Barnsley fell to another defeat at the hands of Stoke City at the weekend, leaving them rock bottom of the Championship table and with a mountain to climb.
The Tykes came into the weekend’s fixture knowing that a win could help build some momentum and start a move away from the opponents, but it wasn’t to be at the Potters began life under new manager Michael O’Neill with a 4-2 thumping of Barnsley at Oakwell.
At 4-1, summer signing Patrick Schmidt grabbed a consolation for the home side by latching onto a through-ball and slotting home very calmly, this was the Austrian’s first goal since joining the club.
When speaking to the club’s website, Schmidt commented on the disappointing result at the weekend: “We have many more games to come, but we need to get three points as soon as possible and get into the flow of things. I’m very positive and so is the team because Barnsley is special, and I know we can turn it around.”
With these comments in mind, we take a look at three reasons why his assessment of the side is spot on…
There is a lot of football to be played
The most simple point that has to be made is that Schmidt is right in stating that Barnsley have a lot of football to play before they can be officially written off yet.
Their winless run is absolutely torrid at the moment as they haven’t tasted victory in the league since their opening day 1-0 victory over Fulham, a rut that needs ending as soon as possible. However, with only 16 games being played so far, Barnsley have 30 games to turn their fortunes around which totals to a whopping 90 points potentially available. While no team will be able to take maximum points from that, it’s proof that their season is far from over.
His own form will improve
Schmidt’s goal marked his first for the club since joining in the summer after having a lacklustre start to life at Oakwell. Saturday’s game against Stoke marked only his sixth appearance for the club, all of those coming from the bench late into games.
In Barnsley’s last two games, Schmidt has been used as a late sub against Bristol and then Stoke but has still managed to register an assist and then a goal in the respective games. There’s no doubting that as a 21-year-old, he will need time to find his feet in South Yorkshire and his current form is encouraging for the rest of the Tykes’ season.
One win could revive the squad
Schmidt’s most important assessment of the weekend’s frustrating result is that he outlines that once Barnsley get that all-important next win, they could jump-start their season which they so desperately need.
The team are clearly suffering from a total absence of confidence, which spirals more when they fall behind against the run of play or from a freak goal like Stoke’s opener. They did show a glimpse of getting back to the form they are capable of with a spirited fightback against Bristol but this draw was rendered less valuable by losing to Stoke.
Four out of Barnsley’s next five fixtures come against teams in the bottom half and it presents a great opportunity to capitalise on another teams’ lack of confidence, to get three points and finally push on towards safety.