Club: Barnsley
Last season: 21st Championship
Recent history: It has been fifteen years since the Neil Redfearn-inspired Tykes graced the Premier League and their fans made popular the chant ‘it’s just like watching Brazil’. Very little South American-style flamboyance has been witnessed since in this part of Yorkshire, and their story provides a similar account to what we have seen at The Valley in recent years; relegation from the Premiership eventually led to relegation to League One, returning to the Championship at the third attempt.
Since 2006, Barnsley have done little more than admirably treading water in the Championship, and appear to be an annual banker for fingernail-biting towards the end of the season. So far, they have managed it every time, and it is worth noting that they do so on a budget that is likely to be far lower than many of their Championship counterparts.
Manager profile: Keith HillKeith Hill made his name as a manager lifting Rochdale from League Two relegation possibilities to living comfortably in League One’s. Doing so on a tiny budget won many admirers around the country and for a spell his name was one of those always in the frame when a higher job became available (a la Exeter’s Paul Tisdale). He plumped for Championship Barnsley in June 2011.
Summer transfer activityIn
Ben Alnwick ..... Spurs ..... Free
Mido ..... Zamalek ..... Free
Jacob Mellis ..... Chelsea ..... Free
Kelvin Etuhu ..... Portsmouth ..... Free
Lee Collins ..... Port Vale ..... 50k
Toni Silva ..... Liverpool ..... Free
(Ibrahima Sonko is also on trial)
Out
Jacob Butterfield ..... Norwich ..... Tribunal
Jay McEveley ..... Swindon ..... Free
David Cotterill ..... Doncaster ..... Free
Expected tactics / formationBarnsley look set to line up this season with a 4 – 4 – 1 – 1 formation, as follows:
...............................Luke Steele.................................. ................
Lee Collins....Jim McNulty...Stephen Foster...Scott Wiseman......
Jim O'Brien....Stephen Dawson..David Perkins..Kelvin Etuhu..
.................................Jacob Mellis.................................. ..........
..............................Craig Davies.................................. ...............
Subs :- Ben Alnwick, Mido, Bobby Hassell, Paul Digby, Matt Done, Scott Golbourne, Toni Silva
What the fans are saying“Well it’s looking bleak. We have got a few new faces in, but we are crying out for at least four or five more. Two new strikers are a must, but what will be will be. We all know the predicament our club is in with finances, but we're in the second tier of English football again and we're playing by the rules. We also know Mr Hill will make sure all the players are trying 100%, and i'm proud to be a Barnsley supporter at the moment. Most of the team is very limited in their abilities, but what do you come to expect when you’er playing in a very strong league, and trying to work within your means. We will be relegated at some point due to the stance the club took regards the FFP, when that will be who knows but I do feel we have another couple of seasons at this level. As long as we stick the our principles I'm not that bothered to be honest, because we could be a yo-yo club if we carry on the way we are. I just intend to enjoy this fantastic league while we're still here” -
Nightmare, BFC Fan Main Forum:
http://v2.barnsleyfc.org.uk/forumdisplay.php?130-Bulletin-BoardOdds: Promotion 25/1, Relegation 11/8
VerdictAs the Barnsley fan says above, it is always going to be tough for them with much bigger budgeted clubs around them every season. But with that a level of expectancy is also taken away from Barnsley, which equally appears to work in their favour. They adopt a fighting mentality well, and with other bigger clubs in the Championship appearing to implode on an annual basis, that backs-against-wall mentality continues to get them through.
However, they start the season with injury problems they could do without. Mido was an incredibly bizarre signing, as unlikely a Barnsley signing as you could possibly pick, and is sidelined for 3 months after tearing his hamstring in a recent friendly warm-up. The 18-year old ex-Liverpool winger Toni Silva is also suffering a hamstring injury and is seen as a month away from fitness, while keeper Luke Steele is also currently sidelined.
"We’ve got an obvious problem, we need to get a striker in the building as soon as possible. We’re going to have to dip into the transfer market,” said Hill.
“It’s going to be difficult to get a recognised striker with a week to go, but we’ll be trying our best.”
Try their best will once again be Barnsley’s motto again this season. If the Championship was broken down into their mini-leagues, it is hard to see them finishing outside of the bottom one. Can they avoid relegation once again ? To me, Barnsley’s destiny will rest more in the fate of other clubs, than in their own hands, but if their squad can retain its togetherness, they have every chance.
Compiled by:
@AFKABartramHow do you see Barnsley faring this season ? Can they avoid the drop once again ?
Comments
Silva is out for 1 month with a hamstring injury.
Bates will be lucky to get out of Yorkieland alive.
can't see them staying up this year...however looking at this forum http://www.thefootballforum.net/index.php?/topic/213359-predict-the-table/ many are saying the same about us
The goalkeeper headbutted Ray Putterill in the last minute of stoppage time with the Tykes leading 2-1, conceding a penalty and getting himself sent off.
Jason Kennedy equalised from the spot to take the game to extra time but Chris Dagnall’s brace gave the Yorkshire side a 4-3 victory.
“In the second half as the energy slightly ebbed away from Rochdale, I thought we were in the ascendancy and it was just a routine 2-1 win into time added on,” Hill said.
“Ben’s got the ball in his hands, 90 minutes on the clock and after that it’s unexplainable!
“I don’t think the ramifications of possibly losing this game would have been any worse than they are now having won the game with Luke Steele being out and Ben Alnwick possibly looking at a three or four game suspension.
“We’d done everything we possibly could in preparation for Ben to start the season as our goalkeeper, but in one game, everything we’ve done has been thrown out of the window for one petulant lapse of concentration. I will have to bring another goalkeeper in now, no question.”