Analysis of Barnsley's 4-0 home loss to Leyton Orient.
FITTING END TO AWFUL YEAR TO BE AN OAKWELL MATCH-GOER
THIS humiliating thrashing was a fitting end to one of the worst ever years to be an Oakwell match-goer.
The Reds won just six of their 23 League One matches in 2024. That would have been almost unthinkable in February when they had just defeated automatic promotion rivals Derby, following wins over Bristol Rovers, Carlisle and Orient.
But the run of 15 points from the next 17, with only two wins, has first destroyed that promotion challenge and raised serious questions about their top six credentials this season.
This match was possibly the worst of them all, just shading the 5-1 thrashing by Lincoln in March which was more of a shock than this continuation of a dismal descent into consistent failure and disappointment at Oakwell.
This result meant they had taken 11 points from as many home league matches this season, the 21st best record in the division - although they were still just a point off the top six in the real table.
Oakwell regulars – most of whom cannot always go to the away games where results have been much better – are essentially watching a relegation-standard side in the third tier.
The atmosphere during the game did not become toxic as it has before on bad runs or during heavy defeats – there were no vitriolic chants against the coach or board ringing around the ground. Instead thousands of fans just left, first at half-time then many more after the third goal early in the second period. It then felt more like an under 21s game in terms of the numbers in the stands and the flatness of the atmosphere.
But apathy is arguably worse than anger, with some Reds supporters simply not bothering with the club anymore as they may be slipping towards mid-table obscurity in the third tier while not doing the one positive thing you expect after dropping down to League One – winning plenty of home games.
Not everyone goes to football purely to see their team win – it is part of their routine with friends and family and many stay no matter what – but the Reds fans have a right to expect much much better than this. In a cost of living crisis, some may feel it just is not worth the money.
There were boos at full-time, with Darrell Clarke literally holding his hands up to the supporters and saying sorry.
The Reds want to turn Oakwell into a fortress but they would probably take a portacabin at this point if it provided some protection from this miserable sequence of home results.
It is a problem which predates Clarke but one that he has been unable to solve, which means it is impossible for him to build a relationship with the fans.
AS BAD A PERFORMANCE AS IT GETS
This was as bad as it gets for Barnsley.
None of the Reds starters played well and, as a collective, they looked totally flat and lacking in ideas with mistakes throughout.
It was reminiscent of the final weeks of Neill Collins’ reign - with a real weakness from defensive set pieces and no clear plan or creativity on the ball.
Their only shots on target came at 3-0 down and were easily saved, while the closest they came to a goal was a wind-assisted cross by Georgie Gent at 2-0 which hit the bar.
Clarke had said during the recent six-game winless run, with justification, that the Reds had been playing generally well. But their performance levels dropped in both last week’s game at Exeter, even though they won, and this home thrashing. This loss meant they had won one in eight.
Orient had scored 19 in 19 before this game, and just eight in nine away games, but they could have had several more than their four.
The London club arrived 18th in League One, three points clear of the relegation zone, but closed to within five of the Reds.
They had not conceded in more than seven hours of football and easily kept another clean sheet, while extending their unbeaten away run to six games.
Richie Wellens - who watched the game from the directors’ box - secured a sixth straight win over Clarke.
Substitute Barry Cotter was man of the match for the Reds, with some charging runs and shots but the game was over as a contest when he came on at 3-0.
REDS DESTROYED ON SET PIECES
The Reds could not cope with Orient’s corners in the first half.
It was an extremely windy day and the quality of the deliveries was high but Barnsley caused their own problems with terrible marking and some questionable goalkeeping by Ben Killip who had been solid since becoming number one but had a tough day. He was at least partly at fault for the first two goals and looked extremely nervous.
They seemed to miss the reassuring presence of Marc Roberts and Josh Earl.
But it is a recurring issue as Reading’s Sam Smith and Birmingham’s Jay Stansfield took advantage of poor defending to score from corners in the previous home league games.
Orient were also the more dangerous in open play.
The Reds were just about still in the game at 2-0 down at half-time but the third goal on 51 minutes finished them off. Mael de Gevigney - who was captain for the day - gifted the visitors two big chances with basic errors early in the second half, with the second taken for 3-0.
The contest was over at that point with Orient just managing the game before netting again in injury-time.
BIG PLAYERS OUT BUT NOT EXCUSES
The bad news started before the game. Adam Phillips was unable to play after a reaction to dental treatment and Luca Connell was unwell.
Allied with the injuries to regular members of the back three in Earl and Roberts, the Barnsley team was missing many of its usual faces and leaders - plus some consistent quality at this level.
De Gevigney was the only player who started this game and the 2-2 draw with Northampton three months earlier - a remarkable amount of change in less than half a season.
Although neither had been at their consistent best in recent weeks, Connell is captain and one of the main chance-creators in the division while Phillips – who had also been suspended the previous week - was the joint top-scorer. They can be top players at this level.
Matty Craig came in for Connell, having been left out of their previous 14 games and not featured at all for the previous seven.
He played the holding midfield role with Kelechi Nwakali – on his first league start at Oakwell – moving to the left and Jon Russell on the right. It was a defensive-looking midfield but they struggled to get any grip on the game or link up with the strikers in front of them.
Clarke made a double change after 37 minutes, with Craig’s rare appearance ending early as did centre-back Conor McCarthy’s first league start at Oakwell in 27 months. They changed to a 4-2-3-1 but were still toothless.
Missing key players is difficult but it is no excuse for such a poor performance.
Orient were also without regular starters Tom James and Dominic Ball.
MASSIVE IMPROVEMENT NEEDED IN TOUGH GAMES
Barnsley’s next three games look tough. They visit Bolton and Peterborough - the other two sides who have lost in the play-offs in the previous two seasons, like the Reds, before hosting title-chasers Wrexham.
Bolton are just a point ahead of them, Posh are six behind in 16th and Wrexham have never won at Oakwell.
But it is a difficult run of three games in six days and, unless the Reds improve dramatically, they will begin 2025 well adrift of the top six and the pressure will become intense on Clarke and his players.
