Normally quite media-shy, Hassell recently expressed an interest in taking over the vacant captain’s role at Oakwell and his opinions on the strength of the current squad are certainly the type of things a potential captain needs to be able to analyse.

The Reds currently have three strikers who are expected to be battling for two positions up-front next season – Andy Gray, Danny Haynes and Craig Davies.

“Craig Davies is jumping up two divisions so he’s probably going to need time to find his feet, as will the other new players. But I definitely think we need to strengthen up front – and I’m sure the manager’s looking at doing that,” Hassell said.

Kelvin Etuhu’s proposed transfer to Barnsley is on-hold pending further investigation of his medical results.  Etuhu has played most of his career as a winger, he can apparently play in a strikers role as well – although his scoring record at first-team level isn’t particularly encouraging!

Pre-season again means the annual speculation regarding a possible move for Rotherham’s Adam Le Fondre, Keith Hill hasn’t ruled him out but suggested he has other targets.  Marlon Harewood is still looking for another club and seems to be a popular choice with fans although there are no signs that Hill has considered him as an option – Harewood himself appears to be open to joining the Reds permanently.  It is perhaps a little surprising that no other clubs have come in for him.

There were suggestions, mainly from some media outlets as opposed to the club, that Daniel Bogdanovic could make a return to Barnsley however he is now looking set to take a leading role in Sheffield United’s bid to return to the Championship following the departure of several players from Brammall Lane.

Related articles

• Hassell wants the armband (barnsleyfc.com)
• A quiet week expected at Oakwell (barnsleyfc.com)
• Barnsley linked with Kelvin Etuhu (barnsleyfc.com)
• Daniel Bogdanovic to return to the Championship, but not with Barnsley (barnsleyfc.com)
• Danny Haynes wanted by Blackpool (barnsleyfc.com)

After Patrick Cryne revealed his intention to drastically change how the club is run and what the policies are with regards to transfers, particularly loan signings, it is likely to have been a tough interview – if indeed one ever took place.

The bookies tend to have a bit of inside information on these types of decisions given that they have a lot of money riding the outcome.  Let’s have a quick look at who the favourite’s are now that Keith Hill isn’t in the frame (in order of the current odds – 24 May 2011):

Brian Laws – 2/1

To most Barnsley fans this would seem like a bit of a joke – not only is he a former Sheffield Wednesday manager, his managerial record isn’t that great notwithstanding some fairly decent success with Scunthorpe.  He does have experience of working to tight budgets but certainly hasn’t ever really impressed as a manager – I don’t think he would fancy the Barnsley job, and the Barnsley fans will hope he doesn’t.

Alan Irvine – 3/1

Another former Wednesday manager who’s stock certainly did increase while he was with Preston – making the Championship play-offs in a season where they were one of the favourites to be relegated.  He joined Sheffield Wednesday and immediately improved their results, beating Barnsley at Oakwell in his first game in charge, but was ultimately unable to save them from the drop and oversaw a disappointing season for the Owls in League One.

It wouldn’t be a major surprise if Barnsley appointed Irvine and he wouldn’t necessarily be destined to failure – however he is another man that I believe the Barnsley fans wouldn’t be able to get behind.

Danny Wilson – 3/1

The Great Danny Wilson hasn’t officially ruled himself out of the job, however at a time when the club is in transition and looking for the stability that continues to allude it, then this doesn’t seem like the time to be nostalgic and bring back a man who has had little success since he gave Barnsley fans those amazing couple of years at the end of the 1990′s.

The fans do appear to be split though so this wouldn’t be entirely unrealistic.

Kevin Blackwell – 4/1

In purely football terms, Blackwell did have some moderate success with Sheffield United although he did have a lot of money to spend.  He was relieved of his duties with the Blades after a disappointing start to last season – although it has to be said, none of his replacements were able to do any better.

Even though he could probably do a decent job at Oakwell, it would be difficult for him to win over the support of the fans.

Aidy Boothroyd – 8/1

A name that was mentioned before the appointment of Mark Robins and one that seemed to have the backing of Barnsley fans back then in 2009 before he went on to manage Colchester where his first signing was the one and only Kayode Odejayi.  Boothroyd’s record during periods at Watford is what the Barnsley fans would be looking for him replicate at Oakwell.

I believe the majority of Barnsley fans would back Boothroyd as manager and he does seem to have the experience to work within the budgets that would be afforded to him.

Phil Parkinson – 9/1

Currently working as a scout for Arsenal, the most alluring record on his CV is success with Colchester prior to spells with Charlton and a short period in charge of Hull.  Again, the budgets he has worked within are similar to what he would find at Barnsley.  He has kept the teams he has managed relatively stable without achieving any major success – that said, he did guide Colchester to automatic promotion to the Championship in the same year that Barnsley were promoted via the play-offs although he resigned shortly afterwards.

I haven’t heard any fans talk about Parkinson as a man who they would really want in the job, although it wouldn’t be a major surprise for him to be on the shortlist.

Roberto Di Matteo – 10/1

Di Matteo is still fairly inexperienced as a manager although he has won almost half of all the games where he has been in the hot seat.  I’m sure the Barnsley fans would welcome him with open arms to the job, however in his previous jobs he has had a fair amount of freedom in the transfer market to build a successful team – he may feel like he has one hand tied behind his back at Barnsley.

He has been out of work for almost six months and linked to almost every managerial vacancy – I get the impression he is waiting for the right job to come about and probably doesn’t the Barnsley job as an appealing one at the moment.

See the full (and updated) list at Victor Chandler…

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• Barnsley speak to Keith Hill (barnsleyfc.com)

Form

For the first time since regaining second-tier status, Barnsley haven’t had any real relegation fears at any point this season.  However, with just one win in the last nine games, some of the teams in the thick of a relegation scrap just a couple of games ago are now just a few points behind us.  It would take a monumental change in form for the teams currently occupying the relegation places to drag Barnsley into the fight however the performance of the team is not encouraging as preparations begin already for next season.

Possibly one of the reasons that Barnsley should be safe for another season in the Championship is that several other teams have been far worse than us, the Reds’ points tally isn’t actually any better than in the last few seasons and there’s a real chance the final points total could be worse than previous.

Players

In an attempt to move Barnsley on to the next level the squad has seen a real shake-up this season however, with the exception of Jason Shackell in defence, is the team any better than last season?  The loss of Adam Hammill was inevitable, and you could argue that he was worth a lot more to the team than we imagined when he was playing.  Hammill’s individual moments of brilliance were the difference between winning/drawing a game earlier in the season rather than losing.

Adam Hammill

Questions will continue to be asked of how capable the strikers that Mark Robins has brought in are.  Garry O’Connor looked well worth the multi-million pound transfers that previous clubs have paid for him, but after signing his permanent (short-term) contract with Barnsley the goals have dried up.  Danny Haynes has impressed on a few occasions, scored a few goals but the manager seems to insist on playing him wide in the position vacated by Hammill – it hasn’t worked out.  For me, the most inconsistent striker is Andy Gray – he can come on as sub and change the game then be rewarded with a start in the following game and not turn up.  At 33, you have to feel that this will be Gray’s last season at second-tier level – and it was probably one too many.  In the game at Palace, Gray was puffing, panting and not looking particularly mobile for about 15 minutes before Robins finally brought him off for O’Connor.

The work that a front man does without the ball is important, but they will always be judged on their goals – the fact that Adam Hammill who left the club more than two months (and isn’t even a striker) may actually end the season as Barnsley’s top scorer says it all.  Marlon Harewood has joined on loan and (fully fit) looks like a 15 goal a season man, however it remains to be seen what his plans are for next season.

Finances

Both Andy Ritchie and Simon Davey were subject to a very cautious budget given that survival in the Championship had become the barometer for a successful season in the years after promotion.  Even though the bookies continued to write us off at the start of this season, the general consensus from the fans was that we would have enough to stay up and realistically finish in the mid-table.

The frugality of the previous seasons, coupled with the 2008 FA Cup run, has obviously given the Barnsley directors and Patrick Cryne a fairly healthy pot of cash to reinvest in the team.  This has been done wisely with short term loans and contracts for Premier League players and while this is never a guaranteed route to success, the return on the investment has been as good as even the most cautious of fans would have expected.

As Barnsley’s Championship status is all-but guaranteed for the 2011/12 season, preparations for next season are well under way from a commercial aspect in that contracts with sponsors and kit suppliers all tied up as well some improvements to Oakwell’s media suite and the installation of solar panels to cut energy bills in the long term.  For the first time in a while, the board appear to be taking a proactive approach to running the club and planning for the future.  But with an ageing squad made up of a number of key players on short-term contracts, how well is Mark Robins prepared for next season?  We can only hope that given the amount of money spent of the field that there is some left over for the transfer market in the Summer.

As we know, Football is dictated by money more than ever these days and given that Barnsley’s home attendance’s are amongst the lowest in the league it is safe to assume that season budgets are also amongst the lowest – even when topped up by the generosity of Patrick Cryne.  It isn’t clear what Mark Robins involvement is in contracts and the length of them, however the signing of Liam Dickinson (reported to involve a transfer fee of at least £150,000) has to be seen as a big mistake given that he had played for several clubs before joining Barnsley and he had not performed for them either.  Why did Mark Robins believe it would be any different for him at Barnsley?

Being Realistic

Expectations at Barnsley have been high ever since the Premier League flag used to fly above Oakwell’s West Stand.  Given that was almost a generation ago, most fans are realistic about Barnsley’s place in the league system.  Yes, Barnsley have spent more seasons at second tier level than any other club but it’s a fact that football ignores history – much to the dismay of clubs like Leeds United who still seem to live off the glory days of the 1970′s.  No club has a divine right to success or stability.

Mark Robins

Changing managers when form drops has never really done any team a lot of good, yet it still remains a popular course of action for many clubs.  Barnsley have been guilty of this more than most with nine permanent managers being sacked since Danny Wilson left for Sheffield Wednesday in 1998.  It’s amazing to look back and consider that Dave Bassett was pushed out of the job for not maintaining a Premier League promotion challenge!

These days, I’m sure even the most adventurous Barnsley fan would see a season spent in the top ten places with a slight chance of a play-off finish as a great season and for a large part of this season that was the case.  I personally wouldn’t like to see Mark Robins lose his job, the team have been inconsistent for the whole season – it’s the wins that have alluded us.

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