Rotherham United in fine shape as warning bells ring for Barnsley

One manager bristling with anger after seeing his side roll over submissively and concede four unanswered goals in a lily-livered second half of a Dearne Valley derby – with his counterpart having rather more to be enthused about, in stark contrast.

For August 27, 2016 at Oakwell, read July 29 at the AESSEAL New York Stadium. This time it was Barnsley who were on the receiving end of an embarrassing 4-0 defeat – 336 days on from thumping Rotherham by the same margin in a Championship fixture.

That the game had no points riding on it was perhaps the only crumb of consolation for the vanquished in Paul Heckingbottom.

The Reds head coach had a huge amount to ponder after lambasting his side after a punishing loss at the hands of the Millers, while also firing a missive in the direction of the club’s hierarchy in his quest to instigate some badly-needed transfer recruitment.

Even accounting for the fact that Saturday’s game was a friendly, it was inescapable not to arrive at the conclusion that it could be a very long season for Barnsley if they do not replenish their thin-looking squad with some hardened Championship operators to their ‘spine’ with the likes of Roberts, Mawson, Watkins, Scowen and Hourihane no longer in town.

Plenty has been made of the Reds’ ‘young and hungry’ recruitment policy. There was plenty of the former on show at the weekend, but little of the latter, certainly in terms of character and appetite for the battle.

After the Millers’ annus horribilis in 2016-17, few would have begrudged Paul Warne’s sense of quiet contentment afterwards; outside of Barnsley at least.

He has had many fraught Saturday nights during his time in charge last term, but this weekend was not one of them.

That said, Warne admitted he was preparing himself for a few sleepless nights this week nevertheless, with the displays of a number of players having provided him with several selection quandaries ahead of their League One opener at Fleetwood.

One player most definitely a ‘shoo-in’ to start is forward Jamie Proctor, who fired a second-half hat-trick in the space of nine nourishing minutes on Saturday.

Proctor, who bullied the Reds’ defence in the second half before exiting to a warm ovation, went from Mr Grumpy to Mr Happy in the process, according to Warne.

Warne said: “Strikers are all about confidence. I had him in earlier this week because in shooting, he wasn’t very good and had a grumpy face on. I went: ‘Why are you being so grumpy, your life is great – you are doing shooting practice; if you miss, so what – have another go.’

“I missed 99.9 per cent of mine, but still wanted another shot. It is nice for him that he played with a smile on his face and he got a hat-trick and that will give him a massive boost going into the season.”

On his side’s overall display, the Millers chief, who dismissed any talk of a possible move for former target Omar Bogle, added: “What I was mostly positive about – and it is going to make my job harder – is that the subs I put on did really well. Kieffer Moore showed what a handful he is.

“But all the subs really did give it a good go to try and get into this team. Competition for places is great and I don’t know if I will sleep trying to work out which way I am going to go. There were some excellent performances.”

For Heckingbottom, the food for thought was less wholesome following a worrying afternoon which prompted him to hammer home the need for the Barnsley hierarchy to effectively wisen up in their recruitment strategy.

He said: “The scoreline said everything. It was men against boys.

“The only player who is playing next week at the minute is Joe Williams because he made tackles. We are a five-a-side team at the minute and five-a-side teams win nothing.

“The pleasing thing is that it highlights what I have been saying in how far away we are and what we need to do. People need to start listening to me now. We need players.

“I said it all along; we set out a plan in March and April of last year and everyone agreed it. Then we sold Robbo (Marc Roberts) and went from needing 12 to 13. We are still miles away from that number and the quality we need.

“People have to start getting busy. The frustration has been there all the time. Nothing is happening that I said would not.

“I think over 18 months, I have talked enough sense for people to start listening to me. But if they continue to think they know better, then we are going to struggle.

“You cannot win games in the Championship and be soft. Simple as that. You have to impose yourselves on the game in all sorts of circumstances. I am afraid we have sold all those players and need to find some more.”