Barnsley look to have a tough season ahead with the manager already under pressure and quality players like Brian Howard being allowed to leave without adequate replacements coming in.

Last Season: 20th Following the high profile cup heroics of 2007/08 Barnsley slumped to defeat in the first round of both knockout competitions, at Crewe and West Ham, and flirted with the bottom three in the league for most of the season. Ultimately they reached the widely recognised 52 point safety mark with a last day win at fellow strugglers Plymouth and survived six points ahead of third bottom Norwich. The season was probably best remembered for the horrendous injury suffered by £1m summer signing Ian Hume, The Canadian inconsiderately fractured his skull on the end of Chris Morgan’s elbow and suffered bleeding to his brain – an offence that referee on the day Andy D’Urso deemed worthy of only a yellow card and the League of no further action against the United man whose reputation as a talentless thug burns brighter than ever. Hume didn’t play again for the rest of the season.

Head to Head: QPR faced Barnsley on the opening day of the season and won 2-1 despite not playing particularly well. Iain Hume gave the visitors a richly deserved early lead bu rangers fought back with two quick fire goals from set pieces by Fitz Hall. The centre half missed a chance for an unlikely hat trick when Luke Steele saved his second half penalty. At Oakwell in February QPR were poor in defeat. Damien Delaney equalised just before half time but goals from De Silva and Bogdanovic were enough to see us off.
QPR 2 Barnsley 1
Barnsley 2 QPR 1

Odds: The bookies have Barnsley second only to Scunthorpe in the relegation stakes with title offs ranging from 80/1 with Stan James, Sky Bet and others up to a more realistic 150/1 with Paddy Power and William Hill.

The Manager: Simon Davey is entering his third full season as Barnsley manager. All three of those have been something of a struggle in the league, often masked by good cup runs. Barnsley have often gone close to the bottom three but always pulled away in time. Davey, who was appointed manager at Oakwell following the sacking of Andy Ritchie in November 2006, retired from playing due to injury aged just 27 while at Preston North End. He forged a good reputation as a coach in Barnsley’s academy before being entrusted with the first team squad. He is best known for masterminding the Reds’ run to the FA Cup semi final in 2008 that took in wins against Liverpool and Chelsea on the way. However the Tykes’ struggles in the league has led to discontentment on the terraces – after looking impressive in victory against QPR last February Barnsley only won two of their last 13 matches and pressure was really building on Davey come May. The board has stood by him, and backed him with owner Patrick Cryne saying last week: “Managers tend not to get credit for that kind of thing - for bringing people through. Simon hasn't had a lot of credit for these things and that is quite disappointing to me, but I believe he has the ability to be successful.” However that backing came belatedly, after some deliberation, and with Barnsley’s squad looking very thin on quality a week before the start of the season Davey is a reasonable bet to win the sack race in my opinion – especially if his side loses the big South Yorkshire derby at Sheff Wed on day one.
Survival Chances – 2/10

Players: Between August 2007 and July 2008 Barnsley spent £1.3m on players and made some really steady, and in some cases excellent, signings. Players like Jamal Campbell-Ryce, Iain Hume, Stephen Foster, Heinz Muller, Dennis Souza, Anderson De Silva, Roberto Calace and others gave the Tykes a cosmopolitan look, but a solid team as well. Since then they have been quietly haemorrhaging that talent and their summer signings this year must be filling the locals with dread. Five of the players involved against QPR in February are no longer at Oakwell with Brian Howard the big departure – the talented midfielder went to Sheff Utd initially on loan and then for £500k. Only Onome Sodje (York) and goalkeeper David Preece (Odense, formerly Aberdeen) have come in. Campbell Ryce will be a tricky customer again, Iain Hume is likely to be the star man depending on how, when and if he comes back from his sickening injury, and Stephen Foster will lead from the back again but overall it’s a squad that lacks the necessary depth and quality to be anything other than a struggling one this season unless Davey can play the loan market to his advantage.
Likely Star Man – Iain Hume recovery pending.

Transfers:
In:
Onome Sodje from York City – Free
David Preece – Free
Out:
Heinz Muller to Mainz - £600k
Dennis Souza to Al-Sailiya – Free
Marciano Van Homoet – Released
Kyle Letheren – Released
Diego Leon to Las Palmas – Free

Prediction: Barnsley have been close to being sucked into the relegation battle in the last three seasons and I fear they could be in bigger trouble this term. The fans are restless, Davey has already had the dreaded vote of confidence before the season even begins and unless they get the likes of Hammill back on loan from Liverpool plus other it is likely to be a season of struggle again, one that could well be unsuccessful this time.
Verdict: Relegation candidates.

Photo: Action Images

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