Neil Warnock celebrates milestone but Barnsley boss Gerhard Struber gets cold and calculating

The Austrian can be very emotional after games but following a 2-1 defeat at Middlesbrough which was worse than the scoreline made it look, he was cold and calculating.

Social distancing allowed us to see both managers in person after the game rather than over the internet and the contrast could scarcely have been more marked.

Neil Warnock was jovial after Boro’s maiden Championship victory this season and first home win since Boxing Day from his 1,500th match in league management.

With Barnsley still awaiting their first three points of 2020-21 – although Cauley Woodrow’s 89th-minute penalty at least provided their first goal – Struber was not. In talks with New York Red Bulls, it could have been his final match as Reds coach.

Warnock urged his club to spend cautiously but confirmed final touches were being put to a second loan of Manchester City’s Patrick Roberts.

He dragged himself away after a film recommendation and his views on covidiots and coronavirus’s threat to the football pyramid, paused to tell another story, then thought better of it.

Struber said much less but the message was clear – he wants Barnsley’s owners to invest in a player like Roberts.

“In the first half we had much control, but in the last third we missed punch, the ruthlessness you need to score goals,” he said. “This is the big difference to other teams in the Championship.

“Last season we had Jacob Brown (sold to Stoke City for £2m this summer) and we have at the moment no replacement. It’s very difficult to score goals without attacking midfielders and strikers with big quality like other teams – like Middlesbrough.

“Every game we have a lot of chances or good actions but in the last third we don’t have the conviction to score goals.

“We have strikers and attacking midfielders who are very young and they need a player who gives them a secure feeling that we can score goals.”

Central midfielder Alex Mowatt was outstanding in Barnsley’s 3-4-2-1 but it is the next line where they need more. Dominik Frieser and Luke Thomas were substituted before the second period was halfway through.

One would have thought the short turnaround since last season’s great escape might have preserved confidence but even the defence, so crucial to it, looked jittery on Teesside. As soon as Chuba Akpom followed up Jonathan Howson’s goal minutes the other side of half-time, you knew Boro had won. Woodrow’s penalty after Howson’s clumsy foul made added time unnecessarily uncomfortable.

Struber was asked how confident he was of getting the signing he craves. If he is to come from abroad, he must arrive by 11pm but the deadline for domestic signings is 5pm on October 16.

“That’s more a question for the owners,” he replied. “Everyone knows what we need.”

He has been openly flirting with other clubs but is yet to commit. Could investment keep him at Oakwell?

“This is for everyone a very good question, what the owners do,” he said, as enigmatically as possible.

Warnock oozed enthusiasm.

“We’ve some great games coming up – Reading and Bristol City, top of the league, Cardiff away, wow!” he exclaimed.

Roberts will return to “just give us something different.

“I thought he had good games and mediocre games (last season) but it’s up to me to get the best out of him. We’ve got so many games and we had 18 (fit players on Saturday) but when there’s no money coming in I think we’ve got to be a bit responsible which may mean some players have got to play different positions. Why not?”

Warnock dropped wing-backs Djed Spence and Marvin Johnson “to give them a kick up the backside” and had “cuddles” for Marc Bola. Struber shuffled goalkeepers in search of the right formula.

Brad Collins saved brilliantly from George Saville in the first half and persuaded the officials to disallow Sam Morsy’s ‘goal’ because it deflected off the offside Akpom, but the uncertainty of his centre-backs seemed to infect him in the second half, and Akpom’s tap-in was presented by a save from Marcus Tavernier.

“Especially on the ground in our build-up he did a good job,” said Struber. “In some situations he was a little unlucky but he’s also very young and has to learn. He doesn’t always make the right decisions but I think he was okay.”

To see the 71-year-old in full flow made you think Warnock could get to 2,000 matches.

“Give over man!” he said.

For now, Barnsley are working day to day.

Middlesbrough: Bettinelli; Dijksteel, Fry, McNair; Tavernier, Howson, Bola; Morsy, Saville; Assombalonga, Akpom (Coulson 87). Unused substitutes: Stojanovic, Wood, Spence, Johnson, Wing, Browne.

Barnsley: Collins; Solbauer, Heilik, Anderson; J Williams, Mowatt, Ritzmaier (Ludewig 51), Styles; Thomas (Simoes 68), Frieser (Adeboyejo 46); Woodrow. Unused substitutes: Walton, Odour, Chaplin, Schmidt.

Referee: O Langford (West Midlands).

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