Isn't it strange...

Agree with all that. I also think Conor is twice the PR man Clarke was and has said all the right things from day 1 to control the narrative.

January was just confused and showed a lack of management top to bottom from all involved.

 

We are still a centre half short.

We are still a centre forward short.

He's only just sorted one right back who will take a while to get match sharp and if anything happens to him we are back to playing someone like Bland out of position there.

We haven't sold any key players but Conor said we haven't had bids for them, so he hasn't had any decisions to make.

Let's see where we are when the window shuts.

 

He didn't. He said we'd rejected bids for Connell which IMHO took b.llocks.

 

Just going off here.

https://www.barnsleychronicle.com/article/32855/depth-is-probably-just-not-there-at-the-minute

Asked if there had been any approaches for any of Barnsley’s star men, he said: “Nothing whatsoever. No bids, nothing to report. Hopefully that is the case for the next couple of weeks."

 

Recently. In the interview he confirms we'd rejected some for Connell earlier.

 

Even I can see that we’re a forward short.

Maybe a central defender too, though We could muddle by.

Get me an alternative to McGoldrick, keep all the rest, and it will have been a great transfer window.

And we’ll finish top [emoji6]

 

I don't disagree - but to buy an alternative to McGoldrick and keep the rest might not be possible. That is unless the worst owners we've ever had (TM) put their hands in their pocket - again.

 

Isn't it strange how the head coach is a massive part of who signs and who doesn't, doing background checks on players, making lots of phone calls to players and has refused players.
Isn't it strange we get rid of the the dreadful 352 the last few head coaches have had the painful pleasure of playing.

Simple game really when you let football people crack on.

 

Said this a few times but I really think CH has had a big say in our recruitment. For years we've gone down the 3-5-2 route and tried to pigeon hole in players - system has changed and coach wants a more attacking team with wingers

 

Article in YP today with Conor talking about being on the phone all the time chasing transfers and needing to calm down a bit gives a big clue that he has taken a lot of control back.

 

I can remember much worse.

 

I think it’s a strategic question about use of budget. The main need was to stop the scattergun approach, panic buys, and bloating the squad with punts.
Far better to trim the squad down, get a core of solid players, and invest the time and money on building a team rather than an empire.

 

It certainly looks like the signings have been much more targeted this window. Which probably explains why we haven't brought in another centre half or centre forward yet. Hopefully moving forward it won't just be a case of signing bodies to fill positions, but actually getting the right players through the door. Conor has said as much. He's also made a big thing of personalities having to fit as much as skills sets, which is also no bad thing.

 

Mr P. Turdoil?

 

I'll just leave ''January '' on the table. Speaks volumes on whether he's doing done a good job or not.
Folk can be the judge

 

The difference this season is that Conor has a clear vision and sets the profiles of the players he wants. Before, Sormaz did that, but it was clear he didn’t understand football enough to realise you need athletic players to play attacking, pressing football.

He had a chance to see what was wrong under Collins when he had to adapt his system around the players he had. Instead, it seemed he sacked Collins and hired Clarke, who was brought in because of good high pressing stats while managing a team fighting for survival (similar to Flitcroft’s great escape). Clarke never had a clear enough style and seemed to try different formations until the team started winning. In the summer, the coach didn’t have enough initiative to identify the squad’s problems.

Conor demanded fast wingers and more physical midfielders, which is obvious both from what he said last season and the fact we haven’t seen Connell and Russell partner each other in midfield.

Credit to Mladen for trusting Conor and matching players to what he wants. Of course, he’s given Conor the freedom to speak to whichever players he wants too.

If Mladen remains DoF when Conor moves on, I feel more confident a new coach can replicate the attacking, pressing football instead of the sideways crap we’ve had to endure at Oakwell. But it’s very important that football people make football decisions, so Mladen has to either hire a coach with a very clear style or follow a similar blueprint to what Conor has set.

Without trust in Conor, this change wouldn’t have happened.

 

Nope, will need to perform above average for the next couple of transfer windows in order to gain any credit. This doesn't excuse his poor performance up to now.

 

I don’t know how much or how little Mladen is involved but the big win of this window is how much of the deadwood and frustratingly inconsistent players have been moved on. The fact that we’ve replaced them with (seemingly) quality is a double win.

 

There’s no getting away from the fact there still needs to be improvements. Hourihane like everyone, will have a poor spell and will rely on squad depth. This current squad is not good enough for top half never mind top six. The XI is.

 

Conor has repeatedly said, he is part of a team in the aspect of recruitment and that the main thing he does different to previous Managers is he personally looks into the personal background of each player to evaluate their personality.