Analysis of Barnsley's 4-0 defeat at League One leaders Cardiff City on Tuesday evening.

REDS ON RELEGATION FORM AND MUST GET TO 50 POINTS ASAP

THE FIRST game of the second half of Barnsley’s season could not have gone any worse.

If the first half of the campaign had left them with a points total of an upper-mid-table side, their long-term form and defensive record suggest they are among the worst performers in the third tier currently – and they certainly looked it on Tuesday as they were thrashed by the leaders.

The last time Barnsley played at Cardiff, on the opening day of the 2021/22 season, they had been two wins from the Premier League earlier that summer but, less than five years later, they are in a battle to stay in the third division.

They are just three points clear of the relegation zone although there are five teams between them and the bottom four.

Wins for lowly neighbours Rotherham and Doncaster in midweek suggests that gap could shrink soon if the Reds do not start winning.

Rather than thinking of their many games in hand as a potential route to a late promotion challenge, they must be viewed at the moment as vital lifelines on a crawl to the accepted safety net of 50 points, after which they can reassess their goals.

Barnsley should have enough quality to finish in mid-table but they are not showing it consistently.

The Reds have taken 17 points from 17 league games across almost five months since early September while winning one in eight in all competitions. Almost half their points tally arrived in the first seven games

They have conceded 66 goals in all competitions this season and kept just two league clean sheets which is the fewest in the EFL.

This was a harrowing and tiring night for the Reds, who lost Reyes Cleary to injury. It was always a tough task at the leaders but almost everything that could go wrong did.

They have to somehow recover for a huge next few days as they host Stevenage – who are seventh after ending a long winless run in midweek – and lowly Northampton either side of transfer deadline day.

They surely need at least four points plus to keep star men like Cleary and Davis Keillor-Dunn while adding another striker. The midweek loss may cause a reassessment of whether they need new defenders or defensive midfielders, if that is possible within their limited budget. They are simply not protecting their goal anywhere near well enough with their current players, which reflects just as badly on the coaches as the squad.

Hourihane should get some more time to turn Barnsley’s fortunes around.

The two upcoming home games, plus the visit of AFC Wimbledon on Valentine’s Day, are chances to collect some vital wins and move away from the bottom four but, if they don’t, it could be a long battle against the drop and the head coach will come under serious pressure.

REF DECISIONS AGAINST THEM BUT REDS OUTCLASSED

Cardiff were top, ten points clear in the automatic promotion places and 23 ahead of Barnsley. They were unbeaten in seven while their eight-match winning run at home in the league ended with a draw against fellow high-flyers Stockport three days earlier.

They had been grinding out wins recently but this was a cakewalk and they could have scored several more goals as they were gifted the ball and plenty of space by their hapless opponents throughout.

Barnsley had some decent spells either side of half-time but looked broken at 4-0 for the final half an hour, forlornly chasing home players who knocked the ball around with ease as if in an attack-v-defence training exercise. Two-goal Chris Willock in particular revelled in the huge amount of room he was afforded to inflict damage.

The Reds had travelled down to Reading on Friday then back after Saturday’s 2-2 draw before going to Wales on Monday. The two journeys totalled more than 800 miles. They looked jaded and fatigued just two games into their gruelling run of 24 games in 98 days.

Barnsley had been unbeaten in three league games in 2026 but Hourihane admitted league performances were ‘not great’ and it caught up with them in Wales adding that it was a ‘humbling’ loss and that Cardiff were ‘far superior.’ They have not won in six meetings with the current top five, showing how far off they are from the best teams in the division.

Cardiff – who have the second youngest squad in the league - dominated the ball as expected but, for the most part, Barnsley looked clueless about how to press them. The hosts were without top-scorer Yousef Salech but brought in loanee Omari Kellyman who Chelsea signed for a reported £19million while they could bring a player with international and top flight experience off the bench in Callum Robinson.

