What can Barnsley fans expect from new manager Darrell Clarke?

Here we are again with Groundhog Day at Barnsley Football Club. Another summer, another new manager. Will Darrell Clarke manage to do what no manager since Simon Davey (2006-2009) has done and remain in charge for more than one season? 

First things first, what do we know about the new manager? A bit like last season when Neill Collins arrived it was a case of who? Searching the world wide web for any information as to the new manager, his style of play, formations, etc. This season has been no different but I have also enlisted the help of Owen from The Robins Report, a Cheltenham Town podcast to give us their insight into Clarke and what he brought to The Robins last season which almost became the great escape. 

Without sounding too personal in my criticism of Neill Collins, the guy did bore the fanbase with his pre and post match interviews. His comments appeared as dull as the football his side served up so it is with great interest to read and hear what Darrell Clarke had to say when appointed at Oakwell. 

Once you wash over the usual comments about how it’s such a privilege to be at Barnsley and how great the fanbase is, I was keen to read how Clarke intends to get the squad playing next season. 

Initial quotes from Clarke

When asked what his style of play is? Clarke replied “First of all, it’s to win. But we have an expectation here with a big fanbase.” 

“We want to play on the front foot, pressing and counter-pressing. We want to entertain.” 

It was interesting to hear Clarke raise the issue of being “data driven” given sporting director Mladen Sormaz is all about data and the clubs previous experience of data and spreadsheets. 

“Data is great to use, I wouldn’t be stood here if I didn’t hit the data stats. But for me, the key is mentality, gameplans, training, togetherness, culture. That doesn’t come from data, it comes from within.” 

These words are telling and potentially music to my ears given how there was little mentality, togetherness or gameplans under Collins. The team often looked like 11 blokes thrown together on a Saturday afternoon having spent no time on the training ground whatsoever. The squad looked far from together during last season. 

In previous seasons we have seen the likes of Stendel, Ismael and Duff bond a group of players together who would give their all for the shirt and have mentality, the hope is Clarke can be true to his word and instill some of his values onto the squad next season. 

What can we expect from Darrell Clarke? 

Here are Owen`s views:

Darrell Clarke, the man left an impression in a short amount of time at CTFC. As widely publicized he came in during incredibly difficult circumstances, 1 point and no goals in our opening 11 games. A ton of poor loans and a squad low on confidence, he immediately came in and lifted the atmosphere. 

He quickly came in and attempted the short term targets, a goal and our first 3 points. He managed this after 2 games in the dugout. He very quickly upped the fitness and demands on the players as it wasn’t where he wanted it to be, this allowed us to be a team who pressed high with lots of intensity, it was a breath of fresh air from a previous low block. He adopted a 3-5-2 which had been implemented and recruited too during the Michael Duff era, that tends to be our identity moving forward. Towards the end of the season, the quality of the players and fitness levels became apparent and we had to go a lot more direct as it was necessary. We almost got there but for whatever reason the team just couldn’t get themselves across the line and buckled at the final hurdle many times.

Now this is Cheltenham, a squad low on quality, all the budget used up and bottom of the pile in terms of wages able to be offered. Our pull is small, very small. He managed to bring in Tom Pett who was an ex player of his, surprisingly still a free agent after DC asked him to wait for him to get his next gig in management. Pett was instrumental for the remainder of the season and heavily relied upon throughout. 

In January, DC further adopted the model of signing experienced pros that had worked under him previously and knew he could rely upon in the relegation battle. Matty Taylor, Liam Kinsella were signed permanently whilst he cleared deadwood and players who didn’t want to be here. He took a punt on Joe Nuttall on a 6 month loan from National League team Oldham who had failed to get on their team sheet for a large portion of the season, I think it went as well as it could have, he became fitter and provided a huge assist to our club record signing Aidan Keena away to Fleetwood who hadn’t scored all season. 

Pros of DC

He’s brutally honest and doesn’t dress things up. He’s honest with the fans and he knows what he wants. He was a breath of fresh air and was an absolute gentleman when he came on the pod following the transfer window. He’s not afraid to call things out he’s not happy with, CTFC as a club is run by a board of volunteers so it’ll be interesting to see how he communicates (if) any frustrations through interviews. 

To be clear, he didn’t cry about these things, he just respectfully vented his frustrations/barriers openly. Our board aren’t currently very popular at the moment and this stemmed from a forum towards the end of the season where there was talk of having to convince DC to stay beyond the season (he had a year remaining on his contract), he wanted to know the plan and the chairman and other directors spent the rest of the night trying to downplay the necessity of a plan! 

He doesn’t faff about with subs, if he sees something wrong he’ll change it – we very often saw multiple subs at half time, a mixture of the quality and tiredness showing on the players. 

Negatives 

I don’t think this will affect Barnsley to be honest, but DC had to rely on certain players and this sometimes took its toll on them as individuals and their overall contribution to the team, he did his best to rest players when he could but it was a case of needs must to push players as much as possible which led to some pretty gutting injuries to key players during the relegation battle. 

“Projects” – a term DC uses for every match, I didn’t know whether he used it due to circumstances and us targeting a certain number of wins. My only issue with this is there wasn’t always continuity game by game as he treated each game as a new project and would build his team based on the opposition/what he thought would make each “project” successful. Whilst these weren’t drastic changes, such as change of playing identity, it could lead to some fans struggling to work out his thought process as there’s no set “philosophy” (a term he mentioned he hates and doesn’t believe in).

I think the greatest uncertainty Barnsley fans may have is that this is DC’s first proper gig in the FL at a big fish in Barnsley. He obviously did an incredible job at Bristol Rovers (who are a big club – before I get any flack!) in bringing them from the National League to L1 and will be forever described as a legend in those parts. He was loved at Port Vale and was recruited from a Walsall team who just haven’t been able to get going by previous managers. 

Whilst he will admit his time at Cheltenham ended in failure due to relegation, he gave us hope in a real torrid time and got so close to an incredible achievement. The fact he’s managed to earn himself a crack at Barnsley is testament to the job he’s done and the manager he is. I wish him the very best of luck and hope he’s as successful as Michael Duff under similar circumstances. 

Summary

It is interesting hearing Clarke`s thoughts on player fitness, high pressing style of football and his use of experienced players. Barnsley are not renowned for buying experience but supporters have been crying out for some older heads to help out the younger members of the squad. It worked with the likes of James Norwood so maybe a few experienced players can mix it up with the young lads? 

Time will tell if Clarke is a good appointment but there are some encouraging signs from what we have heard so far.