BARNSLEY’S last two league trips to Blackpool didn’t end well for their head coaches.
The away end turned on Markus Schopp and Neill Collins during defeats at Bloomfield Road in September 2021 and April this year respectively.
Schopp was sacked within weeks and Collins within hours of a 3-2 loss which saw his off-form side go 3-0 down in the penultimate league game of last season. There is nothing at all to suggest that Darrell Clarke, having only been in charge of ten games, is anywhere near that stage yet with the team one point off the top six.
The club believe he is the long-term candidate to lead them forward after too much chopping and changing of head coaches in recent years and, while a truly wretched run of form may change that, it is far too early for that to be a major topic.
But certainly the mood from fans towards him, the team and the club in general has been strained by recent results and performances.
A total of 25 points from their last 22 League One matches since March is simply not good enough for a club that expects to challenge for promotion every time they are in the third tier.
There are plenty of questions simmering over the quality of the squad, the summer recruitment, conceding goals in the final 15 minutes of a club record seven successive matches, Clarke’s tactics and philosophy, home form and Conor Hourihane’s role. They will all start to boil over if the disappointing sequence continues.
The Reds cannot allow an average first ten matches to become a bad first 15, and the current poor form of no wins in four in all competitions, and only one in seven, to stretch on much longer.
In that context, Bloomfield Road is not the ideal next venue.
Perhaps that is just from a media point of view because the press box is separated from what is normally a very large away following – some of whom are particularly animated having enjoyed the seaside clubs and pubs throughout the weekend – by just a flimsy line of stewards and no barriers.
Any vitriol which can sometimes be aimed towards journalists and club media staff is often directed in much greater volume at the players and coaching staff during and after a bad game.
Last time, almost six months ago to the day, Collins tried to applaud the away end following the abject defeat which cost him his job – despite the Reds being in the play-offs places with one league game left – but had to turn around quickly, such was the fury coming from hundreds of the travelling supporters.
It can go the other way, of course, and a good performance with a win against a fellow mid-table side will leave the mood around the Oakwell club feeling completely different – while they will probably be in the top six with more momentum.
They obviously need a far better performance than in the unconvincing draws at home to Stockport and Wycombe then the two desperate derby defeats at Huddersfield last week – with control of the ball and some meaningful attacking plans being a good start. They surely need two wins from the upcoming week – with a midweek home game against Charlton followed by a trip to lowly Shrewsbury – to put them back on track, in terms of the table and general mood.
It is has been too early, in the first ten games, no matter how underwhelming, to rush to conclusive judgements about the team or coach, who have just had a fortnight of hard training.
But the next week could either make the negativity of the last few weeks seem like minor teething problems in a promotion challenge, or a prolonged bad run would put Clarke, his players and those above him under serious pressure.
Today's game might not be a footballing masterclass – between the two sides who have played the most long balls in the division this season – but, if Barnsley grind out a victory, it could be vital for their campaign.
