Barnsley: ‘It is embarrassing’ admits Matty Wolfe as Tykes are relegated

Going down is bad enough, but to be propping up the table with two matches to go behind a side who have been docked 21 points this season in Derby County – 12 for entering administration and nine for historical financial breaches – and another who have been hit by a six-point penalty in Reading takes things onto a whole new unwanted level.

Wakefield-born Wolfe said: “Two teams have had points deductions and it is embarrassing to be honest that they are above us. It says a lot.

“Not finishing bottom is a target we have got.”

Perhaps the only word to describe Barnsley’s season in the round is shambolic, with many fans having plainly had enough of a campaign which has not only plumbed the depths on the pitch, but seen the disconnect between fans and their club hierarchy grow in worrying fashion off it.

Perhaps just as alarmingly, if not more so, is a sense of apathy from many previously loyal fans.

Tuesday’s loss to Blackpool summed up the malaise. The Oakwell faithful witnessed a tepid show by the Reds in front of a sparse crowd, a number of whom left before the end.

After the dust settled, caretaker head coach Martin Devaney said he felt that some players had ‘downed tools’.

On a sense of disconnection between supporters and the club, Wolfe remarked: “Yes, you cannot disagree with that.

“The fans have seen what they have seen this season and we haven’t been good enough.

“I know a lot of fans are not happy with how it’s been going, but that’s football.

“We have got to take ownership as players that we have not been good enough and that’s where it all stems from.”