Patience starting to bring rewards for Barnsley

Certainly, a lot less than losing eight league games in a row – together with an embarrassing FA Cup exit.

That run may represent something beyond the pale for countless chairman across the land, with managers sacked for considerably less. But, just occasionally, some clubs hold firm by their man. Like Barnsley.

Patience has proved a virtue for owner Patrick Cryne, the club’s board and head coach Lee Johnson and given the Reds’ recent upturn, it is a toss-up who will be feeling the most satisfied.

Relieved might be the phrase that chief executive Ben Mansford would choose if pushed.

In a world where the security of tenure for managers is thoroughly lamentable, with 36 having already left clubs so far in 2015-16, it takes a certain mindset to hold firm amid a grave losing sequence when it is often expedient to do the easy thing and bring in a new broom.

Few with the beautiful game at heart would deny Barnsley their good fortune and renaissance by sticking with Johnson, whose side are unbeaten in six matches, winning five – and are one win away from a Wembley final.

It’s a world away from those dark days of autumn when Barnsley were down among the dead men after losing eight league games in a row for the first time since 1958-59, while being turfed out of the FA Cup by non-league Altrincham.

On the amazing volte-face, Mansford told The Yorkshire Post: “It was a really difficult time. But we believed in Lee and throughout it all, he retained a high level of confidence in his own ability.

“His staff continued to support him and in the league games we got beaten in and the Altrincham game, we lost them all by one goal.

“You have to just keep your head down when times are like that. The only question you get asked is ‘are you going to sack him and how long has he got?’

“But on the basis that you believe he is working his socks off and the staff and players are still fighting for him, we felt that we should batten down the hatches.

“If you say things, you can create more of a storm than you really want to.

“But Patrick, Lee and I had some lively Sunday nights in terms of discussing what was going wrong, which needed to be done.

“Credit to Lee. He never faltered and firmly believed in himself and his staff and what the players are capable of.”

Much was made of Barnsley’s policy to go with youth in the summer, with it looking to have backfired spectacularly given their autumnal implosion under the watch of one of the youngest managers in the land.

But while that modus operandi looked inherently flawed on some desperate episodes in October and November, in the greater scheme of things it perhaps also bought Johnson valuable time.

Mansford said: “You speak to agents and people at other clubs and they say: ‘Well, that was brave and credit to you.’ It is nice to hear that now.

“It was not easy doing it, but Patrick admits we have had a reasonably high turn-over of managers in trying to get the success that a club of this size and support commands and genuinely believes it should have.

“Lee was maybe given a bit of slack that others weren’t particularly given. I think a lot of fans were also saying: ‘I think it’s about time that we stick with one.’ Maybe Lee got a little bit fortunate in that respect.

“But also I think when we set our stall out to try and get a young side and improve the residual value of the playing squad by developing players, we had to accept that youthful naivety and exuberance at times brings mistakes.

“I am not sure that all footballing fans of Barnsley are completely with us in terms of accepting the mistakes of youthful exuberance just yet.

“But there is a perception that the corner is being turned and a number are accepting that the young lads run around and never know when there are beaten.

“You do see games where the manager gets the sack after games in which over 90 minutes, some teams have given up and an experienced dressing room might have looked at it and thought: ‘Let’s get this over with’. But our group of players had never experienced this before and bounced back on Monday mornings and showed youthful enthusiasm.”

For all that fresh-faced promise, the signing of particularly Adam Hammill, followed by some shrewd loan acquisitions, has unquestionably aided Johnson.

But tellingly, Barnsley won at Yorkshire rivals Bradford City on Tuesday without Hammill or another influence on the left in Aidy White, which augurs well for Johnson.

Mansford said: “I think that’s why Lee referred to the win at Bradford being one of his most successful results so far as he was without those two bits of quality down the left and we have been without (Josh) Scowen and we lost (Alfie) Mawson.”