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2 – Kick Off, Friday, August 7, 2009 To advertise telephone (01226) 734666

Welshman’s rollercoaster ride in football management.....● Simon Davey arrived at Oakwell in the

summer of 2006, when he was appointed theclub’s Academy Manager.

● The 38-years-old Welshman supportedSwansea City as a lad. His family still do.

● Davey started his professional career withthe Swans in 1989, making 58 appearancesbefore joining Carlisle United three years later.He was captain of the Cumbrians for 137games, and also scored 23 goals. His fine formtempted Preston to splash out £125,000 tosecure his services in 1995. Apart from a briefloan spell with Darlington in 1997, he spentthe rest of his playing career at Deepdale,turning out 122 times and netting 22 goals.

● But then disaster struck. At the age of 27he was forced to retire because of a backinjury. Davey tells the story: “Within 10 sec-onds of me going in there, the neurosurgeonsaid, ‘I hope you’ve got insurance, becauseyour career’s over’. It couldn’t have beenblunter. You’ve got to take that in, and thenyou’ve got to go home and tell your family thatyou’re not playing again. My contract was up

that summer. I had a mortgage and three chil-dren. It was disturbing. Where was the nextpaycheque coming from?”

● To Davey’s relief, his period of professionallimbo lasted only a week. David Moyes, thenthe Preston manager, offered him a coachingrole with North End’s Academy. Davey dulymoved into coaching and worked with theyoungsters, firstly under Moyes and thenunder the watchful eye of former Scotlandmanager Craig Brown.

● Even now Davey will not forget what Moyesdid for him. “I owe a lot to him, he created thatjob for me. He asked me to work with theyouth team manager for six months until mycontract finished, and told me it would then bereviewed. He kept his word, and there was ajob at the end of it. When he left for Everton, Iworked under Craig Brown.”

● Davey is one of the most highly-qualifiedyoung coaches in the English game, havingpicked up his UEFA 'C' Licence’ UEFA 'B'Licence, UEFA 'A' Licence; and the UEFA 'Pro'Licence. Also holds the UEFA 'Youth Licence'.

● Appointed caretaker manager at Oakwellon November 21, 2006, he was handed thereigns permanently on December 31, 2006. Puttogether a tight-knit management team thatincluded Ryan Kidd and Kelham O’Hanlon, andkept the Reds up despite the odds.

● Embarked on a major overhaul two sum-mers ago, taking his tally of new signings intodouble figures. Barnsley again thumbed theirnoses at the bookies by retaining theirChampionship status. Davey also steered theclub to an FA Cup semi-final appearance atWembley, 96 years on from the last time theReds reached the last four.

● Tweaked the squad rather than dismantledit last summer, but get off to a dreadful start.The Reds were in a relegation scrap for most ofthe season, only securing their Championshipstatus with a final-day win at Plymouth.

● Continues to be backed by Oakwell ownerPatrick Cryne and is determined to win overthe supporters. Davey is hoping that a new-look strategy at Oakwell, with a developmentsquad now in place, will bear fruit.

Barnsley boss Simon Davey looking forward to a fresh Championship challenge

A FANTASTIC performance by theteam on Saturday fulfilled my goal ofgoing through pre-season unbeaten.

Eight wins and a draw is an incredibleachievement especially when the last gamewas against Manchester City who havespent heavily over the summer.

In the first eight games we were in control and never looked like losing andeven in the Manchester City match wenever looked like losing.

Everyone has played their part. The goalkeepers have kept five clean

sheets, the defence have snuffed out mostattacks resulting in only five goals beingconceded, the midfield have created thechances for the strikers to weigh in withplenty of goals and in total we have scored23 times.

We have now gone 13 games unbeatenstretching back to the away draw againstReading.

That kind of run breeds confidence andwe will go into the new season with beliefand knowledge we can compete in everygame for points, now matter how biggerthe opponents appear to be.

When you look at other clubs, such asNewcastle United who were soundly beaten6-1 by League One side Leyton Orient, ithighlights that our pre-season performanc-es give reason to be optimistic for the sea-son.

Looking ahead to the next nine monthsthere are a lot of tough games. I think

the Championship is evenstronger than last

year when

you consider the clubs that have come in.Although we left it very late to secure our

Championship status last season, we wereon many occasions just a few minutes awayfrom making it a completely different cam-paign.

After a very poor start we then went on arun of ten games where we were third inthe form guide and after 26 games of theseason just three points off 10th position.

If our concentration had held for just afew minutes longer we would have beensafe much earlier and probably comfort-ably in the top half of the table.

In truth there were very few matcheswhere we were outclassed and deserved tolose.

Premier beliefBurnley will have given lots of clubs

belief that they can achieve the goal ofPremier League football.

The fact that we beat them home andaway last season is an indication that pro-vided we can be more consistent it is notimpossible for Barnsley to challenge for theplay- offs.

Losing just twice in the last ten games ofthe 2008/09 season showed we can competeat this level and over pre-season we havebuilt on that.

We have been working hard on develop-ing the players to be more adaptable with-in a 4-4-2 system and showing how toexploit the weaknesses of other teams andthe systems they employ.

Adaptability with players rather thanchanging formation will be the key to our

success this year.As well as the overall results

there have beensome notableindividualperformanc-es that have

been wor-thy ofnote.

KayodeOdejayihascomeback like

a man

reborn. His goal tally of five in pre-seasonwill give him great confidence, but it is hisall-round play that has been impressive.Kay has won nearly every header, everychallenge and created goals. He has put inthe kind of performances we all know he iscapable of.

He now has to take that into theChampionship season.

Jacob Butterfield has taken his opportu-nity well and with Anderson De Silva hav-ing been injured in the last few games hehas shown he is ready to make the step up.

He had a superb display againstManchester City, hitting the bar and creat-ing other chances for both himself andothers.

Everyone has staked a claim for a start-ing place on Saturday and that is a goodposition for me to be in. The downside wasthe double injury to Hugo Colace and DeSilva in training, but I am confident otherscan step up just as Butterfield has done.

The new development set-up which pro-vides a link between the first team and theAcademy will come into its own as the sea-son progresses.

Stuart Gibson has a good set of playerswithin his charge and we have already seenpositive results with the likes of OnomeSodje, Reuben Noble-Lazarus and LukePotter putting in good performances.

The recent Academy tournament inSweden where Barnsley won four games,including the final, shows the potential inour youth set-up. Steven Bennett who hasjust come back from an injury lay-off had asuperb tournament grabbing six goals andAlistair Taylor was the player of the tour-nament.

Great pre-seasonThe club as a whole have had a great pre-

season which reads 12 wins, two draws andno defeats. I am sure that has not happenedbefore in the modern game.

Bringing in new faces has been a longprocess this season for all clubs. It’s notideal to bring signings in when pre-seasonhas finished, but it is the same for most andwe will have to settle new players into thesquad quickly.

As always, you, the supporters, play aninvaluable part in our success. Whether itis at Oakwell or on the road. Having thefans cheer the team on can give them theextra boost to raise their game and givethem belief.

The teams in this league are separated bythe smallest of margins.

Every team can beat the other on theirday and there is no game that we cannotwin. Consistency and concentration will bethe difference.

Turning six defeats into six wins will bethe gap between a relegation fight or aplay-off fight for us.

I am confident that we will be able tomake the step up that will see Barnsleymuch closer to the top six andgive real hope for optimism.

“

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I believe we will be far closer to top six

To advertise telephone (01226) 734666 Kick Off, Friday, August 7, 2009 – 3

Davey now at number six in list of longest-serving managers at a Coca-Cola Championship club

The tight-knit Oakwell management team: Simon Davey with his former Preston pals, first team coach KelhamO’Hanlon (far left) and assistant manager Ryan Kidd.

clear pathway to getting into thefirst team with the structure wehave implemented.

We have a smaller squad thisseason and that will enable us tointegrate them into the first teamquicker and see them improvefaster.

We will have a balanced blend ofyouth and experience, proventrack records and raw talent thatwill be able to challenge for pointsin every game.

We did have a fair few trialistswith us over the last few weeksbut we decided to let them go.

We might have taken some ofthem in previous seasons.

John Glele is an excellent left-back but we felt that we had RobKozluk at the club already andsigning John would only stand inthe way of Luke Potter's develop-ment.

I’m expecting big things fromLuke this coming season.

Jurgen Csandl is another goodplayer – at centre-half – but I didnot feel that we could get 15 or 20games out of him in aChampionship season.

We are looking at getting adefender in with a little morestature.

Deogo had all the right attrib-utes as a wide player but was notat the right fitness level to be test-ed at this level.

We will continue to monitor hisprogress, however.

Anduela Prior came here with agood pedigree from Holland but ifwe were to sign him for the moneythey wanted then he would havehad to have been a regular in ourstarting XI and we did not feel wecould offer that at the moment,with the likes of Martin Devaneyand Jamal Campbell-Ryce in oursquad and our continuedinterest in Adam Hammill.

‘Adaptability with players rather than changing formation will be key to our success’

SIMON Davey is set for his third full season in the Oakwell hotseat – and he isjust outside the top five of longest-servingmanagers at any one Championship club.

Davey took over the reins in November2006, just behind Sheffield Wednesday’sBrian Laws, who comes in at number five.

Coming in at number one is Cardiff City’sDave Jones. He has been in charge of theBluebirds since May 2005.

Second is Bristol City’s Gary Johnson,while a new entry at number three isMiddlesbrough’s Gareth Southgate, recentlyrelegated from the Premier League.

Nigel Adkins is one place behind Davey, atseven, after leading Scunthorpe to promotion.

Dave Jones (CardiffCity from May 2005).

Gary Johnson (BristolCity from September2005).

Sean O’Driscoll(Doncaster fromSeptember 2006).

Brian Laws (ShefieldWednesday fromNovember 2006).

Gareth Southgate(Middlesbrough fromJune 2006).

Looking to go into everygame with 4-4-2 system

WE have worked very hard in pre-season this summer on developing the players to

be more adaptable within a 4-4-2 system.That is how we want to play in every game – if

we possible can. We want the players we have here at Oakwell

to show how to exploit the weaknesses of otherteams and the systems they employ.

Adaptability with players rather than chang-ing formation will be the key to our success thisyear.

We have done very well in our pre-season fix-tures playing that way. We have kept clean

sheets in most of them and alsocreated chances and

scoredgoals.

Yes, there will be times when we need tochange things around during the course of the90-odd minutes, but what we are focussing on iseducating the players to adapt to their oppo-nents rather than adapting the system.

We will be looking to use the strength of ourset-up and formation to counteract whatever isthrown at us by our opponents – and exploit theweaknesses in the system they use.

Our week-long, pre-season training camp inSpain was also highly beneficial.

Being together 24 hours a day is an ideal wayto create a closer bond and team spirit amongstthe group.

Two years ago we went to Portugal for a pre-season training camp and it was beneficial toour start that year when we got up to fourthposition after 15 games.

Hit the track runningHopefully that week – and the confidence we

have gained from a good run of results in thepre-season matches – will help us hit the trackrunning and sustain it throughout the wholeseason.

The players in the development setup havedone very well so far and they are able to see a

“

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4 – Kick Off, Friday, August 7, 2009 To advertise telephone (01226) 734666

Patrick Cryne looks forward to the new season with excitement and trepidation

‘Perhaps the most impressive aspect ofSimon’s stay has been the nurturing ofyouth. We are now in the strongest position ever in terms of the output of our Academy.’ – Patrick Cryne

How I became an Oakwell Red!MY dad was born in Manchester and was an avid United fan.

He tried hard to convince me to support his club, but mymother and her brother Ernest ran a covert operation toturn me to the Barnsley cause – and they won the day!

My dad took me to Oakwell a few times but his heart was-n’t really in it.

Instead, I relied on my Uncle Ernest as well as taggingalong with my mates’ dads to see the matches.

I still remember from my boyhood the sense of belongingthat came from being a supporter – and how grown, work-ing men would treat a young lad as an equal because wewere part of the same cause.

