Barnsley will continue to give talent chance to develop

MATHEMATICALLY safe from relegation with five Championship matches to go and well positioned for a top-10 finish, few can deny that Barnsley are enjoying another wholly progressive season in which they are significantly surpassing expectations and raising the bar in the process.
Barnsley manager Paul Heckingbottom.Barnsley manager Paul Heckingbottom.
Barnsley manager Paul Heckingbottom.

But when it comes to next season, the ethos of the Oakwell outfit will remain unaltered, with their policy of striving to unearth promising lower-division talent and turn them into Championship gold over time being a template to which they will strictly adhere.

Just as Angus MacDonald and Andy Yiadom have proved success stories on that front in the past year following their arrivals from Torquay United and Barnet, so the likes of Marley Watkins and Marc Roberts – and before that, Josh Scowen, Sam Winnall and Conor Hourihane – have all preceded them to forge their careers successfully at Oakwell and grasp the opportunity to take their careers onto the next level.

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Of course, it is no fail-safe mechanism. Some lower league arrivals have plainly not worked, while there are others, most notably ex-Colchester midfielder George Moncur, who are proving themselves belatedly after taking time to make their mark.

Barnsley manager Paul Heckingbottom.Barnsley manager Paul Heckingbottom.
Barnsley manager Paul Heckingbottom.

But the overall picture is rosy and do not expect any deviation from the template.

Even accounting for Barnsley’s fine return to the second tier and the fact that the club are likely to record their highest finish at this level since 2000, head coach Paul Heckingbottom has stressed that wafting the chequebook to sign the ‘finished article’ will not be in the equation for the Reds.

And probably not in future years for that matter, either.

Promising more of the same, Heckingbottom, confident that the club’s transfer credo can encourage enough talented, young and hungry young footballers to plump for Barnsley as the best place to develop their careers, said: “The market we are shopping in will be different to other Championship clubs.

Barnsley manager Paul Heckingbottom.Barnsley manager Paul Heckingbottom.
Barnsley manager Paul Heckingbottom.
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“What will be attractive to players is that they know we will have a small squad and we will be signing players and giving them one hell of a chance and that it is up to them to take it, attract the attention of other clubs and become Championship players.

“That is what we offer and the players know it is realistic because we are doing it over and over again. That is our selling point, if you like and what we have got above anybody else. We cannot afford to (spend big money). I am looking at the league and the possible clubs who are coming up and down and it is going to be even tougher (next season).

“We will be shopping in a different market, but we know we can get it right. It is tough, but we know we have to work really hard to get players into the building. Some will hit the ground running and some may take all season, but they must have the application like George Moncur to get there eventually and there will be some who are not (so) good.

“That is just how it is. But the more good we can get at it, the better we will be. Everything we have not got, we will flip and it will become a positive and we will have to keep doing that.”

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In the here and now, Barnsley face relegation-haunted Lancastrian hosts for the second successive away game tomorrow with the Reds aiming to follow up their weekend win at Blackburn by piling on the anguish for another side deep in trouble in Wigan.

Following that, the next away game is a juicy trip to another side who could potentially be fighting for their lives in Bristol City, managed by ex-Oakwell head coach Lee Johnson, and it is a run-in that Heckingbottom feels Barnsley should embrace firmly.

Heckingbottom, whose side clinched a League One play-off place with a famous final-day win at the DW Stadium last May, added: “We spoke about it before the Blackburn game in that we had just had a South Yorkshire derby in front of a near full-house and then Cardiff came and tried to frustrate and make it really difficult for us.

“But there is nothing like playing against a team fighting for their lives.

“We saw the problems Blackburn posed and it will be exactly the same against Wigan.”

“They will be a team who give absolutely everything.”

“But for me, there is always something to play for.”