IF THE timing of the managerial change announcement was surprising, on a Saturday morning and three hours before a lunchtime Yorkshire derby, another departure from the Oakwell hotseat was not and nor really was the ending of Conor Hourihane’s 15 months as Reds boss.

Hourihane and the club’s hierarchy are understood to have come to an agreement that he will leave at the end of the season several days earlier, then the head coach wanted to tell the players and fans on Saturday. The Reds are now searching for their 17th manager in 15 years, while none have stayed for two full seasons since Simon Davey from 2007-2009, nearly two decades ago.

It is a constant churn which, even if it reflects a wider trend in modern football, must be draining and exhausting for staff, fans and the ownership who also pay a financial cost for each exit.

This was supposed to be a long-term project. The Reds let Hourihane change formation from the 3-5-2 they had used for years, and recruited around that, while he has moved on from the club style of high-pressing football. Only three League One sides have won the ball fewer times in the opposition’s final third this season – they were top of that statistic under Michael Duff then top half in the last two seasons – while they have had more of the ball than they did last season and have blocked the fewest passes in the division.

They are not a club with a strong DNA running through it who can immediately replace a head coach with little impact. Each manager brings in new staff, ideas and philosophy which means there is always a fairly significant reset after every yearly change. That is not to mention the financial outlay of cutting managers’ contracts short – even if that may not be the case with Hourihane’s ‘mutual termination’ – plus those of their staff and any players the successor discards.

This has seemed like a particularly poor League One, with the points total required for top six likely to be lower than usual plus just a visible drop in standard of opposition, several of whom gifted Barnsley opening goals with ridiculous mistakes. The Reds squad is flawed but they have a few of the best players in their positions in the division so it feels like a wasted opportunity to at least be in the mix for the top six, even if the budget is apparently lower down the third tier table than the fans’ expectations.

AMICABLE SPLIT BUT NO DETAILS PROVIDED

The ‘amicable’ exit has been described as best for all parties.

But neither the club nor Hourihane has said publicly what either’s reasons were for parting ways. Of course you would expect an element of confidentiality but surely fans deserve some more details, at least from the club, on why they felt another change was necessary. Perhaps that will be forthcoming in the near future.

Barnsley have simply underperformed this season so maybe each side has cut their losses. But it looks like a startling about-turn from chairman Neerav Parekh saying in January that Hourihane would be given time even if form was inconsistent.

Having been given a huge opportunity to be a head coach aged 34, at a club where he is already a legend, you have to wonder what concerns Hourihane has about the future of the club if he has decided to walk away from that. That is assuming there is no other job waiting for him.

‘It will be the same next year’ was Hourihane’s controversial comment after last month’s loss to Doncaster.

He is thought to have meant the financial challenges but it came across as though he was forecasting another mid-table finish and was a breaking point for some fans. He also said ‘I have been given what I’ve been given’ by those above him and that it was ‘obscene’ that striker David McGoldrick was having to play every minute aged 38. The cracks were showing.

Parekh may eventually talk publicly about all of this but for now there are many unanswered questions.

HOURIHANE VERY DRIVEN BUT IT WASN’T QUITE WORKING

The conundrum of Conor Hourihane’s time in charge of Barnsley is how such a serious man could be in charge of a team that was so unserious for most of this disappointing campaign.

There is no doubt that the head coach is extremely driven and motivated, working a huge amount of hours to make sure his first managerial job was a success. But ultimately his team have kept the fewest clean sheets in the country and are on track to concede 100 goals in all competitions while they lost 2-0 leads on four occasions and, after a fine start, have collected 40 points from 35 third tier games.

He has taken charge of 62 games in all competitions, winning 20, drawing 18 and losing 24 - giving him a win percentage of 32 - while scoring 99 goals and conceding 115.

Conor’s stated aims last summer were to better last season’s finishing position – which they may still do – improve Barnsley’s home form and atmosphere, concede fewer goals and play a more attractive style while also developing young players. They have taken more points at home than last season and there was the 5-0 win over Luton, plus glimpses of good football in other games, while the likes of Patrick Kelly, Reyes Cleary, Jono Bland and Vimal Yoganathan have gained plenty of experience. But the Reds have conceded more goals than last season in all competitions and they have often displayed a frustrating and slow style of play. Their away form has been far worse than previous seasons and they are now winless in five at Oakwell after the attendances dropped to some of their lowest numbers for a decade.

For the most part, it has not been an enjoyable season to watch.

It cannot be easy managing with the backdrop of owners who are clearly unpopular and a frustrated fanbase.

The club scandalously left Conor with just two veteran strikers and an untested academy kid during one of the busiest second halves of a season in their history. An extra striker with pace would have given him so much more scope while he was often looking behind him in games seeing no senior forwards, having loaned out Max Watters and Andy Dallas.

