A round-up of some news stories relating to Barnsley FC. The under 18s chase play-off glory, Ismael takes another Reds member of staff, Oulare begins to play for Molenbeek, a former Reds youngster signs a Manchester United deal and their sister clubs also fight relegation.
PLAY-OFF CHASING UNDER 18S NOW IN ITALY
Barnsley under 18s stayed in silverware contention with a 2-0 win at home to Cardiff City.
Theo Chapman scored both goals from the penalty spot, after being fouled twice.
The young Reds are a point behind leaders Sheffield United, who have two games in hand.
But Barnsley, who have two league games left, are five points clear of the sides below them so are likely to finish second and qualify for the play-offs.
The top two sides from the northern and southern sections of the Professional Development League play each other in semi-finals then a final.
The under 18s are now on a training camp in Italy, during which they will play some friendlies. They lost 3-1 today to Albinoleffe under 19s.
ANALYST LEAVES FOR ISMAEL'S BESITKAS
Barnsley first team analyst Nathan Kirby has left to join Valerien Ismael at Besiktas.
Kirby worked under Ismael at Oakwell last season but stayed when the Frenchman moved to West Bromwich Albion, taking over as the Reds’ lead analyst.
He has now moved to the Istanbul club, who appointed Ismael last month, with Tom Yeomans stepping up to become Barnsley’s lead analyst. The role is to analyse data and video footage of their team and opponents.
Kirby is the latest staff member to leave Oakwell this season after Ismael took three with him last summer, then long-serving physio Craig Sedgwick and goalkeeper coach Kevin Pilkington also departed.
FORMER REDS YOUNGSTER SIGNS PRO DEAL WITH MANCHESTER UNITED
Goalkeeper Tom Wooster, from Barnsley, has signed his first professional contract with Manchester United.
The 17-year-old, who moved from the Reds to the Red Devils in 2020, announced on social media that he had been handed a professional contract.
Wooster had impressed for the Reds youth teams and gained youth international experience with England.
REDS SISTER CLUBS ALSO STRUGGLING
Barnsley are not the only club owned by Paul Conway and Chien Lee who look likely to be relegated into their country's third tier this season.
AS Nancy are bottom of Ligue 2 in France, ten points from safety with six games left, having never fully recovered from a disastrous start under former Reds boss Daniel Stendel who did not win any of his ten games before being sacked.
Meanwhile, Esbjerg are third-bottom in the Danish second division and outside the relegation zone on goal difference after losing at the bottom club this week. Their season runs until late May. They had six loan players from Barnsley at the start of the season but Jordan Helliwell, Charlie Winfield and Matty Wolfe have returned while Rudi Pache and Steven Simpson signed permanently. Patrick Schmidt is understood to still be on loan but has not played for months.
As for the other teams owned – at least in part – by the Reds owners, Oostende finished 12th in the Belgian top flight while FC Thun and Den Bosch are mid-table in the second tiers in Switzerland and the Netherlands respectively. Conway and Lee have recently been part of a group that bought German third tier side Kaiserslautern.
OULARE COMES OFF BENCH FOR MOLENBEEK
Obbi Oulare has come off the bench for Molenbeek in their last two Belgian second division games.
The 26-year-old striker, who signed a three-year deal with Barnsley last summer, was loaned back to his home country in January having made two short appearances off the bench amid questions of a lack of fitness and why he had been brought in by owner Paul Conway.
He is due to spend the rest of this season and all of next season on loan at Molenbeek.
