THIS week felt like the true start of Barnsley’s attempt to make it third time lucky in their attempts to get out of League One – as they spent a week at Loughborough University on a training camp.
The university is an impressive site, with a series of immaculate football pitches across a sprawling campus which also includes a huge beach volleyball court.
Members of the British Olympic squad had been training there full-time before travelling to Paris in the last few days while Paralympics GB also train there.
Staying at a swanky hotel on-site, the Barnsley squad’s days have been filled with intense training sessions – focused often on fitness including ‘Premier League runs’, a brutal 300m shuttle run repeated six times.
As well as gymwork, they have also been playing golf and, in the evenings, there have been team bonding sessions such as a version of TV quiz show The Chase, with the staff as ‘Chasers.’
During the training sessions, the number of red-clad players was almost matched by those wearing the grey of the backroom staff. As well as physios, sports scientists, analysts, a kitman and a player liaison officer, they have seven first team coaching staff.
Dean Whitehead’s arrival means that Darrell Clarke has four coaches working under him – double the usual number at Oakwell – not including the goalkeeper coach. Whitehead will focus on off-the-ball work and set pieces, Jon Stead’s domain is on-the-ball work and the attack, while Conor Hourihane will work one-on-one on individual skills.
Clarke will oversee it all and allow his much-praised man-management skills to come to the fore. It is a detailed approach that makes a lot of sense and, if executed properly, could turn the Reds into a well-drilled and effective unit.
It was certainly very different to the last time they were at Loughborough, in 2021, when by all accounts it was a chaotic situation under the hapless Markus Schopp with many staff and players left demoralised and some quitting soon after.
This time, the squad and staff seemed very much at one with a positive atmosphere amid the hard work.
Clarke is a larger-than-life character. During his interview with the Chronicle at Loughborough he started chanting ‘USA! USA!’ when Donovan Pines was mentioned and called Friday’s friendly with Mallorca ‘England Spain Euros final part 2’ suggesting national anthems be played before the game. His personality has already cut through more than his predecessor Neill Collins who, although a popular figure behind the scenes, was a very different character who many fans never warmed to.
Jokes and a fiery personality are not enough to win the fanbase over – wins and points are the ultimate currency – but they can certainly help get supporters on side in the early months of his reign.
The football Clarke is expected to get Barnsley playing is also more likely to be popular with the majority of Reds fans, with the team set to go slightly more direct while focusing on pressing and set pieces after Collins’ possession-based style frustrated at times.
Clarke also needs help from the transfer market. It has been a slower summer than anyone wanted or hoped for from a Barnsley point of view. But if they bring in the right players in the next month who play a key part in the promotion push, a slight delay in having them in the building, and to preparing the team for the opening games, will seem worthwhile.
Having brought in experience early in the window, they are mainly targeting ‘elite young players’ who were always likely to be unavailable in the early part of the summer as they trained at their parent clubs.
Going into the final fortnight of pre-season with no natural left wing-backs is obviously a long way from ideal. The Reds would say that they have plans to bring in at least one player in that position in the near future, while the right-footed Corey O’Keeffe has done well there in pre-season.
But it needs to be sorted soon.
The other unknown area is clearly up front. There are no really consistently proven scorers for the Reds, out of the strikers, after the 33-goal pair Devante Cole and John McAtee left. The midfield looks very promising, with Matthew Craig being added to other real talents like Luca Connell and Adam Phillips – who is a consistent goal threat – as well as Conor Hourihane, but they need firepower in front of them.
Max Watters has gone from probably sixth choice striker in early 2024 to starting pre-season friendlies alongside Sam Cosgrove, who had also had a tough time at Barnsley until a brilliant couple of games in the play-offs. If they can be far more solid at the back than last season, with the midfield they have, it may not be necessary to have the highest-scoring strikers in the division – although of course it would be excellent if they could find some.
There is plenty of work to do in all department to compete in a difficult League One this season but the training camp felt like it could be the start of a successful campaign.