They have also been unlucky with some refereeing decisions, being denied several clear penalties. Some players expected to be key figures this season have underperformed. Hourihane has had to deal with sporting director Mladen Sormaz’s sudden exit then an unprecedented schedule which will see his thin squad play 16 times in the final 56 days.

But it is hard to argue that any other manager without his connections to the club would not have been sacked before now – given his predecessors were fifth and tenth respectively when dispensed with, even if the budget and objectives have since changed.

Hourihane earned that good will with a fantastic playing career at Barnsley but burned through a lot of it with some fans. His name has rarely been sung recently and he has sometimes been loudly booed after defeats.

When he took the job, some people inside the club were concerned about his lack of experience then he brought in an assistant just as novice as him in Richard Keogh. First-time managers who have had success in the past such as Danny Wilson and Paul Heckingbottom had more experienced assistants guiding them.

The season started well with five wins from seven including the opening day at Plymouth, the comeback at home to Burton and the victories over Peterborough, Huddersfield and Reading. It would have been hard to imagine then that the campaign, and Hourihane’s tenure, would fizzle out like this.

They never won three league games in a row and have not put back-to-back league wins together since November.

They conceded 12 seconds after equalising at Lincoln, did not play a left-sided defender at Cardiff, were totally exposed down the same side at home to Wycombe, with Hourihane slow to make changes, and were obliterated at Bolton in one of the worst first half performances imaginable.

There have been too many sloppy errors from too many players, who have been fairly solid at other clubs, for the buck not to stop with the coaches. We may never know if that was just learning in their first season or a fatal flaw in their abilities. In fairness, Barnsley have improved somewhat defensively in recent weeks.

Hourihane promised exciting football with wingers, plural, but has usually only picked one with a central midfielder on the right of midfield, while a centre-back often cosplayed as a left-back.

He was the set piece coach last season but Barnsley have barely threatened in that area - until recent weeks - conceding twice as many than they have scored.

He seemed to play a player for weeks or months, and praise their performances, then suddenly discard them. Jon Russell, Caylan Vickers, Nathanael Ogbeta and Tennai Watson are all in that category, while it took him three quarters of the season to recognise Mael de Gevigney was one of his best two centre-backs. He didn’t pick Davis Keillor-Dunn and David McGoldrick together for months - having used one on the wing early on - despite them being two of the top performing strikers in the division.

You could argue he needed more time to perfect his coaching style and system and at least one more window to sign players to suit it. He may mature as a coach, but it won't be at Oakwell.

REDS NOW LOOK TO UNCERTAIN FUTURE

So what does the future hold for Barnsley now?

In the short-term, Hourihane is set to take charge of the remaining games which will take him to 66 – the same as Daniel Stendel and the joint most since his former boss Paul Heckingbottom who took charge more than a decade ago. The Reds will look to finish at least 12th, where they are now, to avoid a fifth straight season of slipping down the EFL in terms of position, and beat last season’s points tally of 61. They are currently on 56.

That is while the head coach search is ongoing which the Reds hope will be completed in the near future, aiming for a much faster process than many of the previous changes.

The new boss will need to make a quick decision, along with the club, on the many players out of contract at Oakwell this summer including options to keep Jack Shepherd, Mael de Gevigney and Adam Phillips while top-scorer McGoldrick, a close friend of Hourihane, is one of many whose deals end in June with no option.

The process will then start of trying to arrest this slide into League One mediocrity amid what the Reds see as a lightly-regulated and unfair financial playing field while dealing with diminishing crowds and season ticket revenue.

They have been saved from a relegation fight by a good start and having two of the best strikers in the league in the two halves of the season. None of those elements may be in place next season.

The recruitment in general has been better than last season, with the head coach apparently having a greater role in it than some predecessors. But the lack of an extra striker in January, like in most recent transfer windows, is a black mark plus they are hamstrung by the bad work across the previous campaign, with barely any of the 14 players brought in then playing now. They have to hope the recruitment improves again, with Barnsley surely becoming less of a draw to players by the season, while there is likely to be interest in the likes of Cleary and Kelly who have both been inspired pick-ups.

As for Hourihane, he has wanted to be a coach for years, volunteering at non-league Stourbridge as well as at the Oakwell academy to gain experience before returning to the Reds last season. He controversially lasted just two games as player/coach, disappointing fans who had looked forward to him playing again, then worked under Darrell Clarke before replacing him last March and soon being named permanent boss. He has had invaluable head coach experience aged 35 and leaves with his legendary status as a Reds player plus his reputation as an up-and-coming coach probably still intact.