Flitcroft is determined to excel and not just survive

With the campaign less than a month old and Barnsley having proven last season that they can leave it late before pulling off an amazing escape, there is a sense at Oakwell that there is no need to panic just yet.
Scott Golbourne gets away from his markerScott Golbourne gets away from his marker
Scott Golbourne gets away from his marker

Goals have been haemorrhaged at an alarming rate – 10 in four days and 17 in six games – and the Reds are propping up the embryonic Championship table.

But there is a belief within the squad that they have extricated themselves from far bleaker positions in the past.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

They did so last year with tremendous unity and a terrific amount of fight and heart.

When he surveys his squad a few months on, manager David Flitcroft still sees that unity within the men in red shirts.

It is a bond that has not even been broken by the departure of left-sided defensive player Scott Golbourne, who yesterday had a medical at League One Wolves and is set to complete a permanent move today for an undisclosed fee.

But if anything is missing this season from too many of Flitcroft’s men that was so apparent last term it is the fight.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Golbourne lost his heart and his head when Wolves came calling two weeks ago and although he was a key part of the survival battle last season, Flitcroft is not unhappy that he is set to leave.

It should serve as a warning to all those at Barnsley who are not rolling up their sleeves and fighting for the cause.

“What I won’t stomach is a lack of fight,” said Flitcroft. “Anybody who doesn’t fight for the cause, and I’ve seen that a couple of times in the last two games, then there’ll be repercussions.

“I can stomach a mis-placed pass or someone missing an open goal because that’s human error. But what’s not human error is not going toe-to-toe with an opponent and over the last two games we’ve seen that.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“So I’m calling on this team over the next 42 games to make sure we do that.

“This lack of fight has been the cause of us conceding soft goals, so we need to become more resilient.”

The disappointing start, coming off the back of such a positive end to last season when they ensured survival with a draw against tomorrow’s Oakwell visitors Huddersfield Town, has led to the first questions being asked of the Flitcroft era.

But that pressure, says the Tykes’ manager, is nothing compared to what he has worked under since succeeding Keith Hill in the new year.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I had pressure getting the job, I had pressure keeping the job, fighting others off,” he said.

“The pressure was last season, believe me.

“I love coming into work and I love working with this group of players and I’m committed to getting it right.

“If there’s external pressure, I’ve got to deal with it. I’m going to continue enjoying working with this group of players.

“I’m still heartened. Life is not easy and football mirrors that.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“This is a test and I’m massively up for it. If I get it wrong I get it wrong, but I’ll only do that by trying to do the right thing.

“All my decisions are for the good of the football club and the good of the group, because I still believe in this group.”

Reflecting on the season so far and where they go from here, Flitcroft added: “The expectation was massive in and around the football club.

“The feelgood factor was high, and I never wanted that to implode.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“But we have got a plan and we’ll try to commit to that plan, day-in, day-out.

“I made a lot of sacrifices to get the job, to keep the job and now I want to excel in the job.

“There’s a lot of fight in me and a lot of fight in this squad and we’ve got to start showing that game by game.

“We will do, I’m convinced of that. I’m convinced we’re a good group and once we get into a rhythm we’ll be okay.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“There is no panic; that comes from around you. That’s when you’ve got to stay focused, and you’ve got to understand the game plan.”

Golbourne’s departure should not rock the boat too much. Flitcroft is confident in promoting Reuben Noble-Lazarus into the left wing-back position for the time being, citing John Stones as an example of an Academy product who made the grade. Stones now plays for Everton and England Under-21s.

Flitcroft, who has missed out on a Premier League striker he has been chasing for a month, still wants a forward, eventual left-back cover for Golbourne, plus more cover elsewhere on the field, and is not setting Monday’s transfer deadline as his own timeframe.

On Golbourne’s decision to step down a division, Flitcroft added: “It doesn’t matter how much you want to keep a player, the bottom line is he wants to go and play for Wolves and if his heart’s not in it and his head’s not in it, you’re pushing water up a hill.”

Related topics: