If Sheffield Wednesday manager Dave Jones wants any inside information ahead of their trip to Barnsley, he need look no further than his own coaching staff.
The Owls’ assistant manager is Paul Wilkinson who scored in the victory over Bradford City in 1997 which got the Reds promoted to the Premiership. He was a coach at Cardiff City under Jones then moved with his boss to Hillsborough earlier this year.
There he linked up with another of Barnsley’s promotion heroes in Neil Thompson who is a first team coach at Wednesday.
The Owls’ goalkeeping coach is Andy Rhodes, father of Blackburn striker Jordan, who began his career at Oakwell in the mid-1980s and played 36 times for the Reds.Rhodes later became academy coach at Barnsley before leaving for Ipswich.
“There are quite a few of us with Barnsley connections at Wednesday at the moment,” Thompson told the Chronicle.
“I used to play cricket and football for Humberside with Wilky when were young lads. Sometimes our time at Barnsley comes up in conversation and we have very fond memories of our time there.
“I think I played some of my best football when I was there. But now we are fully focussed on our jobs at Wednesday and hoping to get a win at Oakwell.”
