A MONTH ago, Barnsley looked to be in trouble.
They had just been beaten twice at Huddersfield with miserable performances, following home draws with Stockport and Wycombe after which Darrell Clarke tore into his players.
The head coach admitted he was struggling to find the right system, style and personnel with many supporters becoming frustrated with both him and the team.
The Reds were still just outside the top six but were not playing like promotion-challengers. Including the slump at the end of last season, they had collected 25 points from 22 league games going back to February and less than a point per game at home in that time – which is relegation form.
Clarke cancelled the planned days off during the international break and made them train almost constantly, often with double sessions. Players have spoken about how the intensity increased significantly in training, while they worked hard on the many problems that had beset them over a series of poor performances.
They particularly worked on ‘playing through the zones’ and getting the ball into attacking positions in an effective way, something they were really struggling with in late September and early October.
In the five games since then – if you remove the EFL Trophy dead rubber for which they made 11 changes – the Reds have shown significant improvements.
They have won four of those five, and it would have been a clean sweep if not for a late wobble against Charlton.
They have returned to 3-5-2, mainly, which a lot of the players are used to over a number of years and suits the majority of the team.
Players who were making too many errors and not performing have been taken out of the 11 while others who impressed in that two-week training period have been given their chance and taken it.
They are making fewer defensive mistakes, with two successive clean sheets in the league and Ben Killip so far justifying his replacement of the error-prone, and now injured, Gaga Slonina in goal.
They seem to have finally found a balance in midfield by dropping Matty Craig and bringing in Jon Russell, who has been a revelation on the left of a central three.
Georgie Gent, after being slowly eased into the first team following a tough start, has been excellent at left wing-back while Corey O’Keeffe has made the right side his and become an extremely productive chance-creator.
Up front, Davis Keillor-Dunn, Max Watters and Stephen Humphrys are all playing their part with goals and hard-working performances. It is hard to believe this is the same attack that looked so isolated and confused at Huddersfield just four weeks ago. If Sam Cosgrove can also improve from his early season displays, when he returns from injury, the tall targetman will add a different option.
It must be added that all of the above needs to happen a lot more frequently before we can anoint the fourth-placed Reds as likely finishers in the top six for a third successive season.
Their next two matches are against sides in the bottom six, Cambridge and Wigan, then they face three sides currently in the top ten with them in Reading, Wrexham and Birmingham.
After that, we may know a bit more about their promotion credentials but, for now, there are plenty of positives to take for a side that has learned and improved dramatically over the last month.
