring some longer-term gains, but at the very probable cost of Barnsley’s Championship status in the process.

The problems were most especially felt at the back.

Scores of defensive combinations were tried with little success. Before Struber arrived, Barnsley had conceded 33 goals in 16 matches at the average of over two per match.

Keeping at the ratio, the Reds were on course to concede close to a century of goals with some of the calamitous concessions having to be seen to be believed.

What about the hope, you ask? Mercifully, there has been a spot or two under Struber. A ‘breath of fresh air’ was the verdict, to a man, on the Austrian’s arrival.

Going forward, Barnsley’s displays have been high-energy and cogent, by and large, with Conor Chaplin – the Championship’s player of the month for December – and Cauley Woodrow having produced the type of displays that would not look out of place at the top end of the division.

The drive of Alex Mowatt –whose talismanic form has rewound the clock at times to some majestic showings from a distinguished ex-Oakwell captain in Conor Hourihane – also reflects well upon Struber’s input.

But all the while, that Achilles heel of defensive uncertainty has flared up too often, despite incremental improvements. In comparison to the statistics before he arrived, a leakage of 29 goals in 21 league games under Struber is progress of sorts. Yet the grating habit of letting in soft goals has not gone away.

Barnsley’s first home clean sheet of the season did not arrive until a 1-0 victory over an anaemic Middlesbrough side on February 22 – their first shut-out at Oakwell in 17 matches.

Aside from that, the concessions have been damning and frequent, with two cheap goals in the Reds’ final game before the coronavirus shutdown, a 2-0 reverse to Cardiff on March 27 sadly being a microcosm of the club’s season from a defensive perspective.

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