WHEN Barnsley hosted Bolton Wanderers on March 5 last season, they went 2-0 ahead and were in the automatic promotion places in the live League One table.
But, since Victor Adeboyejo pulled one back against his former club, the Reds have been in a prolonged freefall into mid-table obscurity with the occasional good day – mainly away – not halting their capitulation into what now looks like an average to poor third tier side.
There were problems before that night – with Neill Collins never truly winning over fans and the team not playing consistently well – but they were in the fight for the top two.
We know what happened next pretty well.
Bolton levelled from a rebounded saved penalty then – after the Reds won just two of the last 12 league games and very nearly blew a ten-point buffer in the top six – they came back to beat them in the play-offs under Martin Devaney following Collins’ shock sacking.
This season has been even worse, with Darrell Clarke being sacked in March while the Reds are one of the worst performing teams across the last 16 games, winless in seven, and could be set to record their lowest finish in the Football League since they nearly went bust in 2003.
They have taken 26 points from their last 26 third tier home games starting with that Bolton draw. Season ticket holders have been paying at least £70 per win during that time.
The reasons have been well-discussed already on these pages.
The recruitment has been poor, especially the lack of reinforcement in the January transfer window, while the players generally have underperformed and an apparent mental softness has seen them haemorrhage second half goals.
Oakwell is a bogey ground now.
Barnsley have the 19th best home record in the division this season, with five wins in 20, while they could equal the club record for the fewest ever home wins in a 46-game campaign.
Donovan Pines is perhaps emblematic of Barnsley’s fall between these two home league games with Bolton. Last time, the American was the new signing who would, in theory, revolutionise the Reds defence, with songs and chants about him bouncing around Oakwell, especially after he smashed in a ferocious goal for 2-0.
But he celebrated carrying an injury which would require season-ending surgery and, this campaign, he has been an error-prone deputy who has not been in recent squads and who many are expecting to be released in the summer.
In their previous home game last season, Barnsley had beaten a Derby County side including Conor Hourihane who then stopped coaching under 15s and under 16s on weeknights at Oakwell to focus on the Rams’ promotion push.
He captained Derby to promotion then returned to Oakwell as a player/coach before taking over from the struggling Clarke last month and now is trying to get some kind of final flourish out of the downbeat Reds.
You have to wonder where this ends.
The form suggests a significant long-term decline which, if it continues into next season, will take them into a relegation battle.
It is only natural to think that surely Barnsley are better than that, and they certainly should be given their budget, history and some of the talent remaining in their squad.
But – with some of their best players likely to be sold this summer – their recruitment off the pitch and performances on it will need to improve significantly.
They might have been close to a relegation battle this season if not for some vital away wins and the excellence of Davis Keillor-Dunn.
The head coach choice is obviously vital but there may need to be a reset in everyone’s thinking that Barnsley are very far from the guaranteed top half League One club which they have been when in that division in recent decades.
