My thoughts on the current situation at Barnsley FC

Everything seems to have unravelled last Saturday after the defeat at home to Doncaster. 

Conor Hourihane’s post-match comments coupled with another dull display on the pitch culminated in a perfect storm which swept through social media. 

At the end of a week which in theory, had Barnsley picked up at least four points against Wigan and Doncaster, would have ended quite positive, instead ended in apathy and frustration. 

I waited before writing this article to see what would happen in the week following last weekend, half expecting Hourihane to be dismissed from his role as head coach. 

Instead, Hourihane remains in post, and seems to have released more comments which are contradictory to his mantra last summer of positivity. 

Now it must be said the problems are obviously above Hourihane, with the current ownership on track for a fifth straight year of a lower league position than the previous season. 

Not replacing Davis Keillor-Dunn and relying on two strikers was always going to backfire, and did, highlighting yet another blunder for those at the top of the football club. 

Thin squad and inexperienced coach are two things that don’t mix well in English football, so it's likely to be another season ending in nothingness for the Tykes. 

Have the ownership come out and addresses fans concerns? Have they commented on a clear plan and strategy? Have they promised to spend the Davis Keillor-Dunn transfer fee in the summer? 

No, instead it falls on supporters to plug the gaps and guess what is going on. 

Why not address supporters and try to build a relationship with fans of the football club? 

Julie Anne Quay spoke of “important conversations” on Instagram which hinted towards the fact that the board had become aware that it’s best for all parties that they depart the football club. 

However, Hourihane came out later this week and confirmed that the conversations revolved around planning for next season. 

The owners must know they are not wanted by most in the fanbase. Yet they speak like everything is rosy, and we all must accept we are where we are because we have no money and we should be lucky we aren’t in a relegation battle. 

Buy your season ticket, spend your hard-earned money following the team up and down the country, don’t rebel or you’ll be banned, and accept mid-table League One finishes until one year we get lucky and reach the Championship again. 

Back to Hourihane’s comments, personally I found these hard to listen to. Was there any need to go public like that? 

He started off by saying things we already know such as that we have a mid-table budget therefore meaning we can’t compete at the top end of the division. 

This however is easily countered by taking one look at the League One table and seeing Lincoln top of the league and Stevenage in sixth place. 

Also, we must talk about budgets and finances more than all other 23 clubs in the division combined, with others seemingly getting on with it whilst we carry on feeling sorry for ourselves. 

We all know that money is important in football, however it isn’t the be all and end all the club seems to think it is. 

It also seems Hourihane likes to use the budget excuse to not accept accountability for performances which quite frankly aren’t good enough. 

Also, it must be said Hourihane has shown unwavering lengths of honesty over the past few days, as he has undermined those at the top to, rightly or wrongly, put in the public domain what is going on behind the scenes at Barnsley FC. 

He has also in turn contradicted himself, as in the summer he said that everyone in positions of power at the football club had to agree to transfers and the head coach was having more input into transfer activity than previous years. 

Now, nine months later, Hourihane said: “I get obviously given what I’m given.” 

Conor Hourihane looks a frustrated figure, one who wants the best for the football club but also hasn’t been backed, and yet in-turn wants to keep a future career in management alive by deflecting blame away from a tactically flawed system and an inability to coach a consistent side and turn attention towards budgets and a lack of finances. 

Overall, the board’s strategy of waiting for the storm to blow over and not address anything won’t work this time, as fans demand answers.