Refereeing decisions went against Barnsley. Cardiff midfielder Alex Robertson should have been sent off in the first half at 1-0 for pulling back Adam Phillips on the counter-attack having already been booked. It must be said that Jono Bland got away with almost exactly the same thing against Blackpool ten days earlier.

Early in the second half, at 2-0, Corey O’Keeffe appeared to be tripped by Willock on the right of the box but no penalty was given. Those incidents could have made the scoreline much closer but ultimately Barnsley’s performance did not deserve anything other than a defeat.

MASSIVE SPACES ON LEFT EARLY ON

It was hard to tell what Barnsley’s shape was in the first half an hour, and especially what was happening on their left wing.

Jack Shepherd - passed fit after a knock at the weekend - was on the left of a back three on the ball but, when they defended and O’Keeffe dropped into right-back, he was a left-back in a back four. There was no one else defending on that flank with Nathanael Ogbeta benched and a seemingly unfit Reyes Cleary well up the pitch, not tracking home right-back Perry Ng for the opener. Ng and the impressive Ollie Tanner often had about 50 yards of space to run into with only one or sometimes zero visitors in their path.

It was a surprising decision to move away from the traditional back five which made them more solid recently and another learning experience for Hourihane.

Cleary limped off with a calf problem after half an hour. If he is out for a relatively long time, it robs Barnsley of an x-factor and ability to break down stubborn defences.

Cleary has played a lot in recent months, in his first full professional season, and that workload potentially caught up with him. Hourihane said he did not look right from the start but did not report an injury. He touched the ball four times in his 30 minutes on the pitch.

The Reds actually played better initially after Cleary came off, with Ogbeta a more natural left wing-back and the team balanced back in a back five. But they eventually cost themselves with shambolic defending.

CONNELL GIFTS GOALS ON RETURN TO TEAM

Luca Connell returned from three games out due to suspension and was at fault for three of the goals - gifting the ball to Cardiff players.

The first goal after three minutes set the tone for the game and the second just before the break was a suckerpunch after the Reds had been the better side for 15 minutes. The last was the worst error of them all and left him with head in hands.

Connell can open up teams with his passing and has clearly been told to take some risks when starting counter-attacks but, when he gets it wrong, it can go spectacularly wrong.

It is telling that, unlike many previous windows, he is not one of the players talked about as potentially being sold this January and, at the moment, his focus must be keeping his place in the Reds team. He has been better at times this season than in the previous two campaigns, and the stats show he can be one of the best passers in the league, but this was almost as bad as it gets in terms of an individual performance.

Others were also at fault for goals.

Owen Goodman also had a disappointing night, being beaten at his near post for the opener then letting the second roll through his grasp. Murphy Cooper, the goalkeeper he replaced, never made an error like that.

The other January signing Eoghan O’Connell lost the ball deep in his half and picked up a yellow card while he was part of a nervous-looking defence. Shepherd was very shaky and partly at fault for two of the goals.

Patrick Kelly caught the eye with some driving runs in the first half but, overall, it was not a good night for any Barnsley player.

Davis Keillor-Dunn returned to the 11 after illness, replacing David McGoldrick who had picked up a knock after scoring three in two. New signing Scott Banks had not been signed in time while academy player Leo Farrell was given a tough task to come on at 4-0 down.

REDS’ AWAY FORM A CONCERN

Barnsley’s away form kept them clear of a relegation fight last season but it is one of their main current weaknesses.

Since winning their first two away games of the season at Plymouth and Peterborough nearly six months ago, they have won one in 11 and none in six since Doncaster in November.

Barnsley’s legion of diehard away fans have been treated to success in recent years but are now beginning to suffer – with the 300 or so who travelled to Wales in midweek deserving far better.

They now visit Bolton, Stevenage and Huddersfield in their next three away games - all of whom are in the top seven.

There is a spell later in the season when they visit Northampton, Burton, Rotherham and Port Vale in 17 days. All those sides are currently in the bottom five so, unless Barnsley have pulled clear of trouble, they could be huge fixtures.