A look at Barnsley's prospects ahead of the 2025/26 League One season.

IMPROVEMENTS IN MOST AREAS NEEDED TO WIN OVER SUPPORTERS AND GET BACK ON TRACK

IN RECENT seasons, since they dropped into League One in 2022, it has felt like Barnsley were a team on a computer game playing at a higher difficulty level each year.

The controllers have not yet been chucked across the room like a moody teenager but this season may be a decisive one for the patience and commitment of all involved.

Having been one of the form sides in England for much of that record-breaking but heart-breaking play-off final campaign under Michael Duff, they have gone from 86 points to 76 to 61 last season.

There are obvious reasons for that.

All the players signed on Championship contracts before the 2022 relegation have moved on and been replaced by players recruited on a middling League One budget.

There are also serious question marks over the wisdom of much of that recruitment while the previous two head coaches Neill Collins and Darrell Clarke were, in different ways, the wrong fit.

This season may show us whether the rot has fully set in and the Reds are slowly sliding down the EFL or if it was just a blip and a course correct can be applied.

What does success look like for Barnsley under Conor Hourihane in 2025/26?

Every time the Reds are in the third tier, top six is the expectation for many – that was even repeated by the sporting director Mladen Sormaz at the end of last season.

But, after such a disappointing campaign last season, especially taking just 19 points from the last 21 games, will this be more of a getting-back-on-their feet campaign?

Clarke started to use the term ‘transitional season’ when the going got tough for him earlier this year and Hourihane has spoken about ‘filling voids’ rather than ‘putting a number on it’ in terms of finishing position.

What if Barnsley consistently play a more attractive and exciting brand of football which is closer to what both the owners and most fans want to see?

What if they significantly improve on last season’s awful record of 90 goals conceded in total and just six league clean sheets?

What if they win more league games at Oakwell than in either the 2023/24 season, with nine, and last campaign with just six when they had the division’s fourth worst home record?

What if, through the rigorous fitness work of this summer and an improved mentality, they are much better at seeing out wins after conceding the most second half goals in England last season?

Progress in all those areas will likely lead to a substantial improvement in points total and league position and – even if they lack the final quality to return to the Championship – at least they will be a club going in the right direction again.

When broken down like that, it seems fairly achievable with sensible and consistent decisions in each footballing department.

The 17-point gap to sixth last season is a massive chasm to jump, but the Reds would say it only got so wide because they fell away under a head coach who was struggling then a spell of dead rubbers when the promotion dream was obviously over.

IMPRESSIVE BOSS MUST BE ANTIDOTE TO REDS’ RECENT MALAISE

THERE has been something intangible – beyond the raw logic of budgets, statistics, the quality of squads and managers or the success of the recruitment policy – that has been going wrong for Barnsley over the last two years.

It is an inherent feeling of a club on a downward slope while haemorrhaging points, league positions and fans.

It plays out in the increasing numbers of empty seats at home games and the clear fragility of the playing squad who barely ever win at home and collapse constantly in the final half hour of games.

There has just been something that isn’t quite right at Oakwell.

Could Conor Hourihane be the antidote to that contagion with his legendary status as a player and ultra-professional, extremely driven mindset? Time will tell, as he likes to say, but he certainly has some very impressive qualities.

He has an aura of clarity and determination which must filter through to the players who all speak glowingly of him, be they long-servers or new signings.

Hourihane is clearly a hard taskmaster with Kelechi Nwakali – although we do not know the exact details – seemingly the latest player to pay the price for not meeting the Irishman’s exacting standards.

The doubts clearly go beyond Hourihane, to whether the Reds have enough quality in the squad and enough nouse and smart thinking behind the scenes to launch a promotion push.

But he will get a longer honeymoon period than most.

He had some tough days at the end of last season but his two wins in ten were both encouraging performances and he has had a summer to start the ‘reset’ he called for.

Ultimately he is a largely unknown quantity as a coach, in terms of improving players, tactics and ability to change games from the bench consistently – as are his similarly inexperienced support staff.

But so were Allan Clarke, Danny Wilson – who came into Oakwell to speak to the players this summer – and Paul Heckingbottom when they took their first managerial jobs at Oakwell.

Going into a new campaign with Hourihane in charge should be exciting for the majority of Reds fans.

SIGNINGS HAVE PROMISE BUT GLARING GAPS AND UNCERTAINTY OVER KEY MEN

BARNSLEY’S squad is starting to take shape, although there is still work to do in the final month of the transfer window.

They have made six signings in the last six weeks, following a quiet start to the summer.

The players brought in so far look, on the whole, promising.

Murphy Cooper and Caylan Vickers impressed in League One last season, David McGoldrick – putting aside doubts over his age for now – has excelled at a much higher level while Reyes Cleary and Patrick Kelly are exciting future prospects.

But, grouped together, it feels unlikely that they are the remedy to all of last season’s ills.

The Reds desperately need a right-back, even though they have converted Mael de Gevigney into that role from centre-back.

Going into the season with no players in the senior squad who have played consistently at right-back in their careers seems a major risk, and they must look to address that quickly.

They have decided not to add another centre-back, despite struggling so much defensively last season.

They clearly feel the return of Jack Shepherd from a superb loan and the coaching of Richard Keogh will tighten them up.

Another winger and a striker who offers a more direct, pacy ‘running in behind’ option compared to McGoldrick and Davis Keillor-Dunn are surely considerations as well.

While it is unclear if the Reds can stop the near-constant concession of goals from last season, there is certainly attacking quality in the squad with several players capable of being among the best in their division on their day.

But there is also uncertainty over which players will leave and how well they will be replaced. Chairman Neerav Parekh said in spring they would ‘absolutely have to sell’ this summer, but the noises within Oakwell have been slightly less adamant during a summer of recruiting in what is thought to be a particularly strong free agent and loan market while getting some big-earning fringe players out.

A sale or two are still thought to be possible.

While they have slapped a huge asking price on star man Keillor-Dunn, starting midfield trio Jon Russell, Adam Phillips and Luca Connell have all attracted interest if not bids close to the Reds’ valuations which they are sticking to.

If a couple of them were to leave, it would be a big blow as, although some of them have been inconsistent and criticised, they are all capable of being top performers at this level and will not be easy to replace.

Things may start to change once a ball is kicked in earnest this weekend and clubs around the country realise in a competitive environment what they are missing so might be willing to pay more than previously.

The Reds are trying to do diligent business on a tight budget.

The average wage in League One for players increased by more than 40 per cent from 2021 to 2024. That is remarkable inflation for essentially the same group of third tier footballers being shuttled around a similar group of teams, with the agents and players rubbing their hands while struggling clubs foot the bill.

Barnsley can rely on less money from season ticket holders as the numbers have understandably dropped after 30 points were collected from the last 29 Oakwell games.

That is part of an estimated £8-10million loss for next season which, while difficult for some supporters to fathom, is borne out in the club’s annual accounts.