Analysis of Barnsley's opening night loss to Mansfield Town.
SEASON STARTS WITH FRUSTRATING LOSS
SLOW start, poor finishing, a disappointing home result - this first game of the new season was a harsh reminder that Darrell Clarke has plenty of work to do to iron out last season’s problems.
After ending 2023/24 winless in the final six league games, this was a chance to inject some immediate positivity but, despite playing fairly well for most of the game, they were let down by a dreadful start then poor finishing when they created enough chances to easily win.
We should never read too much into the first game. Neill Collins’ ultimately unsuccessful tenure began with a 7-0 victory. But it was a deeply frustrating evening.
Barnsley have not won at Oakwell in eight games since beating Derby County there in February - losing to Lincoln, Cambridge, Bolton and now newly-promoted Mansfield. One of the other games in that run was a 0-0 draw with Cheltenham who were then managed by Clarke.
It might be harsh to add last season’s results to this one but Barnsley should not be struggling so much at home in the third tier - no wonder the fans are restless. It has to be put right against Northampton on the 24th, which will be exactly six months since their last win there including the off-season.
BARNSLEY WOEFUL FOR 25 MINUTES
The Reds had not conceded in their first home game of the season for six years, with six clean sheets, but found themselves 2-0 down after 19 minutes.
They were awful early on. They could barely get hold of the ball against a Mansfield side who played a four-man midfield diamond, outnumbering the home midfield three.
Barnsley looked extremely vulnerable at the back and barely had an attack.
Marc Roberts, on his return to his hometown club, must take some responsibility for not dealing with a long ball which eventually led to the opener, but collectively they were ‘all over the shop’ as Clarke said.
Mansfield - playing their first third tier game in 21 years - were extremely experienced, with an average age of 31 and youngest player at 26, while many of their starters had a lot of Championship experience.
Most of the team were promoted together last year - including Reds target Davis Keillor-Dunn - and they looked much more comfortable at the start. After being controversially denied an opener, they scored through 38-year-old Stephen Quinn’s stunner and a typical finish by Lee Gregory, 35, who notched a sixth career goal against the Reds.
Six days on from watching Callum Simpson’s British title win on the same pitch, Barnsley were rattled by an early one, two blow and were never able to recreate the raucous atmosphere generated by just the East Stand for the boxing.
FORMATION CHANGES HELP
Clarke brought off left wing-back Georgie Gent after 25 minutes of his first league start in English football.
Only Graham Pugh in 1976 and Carl Regan in 2000 made shorter full debuts for the club.
It was not because Gent had been the weak link but because Clarke wanted to change to a 4-4-2 diamond like his hometown club Mansfield were using.
That alteration put the Reds in control of the match for a long period but veteran Stags boss Nigel Clough then switched to 3-5-2 and gained more control before Clarke again matched him with Kyran Lofthouse coming on for the cramping-up Luca Connell.
Both switches in formation improved the Reds’ performance and led to more chances - showing Clarke’s tactical nous.
But clearly he must also take responsibility for the way the Reds started.
Gent played with Callum Styles not available as he was not in the right frame of mind due to interest from other clubs, according to Clarke. Styles, by all accounts, has behaved professionally all summer but clearly wants to leave - something that will be best for all parties if the Reds get the price they want.
STRIKERS MISS BIG CHANCES, WITH SIGNINGS NEEDED
This game played out, in some ways, exactly as many people feared given the lack of proven goal-scorers in the Barnsley squad.
No one expected the two early Mansfield goals but missing a series of chances - with an impressive midfield but a strikeforce with no track record of netting regularly for the club - was a scenario which always seemed possible.
Sam Cosgrove and Max Watters, now first choice strikers after starting nine league games each last season, did a lot right in the match but could not score.
With new strikers apparently on their way, it felt like a big missed opportunity for them.
This was only Watters’ second league start at Oakwell since the previous August, with the other being the 2-1 home loss to Exeter in January in which he was taken off at half-time then played just nine more minutes all season.
He linked up well with team-mates aerially and on the ground while working hard and running the channels which often troubled Mansfield. It was a much better performance than for most of last season when he was often anonymous.
But, sadly, you could see his chronic lack of confidence in front of goal when he missed two big chances for 2-2. He blasted over in the first half after a scramble then shot straight at the goalkeeper in the second half having been put clean through by a fine Connell pass.
Cosgrove, who also did some good things in general play and used his size well, missed three fairly difficult chances with his head then a much simpler one late on when he smashed over just a few yards out after Aiden Marsh headed down a Lofthouse cross. Marsh had come on for Watters and was denied at close range by the goalkeeper, with an underhit shot, after more good work on the left by the impressive Lofthouse on his home league debut. 'sIgN a StRiKeR' was the sarcastic tweet by the club after last year's 7-0 start. Now it's just what they have to do.
SCORER CONNELL EXCELLENT
Connell was excellent in his first official game as captain.
Although he was part of the midfield outnumbered early on, he thrived in one of the wider roles in the 4-4-2 diamond and soon scored his first ever Oakwell goal, via a big deflection.
Given freedom by having effective debutant Matty Craig anchoring midfield behind him, Connell's charging runs up the pitch were brilliant as were his crosses and passes which created several chances.
The goal seemed to give him confidence to shoot regularly and he put a series of well-struck efforts from outside the box narrowly off-target.
He looked back to the player from two seasons ago, having had a full pre-season after a campaign disrupted by illness and injury.
Adam Phillips did not take control of the game in quite the same way, and wasn’t the goal threat he can be, but many of the opportunities Barnsley created were because of clever passes in the build-up by their number eight.
Russell made a big difference to the balance of the side off the bench, having appeared to slip down the pecking order this summer. Conor Hourihane came on to a huge cheer but looked a bit rusty with some wayward passes when the Reds needed forward momentum.
