Barnsley's season this year has been poor and their relegation to League One looks to be all but confirmed. 

The Tykes currently sit bottom of the league with 30 points on the board making them 11 points from safety where Reading sit.

At the other end of the league sit Fulham who currently have 86 points under their belt, putting them miles ahead of where Barnsley are despite the club's drawing 1-1 in their game last month.

With that in mind, we take a look at the cost of Barnsley's squad this season via football finance expert Kieran Maguire in comparison to the rest of the Championship.

Barnsley's squad this season cost £8.8million putting them as the eighth cheapest club this season.

To put it in perspective, at the other end of the graph is Fulham whose cost is £233million clearly showing the gulf between club's finances in the Championship.

Furthermore, this can somewhat explain why the teams are where they are in the table.

Looking at the sides who sit second and third in the table, we can see Bournemouth's cost is £198.6million putting them second highest whilst Huddersfield's is £17.2million which actually puts them in the lowest half of the cost table.

Furthermore, Luton have the squad that cost the second lowest amount at just £3.4million yet they currently occupy 4th position in the table and have a great chance of going to the Premier League via the play-offs, therefore showing that money does not necessarily equal success in the Championship.

 

 

Looking at the other teams who are down at the bottom of the table to see if these sides have had a lack of money, Peterborough's squad cost £4.6million putting them in the bottom four for cost this season.

Derby County's squad was one of the most expensive at £62.5million putting them in the top six although it must be considered that they are where they are in the table due to the -21 points deduction they started the season with.

Nevertheless though, it suggests that money in a squad can only make it so far.

Reading sit just outside the relegation spot and spent £23.7million on their squad putting them exactly half-way in the spending this season.

Therefore, these figures suggest that money does have a part to play in a club's success given the fact the top two teams in the division are the most valuable and two of the lowest value teams sit in the relegation spot.

Although, given the success of teams such as Luton who are seriously low spenders in their side it shows you also need a team that can play together and has players who are capable.

If Barnsley are looking to come back up next season, although they will need to invest in their side they need to make sure they build a team that works well together and for the manger above just its value.