CONOR Hourihane admits there was some surprise at Mladen Sormaz’s departure this week but the full focus is on turning round Barnsley’s recent run of defeats.
Sormaz’s exit by mutual consent was announced on Monday evening, having been the club’s first permanent sporting director – following his appointment in February of last year.
The Reds have declined to comment on whether he will be replaced, with Sormaz still being paid on gardening leave for an unspecified amount of time.
Head coach Conor Hourihane told the Chronicle: “It was a little bit of a surprise. The club and Mladen have taken a decision. I wish him all the very best moving forward.
“It’s a big role. I have been involved with him a lot myself. I have nothing but good words to say about him.”
Asked if he would take more responsibility for recruitment, Hourihane said: “I take responsibility everywhere.
“That’s not just the club wanting me to but it’s pressure I put on myself.
“Whether that is training, travel schedule or whatever it might be.
“If more decisions from recruitment come my way, I will take that on my shoulders.”
One of Sormaz’s last major acts in the job was his part in the summer transfer window, when the Reds missed out on adding strength in depth to their forward options on deadline day.
Barnsley’s only players who generally play up front are David McGoldrick, who turns 38 next month, and top-scorer Davis Keillor-Dunn who has started every match this season and netted his sixth goal of the season in midweek.
They also have 19-year-old Leo Farrell, who came off the bench at Notts County in the EFL Trophy in midweek, but he is yet to start a professional game.
About the trophy game, Hourihane said: “I played lads who probably I would like not to play but they’ve played again like Davo for example.
“We don’t have another striker really. You’re not going to play Didzy (McGoldrick) again at his age.
“Davo is going to have to grind out these games.
“Faz was on the bench. To start him may have been a step a little bit too far potentially.
“Davo was good and got his goal but, if we had more numbers at the top end of the pitch, maybe we could have changed a bit more.”
Asked if the lack of new forwards is hindering them, he said: “I don’t think so but, in terms of rotation, I would like to not play Davo potentially in the trophy. I wanted to get him off the pitch at a certain stage to give Faz a go because he’s a bright prospect. But, at the same time, I wanted to take the competition seriously and try to get through.
“It means certain lads will have to play more minutes but, with our international games being off, we have got two weeks to get some rest into lads as well.”
The Reds are ninth in League One with 16 points from nine games.
This week they lost 2-0 at home to Port Vale on Saturday then 2-1 at Notts County on Tuesday.
They are on their first four-game losing run since they were relegated out of the Championship in 2022.
Now they are due to visit Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday before a two-week international break.
Hourihane told the Chronicle: “We just need to stay consistent with the work.
“There have been couple of cup games in the mix, one being a Premier League team (Brighton), one being the decision at Notts County (a red card for Jono Bland at 1-1) which changed the flow of the game.
“It’s obviously a challenging period but we have to keep working.”
He added: “In the last ten days, I’ve been scratching my head thinking: ‘how is this happening?’
“The work has not changed.
“We’ve stayed consistent and given familiar messages to the players.
“The process stays the same. I am a firm believer that the hard work will pay off. I have been through more challenging spells a player and at the start of my interim period.”
