Barnsley FC comment: Are Reds becoming as comfortable in mid-table as they were in 80s and 90s?

Yes, there was the odd top-eight finish thrown in there, but in the main, the Reds were middle of the road and quite happy to be so.

Barnsley were content to break bread with the likes of Leeds United and the two Sheffield's for spells, alongside the north east's 'big three' and several large clubs from the Midlands. It's all about levels. In the present, the Oakwell outfit are heading towards the end of their fourth season back in the third tier and second successive mid-table finish.

They have become an average League One club, which should be no great surprise given that the Reds' budget is an average one.

There's a distinct chance that, come May 2, their league position will be lower than the previous campaign for the fifth year in a row. The club's direction of travel appears to be downwards.

Aside from bringing through promising young players to develop and ultimately sell on – which is fair enough – and has served Barnsley well historically, where's medium to long-term plan for club growth on the playing side?

Or is the hierarchy relatively content as long as players continue to be developed and sold for profit, even if the league position takes a hit?

Supporters surely deserve something to buy into or at least see evidence of something.

Last Saturday, Conor Hourihane, inset, spoke with candour after the Reds' prospects of nicking into the play-offs in 2025-26 were pretty much scuppered, baring the maths, following defeat to a Doncaster Rovers side who could finish above Barnsley for the first time in 12 years.

Asked about the top six, the Reds head coach said, with justification, that it was never a realistic proposition, following the sale of Davis Keillor-Dunn with nothing resembling a replacement brought in.

He went further in a radio interview and suggested that a play-off push next season was also unlikely. It chimed with earlier comments when he said that Barnsley were no longer a third-tier 'powerhouse'.

There is a undeniable sense of drift at Oakwell at the minute.

Barnsley's best player in David McGoldrick is 38 and out of contract, while the club have decisions to make on midfielder Adam Phillips and their captain Luca Connell in the summer, given their contractual situations.

Most expect Reyes Cleary to also be sold by Barnsley, whose latest accounts revealed a loss of £6.6 million in the year up to June 2025.

Loan players will go and Eoghan Connell's short-term deal also ends. It's hard to say what next season's team will look like.

In the club's hierarchy's defence, they would say they have shown responsibility in fiscally challenging times.

Chairman Neerav Parekh revealed last March that the board pumped in a significant seven-figure sum to help with running costs in 2024-25 – and referenced further equity injections. All very admirable. But on the football side, where’s the hope?