A CENTRAL role in the transfer policy and an ‘ultra fit’ playing squad are two of the demands Conor Hourihane has made during his first summer as head coach at Barnsley.
The Reds boss said that, when he was discussing becoming permanent head coach with the club towards the end of last season, he insisted that he be integral in the final decision on each signing.
While the budget is clearly dictated by the owners, Hourihane is thought to have had more say on transfers than some of his predecessors as he works alongside sporting director Mladen Sormaz and the recruitment team.
Hourihane told the Chronicle: “I demanded that and it’s really important.
“I put in tireless work from the crack of dawn until the evening so, from my point of view, it’s only right I get a big say in the transfers off the back of that.
“I don’t want to have players at the club I don’t want here.
“I get references on certain players we might have gone for and they need to fit the culture.
“The players we’ve brought in fit the system but they are all first class people as well.”
Hourihane has also emphasised fitness this summer, taking his squad to various locations in the borough for running sessions as well as hard work at Oakwell. He wants to play an intense style this season after the Reds faded badly in matches last season, conceding by far the most second half goals in English football.
“It was really, really important.
“The club is aligned with how we want to play – really aggressive, high-intensity, high press and win the ball back as much as we possibly can. If you want to play like that, you have to be ultra fit and we’ve planned and organised pre-season around that.”
There are some fitness issues going into the season.
Left-back Georgie Gent and winger Fabio Jalo are both expected to miss the early part of the campaign with serious injuries picked up last season.
Goalkeeper Jackson Smith missed the end of last season with injury and has not been involved in pre-season games.
Defender Josh Earl and midfielder Luca Connell have missed some of pre-season due to injuries but, earlier in the week, Hourihane said they were both now back in training.
He said: “There are one or two that we’re keeping an eye on and we’ll see how they are. If one or two come through the next couple of days, we’ll be in a good place for Plymouth.”
Meanwhile, two dates for Barnsley’s EFL Trophy fixtures have been confirmed. They are due to visit Notts County on September 30 then host Lincoln City on November 11. Both are 7pm kick-offs. The date for their game against Manchester United u21s at Oakwell has not been confirmed.
