Football Season Guide

Barnsley are coming from a season that was disappointing due to the fact that they failed to win promotion back to the Championship. Their board showed plenty of patience for Danny Wilson, but he eventually lost his job late in the campaign. The Tykes did have a renaissance under Lee Johnson late in the season, but the young manager's appointment came too late for them to win promotion, as they ultimately failed to finish inside the top six. Johnson has made it clear near the end of the previous season that he will be very active in the transfer market during the summer in order to fill the squad with players that are capable of applying his footballing philosophy, and he stayed true to his words, as Barnsley have had a real squad clear-out during the summer. The majority of players who have joined are relatively unproven at League One level, as Johnson has opted to go for young players who are capable of playing his preferred attacking-minded brand of football. Due to the sheer number of changes, one big worry regarding Barnsley is whether or not they will need a lot of time to gel, but it has to be said that their strong looks very strong on paper, as they have kept hold of all of their key players from the previous season. Johnson has shown signs of great promise with his previous club Oldham and, if he can get Barnsley to play a similar brand of football, the Tykes should be expected to have a good season.