Despite coming off two successive play-off campaigns, it is important to remember how badly things fell apart in the spring of 2024, and what Darrell Clarke has to build from.

The Reds did not win any of their last six league games last season while, at home, they finished the campaign winless in seven – as bad a run at Oakwell while in the third tier as any since the 1970s. Their form at home all season was mid-table at best.

A lot of the fans had turned against Neill Collins by March or April, and the negativity from the terraces appeared to impact the players at times.

While insisting that that is all well in the past, Clarke knows he needs to foster a better relationship with the supporters.

The return of Marc Roberts and Conor Hourihane will certainly help with that as will the presence of Donovan Pines, once fit, after he seemed to become a cult hero within a few appearances.

Everything learned about the head coach so far has been positive. He is much more of an extrovert than Collins, commanding control of the dressing room and satisfying the fans’ need for personality and honesty.

His football – although a lot remains to be seen – is thought to be more positive, high-energy and direct which will suit the majority of the players and fans.

Barnsley are expected to be very fit, having gone through a demanding pre-season – although, of course, several players will now be added to that mix late on after training elsewhere all summer.

The friendlies have suggested they will be better at set pieces, with several good crossers and an army of six foot plus giants.

Clarke is described by everyone who observed him or worked with him as an exceptional man-manager, who inspires his players, while much of the coaching will be left to his staff.

There are certainly enough of them to do it with Jon Stead and Dean Whitehead working on and off the ball respectively while Martin Devaney assists Clarke and Hourihane brushes up players’ individual skills as well as playing.

Additions needed especially up top

It is hard to predict what this Barnsley squad might achieve this season as it feels unfinished with plenty of work to do in the final three weeks of the transfer window.

The Reds will almost certainly still bring in several players, mainly in attack.

Meanwhile, there is always the threat with this club that – despite all the strong talk of keeping star men – a big bid comes in for someone like Adam Phillips late in the window and they cannot turn it down.

Right now, up front is the most worrying area and the position which, if they get the recruitment right, they should become serious top six contenders.

The only fit strikers, following Fabio Jalo’s injury, are Sam Cosgrove, who has three goals in 32 league games for the Reds, Max Watters who has seven in 43 and Aiden Marsh who has one in 17 – mainly off the bench in all cases.

They are hoping to wait until later in the window, when they think better strikers will become available, but that must be balanced with the vital early points they may drop with a weakened strike force.

The three top-scorers for the club in the current squad are midfielders in player/coach Conor Hourihane, who says he is not the same player as when he scored them, Phillips and Callum Styles whose futures are not totally secure to different extents. But Cosgrove was excellent in the play-offs while Watters – who was bombed out of the first team squad for most of 2024 – and academy product Marsh, who has never started in League One, have looked fairly sharp in pre-season. There is a belief throughout Oakwell that Watters and Cosgrove could be an effective duo.

They are expected to be joined by at least one new striker later in the window but look set to have an opportunity to impress in the early games.

It would obviously be great to find one of the league’s top-scorers in the transfer market or from the existing squad but a group of four or five forwards who lead the press, offer varying attributes, and all threaten double figures might be enough if the midfield plays to its huge potential and the defence is far more solid than last season.

The Reds conceded more than 80 goals in all competitions last season while only relegated clubs let in more at home in League One and, in the promotion run-in, it looked extremely easy to net against them from set pieces.

How much of that was due to the coaching or the lack of quality in last season’s squad, particularly defensively, may be shown in the coming months.

Marc Roberts and a fully fit Donovan Pines should create a much more solid, and physically imposing, backline while Matthew Craig’s ability to stop turnovers in midfield will help.

But they need to be better-drilled and prepared defensively by the coaches than for parts of last season.

The midfield looks strong with Craig and Conor Hourihane complementing star men Luca Connell and Phillips, with potentially another attacking midfielder to arrive.

Wing-back is a bit less certain as none of Corey O’Keeffe, Barry Cotter and Kyran Lofthouse have established themselves as first choice regulars on the right – although all have shown pre-season promise – while Georgie Gent, the only natural left-back, has never played a senior league game in England.

Losing six of the seven most frequent starters from last season is far from ideal but they have had time to replace them.

A brutal third tier

League One this season is possibly going to be the toughest and most competitive version of the English third tier ever.

Birmingham are spending unprecedented money for the level, Barnsley’s Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield and Rotherham will also look to bounce straight back up while there have surely never been two well-backed promoted sides such as Stockport and Wrexham, plus several others who look stronger after mid-table finishes last season.

The number of teams who begin the season with a realistic promotion chance is surely well into double figures.

Barnsley are certainly one of them.

Although they are not among the main favourites for many people, they know how to finish in the top six, have employed a manager who seems to have reinvigorated the club and have some very high-quality players for the level especially in defence and midfield.

They have also brought in the experience they lacked last season with much-loved duo Marc Roberts and Conor Hourihane.