Darrell Clarke has taken responsibility for Barnsley’s terrible first half performance in a 2-1 loss at Stockport County on Saturday – and said they were getting closer to signing a new forward.
The Reds changed to a 4-4-2 diamond in the first half but were very poor and found themselves 2-0 down. Davis Keillor-Dunnn replied in the 90th minute.
Head coach Clarke said: “I take full accountability for the first half. We went to the diamond and worked all week trying to hurt them through the middle but never got going. When you play a diamond you have to get control and we never did – we were miles off it.
“They are obviously not an adaptable enough group to be able to change it which I tend to have done in my career a lot of times. We looked lost with the ball at times.
“I will be kicking myself about it all weekend but I will go again on Monday, sometimes you don’t get your decisions right. We are in a transitional period and we have to stick together.
“The fans have supported us up and down the country. I can feel the negativity but we’re the only ones who can do something about it.”
Barnsley conceded twice in what Clarke called a ‘mad five minutes’ with Donovan Pines being beaten for the opener then Josh Earl conceding a penalty.
“Donny has to be stronger for the first and then it’s another individual error with Earl. They haven’t created anything in the second half and we had chances with Jon Russell. If we got back in the game 15 or 20 minutes earlier, I would fancy us to get something. There’s a lot, lot of work to be done.”
New signing Clement Rodrigues started but came off at half-time.
Clarke said: “He’s getting up to speed. It’s a big week, coming over to a new club. 45 minutes will do him the world of good. We will work on his fitness levels in training. It’s a tough first half for everybody, not just Rodrigues. He will build on it and learn from it.”
Clarke had a video call with a free agent forward on Thursday. He said: “It went well and hopefully that will happen. The lad I spoke to came across really well. I have watched his bits and pieces. The recruitment team identified him and we will hopefully get that one over the line.
“We need to be more clinical and ruthless in the final third with more pace. If we get that we will definitely score more goals with the chances we create.”
The Reds were booed off by some fans after chants of ‘sack the board.’
Clarke said: “I always thank the fans for their magnificent support and paying their hard-earned money. I apologise for getting the formation wrong. We will try to get better for the fans. The players are hurting and affected by it. We all care but it starts with me and it’s for me to drag us through this period when we’re not performing as well as we should be.”
Captain Luca Connell briefly played at left wing-back at the start of the second half before retuning to midfield, with Neil Farrugia up front.
Clarke said: “It was just a change of shape in the second half and I didn’t want to make too many changes at half-time. Luca did alright then did very well in midfield with his energy and passing.”
