Hill goes back to basics at Barnsley

It was was somewhat appropriate because scaling the loftiest of heights is what manager Keith Hill and his troops must negotiate if the Reds are to lift themselves away from the bottom-half of the Championship table after six seasons of trying.

Some would venture that if he achieves that, he will have performed the equivalent of moving mountains, more so following the news that his marquee summer recruit, Mido, could face up to three months out with a serious hamstring injury.

In Barnsley’s time back in the second tier, they have never finished higher than 18th and have endured some precarious brushes with relegations in the process.

One of the closest of those came last term when the Reds entered freefall following their 4-1 derby victory over Leeds United on New Year’s Eve, winning just four matches out of their remaining 22 to finish just one place above the bottom three – and if it hadn’t been for Portsmouth’s 10-point deduction, they would have been relegated.

With the playing budget tight at Oakwell – miniscule in comparison to a host of well-monied rivals – and without the talismanic midfield talents of Jacob Butterfield, a whole plethora of bookies are tipping the Reds for the drop this time around with Hill forced to put his faith in a host of promising, but inexperienced young recruits alongside the club’s first-team squad.

Local teenagers Paul Digby, Jordan Clark, John Stones and Danny Rose all sampled a taste of the action at the end of last term, with Rueben Noble-Lazarus, who famously become the youngest player in Football League history when he made his debut aged 15 years, 45 days in September 2008, also utilised with all expected to once again be blooded further in the new season.

The big thing in Barnsley’s favour is Hill, an engaging and effervescent character who has considerable previous in defying the odds, famously becoming the first manager to win promotion at Rochdale in 41 long years back in 2009-10.

And while he, No 2 David Flitcroft and the Reds players are undeniably up for the challenge, that most precious and often scant commodity in football – patience – will be seriously required, according to the Lancastrian.

Hill said: “If you look at the Championship, there’s only ourselves, Millwall and Peterborough who aren’t heavily financed by parachute payments or major investment. If you haven’t got that, as a football club, you have to develop young players as you can’t afford to recruit ready-made players.

“But there has to be that understanding and patience from everybody associated with the football club when you are bringing through young players.

“If there isn’t, then some players don’t play to their potential and get invaluable experience and home-grown players often get overlooked by managers. As a result, the life expectancy of managers goes down.

“Yes, managers do want the ready-made player to give him them the best opportunity of being successful. And while I won’t compromise the fact I want to be successful, I will allow a certain amount of error in some players to give them the experience they need. We have to allow young players to get experience and maybe sometimes get it wrong.

“I’m excited about developing players here. It’s the way we have to do it with the squad of players we have and I’ve no fear of introducing young players.

“Looking at us, I want to go beyond just existing. I want the work we are doing now to work dividends as the season progresses and for us to get to the point where we are self-sufficient, but successful in the Championship.”

While Hill has promised to be bold in promoting youth where possible, he’s also a realist and recognises the need to bring in some more signings to bolster his squad numbers, with injuries having already stretched his already thin playing resources so far in pre-season.

Given the trying circumstances of 2011-12, when the Reds were stretched to breaking point in the second half of the campaign – with the likes of Butterfield crocked and Ricardo Vaz Te sold to West Ham United – Hill is desperate to avoid being caught out again.

He added: “Looking at last season, I don’t think the problem was necessarily running out of steam. It was more losing key players in January well before the end of the season.

“What we saw in the last third of the season was absolute meltdown in respect to having enough players that we needed out on the pitch.

“It would have been a tragedy if we’d been relegated, but we’re very aware of having enough squad recruits in the Championship.

“We can’t just rely on young players and the recruitment time has to be done in the close season as do the loan signings.

“In January, any business doesn’t really prove to be successful unless you recruit players from existing clubs who are going to improve your fortunes – like West Ham recruiting Ricardo Vaz Te to take them up.”