Barnsley FC boss Michael Duff on turning 'detective' to help get Jon Russell's career going again

Those successful at it are motivators, teachers, technicians and counsellors all rolled into one.

You also have to do a bit of detective work from time to time.

Which brings us to Barnsley head coach Michael Duff and recent signing Jon Russell.

Last February, the powerfully-built midfielder burst onto the scene and soon started to earn friends and influence people at previous club Huddersfield Town, who were plotting an inexorable course to the Championship play-offs under Carlos Corberan.

The Spaniard left West Yorkshire in the summer and life there was never the same for Russell.

The Londoner, a stylish, trusted and talked-about performer under Corberan in the second half of 2021-22, found himself dropped first by Danny Schofield and then Mark Fotheringham in the autumn.

Russell featured just once for the latter, his first game in charge at Reading on October 1 and quickly found himself on the outside with Fotheringham firing a very public missive in his direction regarding his intensity in some early training sessions under his watch.

Completely frozen out this winter, his only realistic hope of salvation, while the Scot was there, was finding a new home in January.

Barnsley called on deadline day and while Duff is finding out about the player on a daily basis, discovering the person and what makes them tick is every bit as important, probably moreso.

The bottom line is that Russell's career has nosedived alarmingly at Town after the highs under Corberan, for whatever reasons. Duff must endeavour to find out truly why.

He said: "He (Russell) will have his reasons (as to why) and I am always aware that there are two sides to every story. It is not just that I will take his version of it.

"We will do our due diligence and find out what happened on the other side of it and come up with a plan of how we can improve him and get the best out of him.

"There is a reason why he has ended up here. So it is up to me and my staff to find out why that happened and ask him: 'why did it happen?'

"And hopefully get a reaction in helping him become the player that he was and kick on again. He's (just) 22 years old and people forget that as well."

The fact that Russell - whose contemporaries at first club Chelsea included Callum Hudson-Odoi, Tariq Lamptey and Billy Gilmour - was offered a three-and-a-half year deal by Barnsley, who also paid a fee for him, is testament to his qualities as a footballer.

The fact that Huddersfield inserted a sell-on clause in the deal was also telling in its own way.

He caught the eye in a three-man central midfield with Town last term. Barnsley's options in the engine room are undeniably strong in 2022-23, but Russell playing at the top of his game again would certainly add lustre.

On Russell, who made his debut from the bench at Portsmouth last weekend, Duff continued: "We believe that there is a player in there.

"We were surprised he became available, but whatever reason that happened at Huddersfield did happen. We think we have got a player we need to try and get the best out of.

"He is short of minutes, but he gives us different options and a physicality.

"He can obviously handle a football and was good for Huddersfield last year, which people will know locally."

After a busy end to the window which saw Russell and striker Oli Shaw arrive alongside young goalkeeper Adam Hayton, attention will now switch in the spring to future planning and contractual matters.

Options in the contracts of key trio Mads Andersen, Brad Collins and Jordan Williams were recently triggered and their deals now run until June 2024.

The longer-term picture regarding all three, whose contracts end in less than 18 months, remains very much up in the air.

Barnsley also have an option of a further 12 months regarding James Norwood, whose contract ends this summer, should they choose to activate it.

Luke Thomas, who is closing in on a return to the fray after injury, is among other players whose deals expire in the close season - and whose futures will need to be resolved in time.

Duff said: "That's the next part. It is now identifying potential players who we might need to recruit. That will be off the back of contract negotiations I should imagine.

"I don't get involved in contract negotiations, so I don't know where people are. We have 'touch points' every now and again.

"There will be more news later down the line, I'd imagine.

“But that's the next (thing) - who is going to sign a contract, who is not and who are the replacements and who might we lose in the summer.

"Because it is inevitable in the summer that people come and go."