My wife Jean and I first met at secondary school where Ifound to my delight that she was a very keen Barnsley FCsupporter, going to matches with her mates.

When we got married in 1975, we bought a house inBurton Road so that we could walk to the matches fromhome, joining others as we converged on Oakwell.

We moved to London in 1980 but still came back for gamesas many other exiles do.

Eventually, we moved back north to live outsideManchester, the birthplace of my father.

The route to Oakwell was now by car across theWoodhead Pass.

In 1993 our son James was born and he eventually facedthe dilemma of who to support.

The nearest ground to our house is Stockport County, andthen the mighty Manchester United, the favourite of mostof his pals, as well as my late father.

I found myself doing what my dad did in reverse, occa-sionally taking James to see United play when a fixture didnot clash with a Barnsley game.

I understood how my dad felt at the prospect of losingpart of the connection with his son that is forged and main-tained through a common football allegiance.

Fortunately for me, James soon decided he wanted to bedifferent from the masses and adopted Barnsley as histeam, much to my delight.

Like mine, I think his mother may have been influentialin the matter!

When James was small, the days we spent in the EastStand as father and son together at matches were amongthe best of my life.

My love of Barnsley FC is not based on favourite playersor games. For me, being a Barnsley fan is about celebratingmy roots and being proud of my heritage, however unim-pressive it is to others.

When I am at Oakwell on a cold, wet Tuesday night for anunfashionable game, I look across to the Ponty and thenthe East Stand, and then to the stalwarts around me in theWest Stand and I am as proud as hell!

We are part of the continuum that started withTiverton Preedy.

“

”

”

Patrick Cryne and his wife Jean pictured at Wembley, watchingtheir beloved Barnsley in the FA Cup semi-final.

I always approach a new sea- son with the mixed feelings

of excitement and trepidation. When I was a boy it was mostly

excitement, but in my experiencedmiddle years I confess there is moretrepidation. What has increased myangst down the years is the media-driven swirl of negativity and cyni-cism that now surrounds footballgenerally, which attacks the joy ofbeing a supporter and encouragesintolerance and abuse.

To me supporting Barnsley FC is acelebration of my heritage and I can-not be dissuaded from the cause, nomatter how futile others may judgeit. My support is and always hasbeen unconditional.

The reality is that Barnsley FC can-not succeed at any level without theunconditional support of its fans.Manchester City have always had

unswerving support from their fans,even when they languished for aperiod in the lower leagues.

Newcastle United have alreadysold 25,000 season tickets, despitetheir relegation, prospective saleand current management vacuum.True fans stay true because theyknow that their club is just that,their club.

Of course Barnsley FC cannot relyon a city catchment for its fan base,but nonetheless we need our hard-core fans that we can rely on to baseour budgets and give us credibilityon the terraces.

Goose bumpsOur appeal to that core fan base is

proclaimed on the banner on thefront of Oakwell, “My Town, MyTeam, My Blood”.

If it creates a tingle or goosebumps to see it then you are proba-bly one of the hard core fans. A fewpeople have contacted me to suggestit might be a touch insensitive, par-ticularly to associate “My Blood”with a picture of Iain Hume.

In my view it is entirely sensitivein the proper meaning of the word.It is an appeal to the senses. It is aclarion call to rally the faithfulbehind the cause. If it touches yoursensitivities with pride in your her-itage and celebrates the commit-ment by our players on behalf ofthe shirt then it has done its job.

Despite the economic woes thatbeset our community harder thanmost, our season ticket sales havebeen strong and we expect them tofinish ahead of last year by a smallmargin.

There is still time for more to jointhe ranks at Oakwell for the newseason when our team will join bat-tle in a league of Premiership exiles.I hope still more will come forwardand take advantage of the pricereductions and benefits in place forseason ticket holders.

I know there are some fans thatwanted to see a change of managerat the end of last season and cer-tainly I shared the same sense ofdisappointment at our league posi-tion. In my view, a change wouldhave created more problems than itsolved.

To properly judge Simon Daveyyou have to look past the disap-pointing league results last seasonand look to the future.

He has the loyalty and support ofkey players within the club, becausethey believe, in the case of the

younger ones, that they are develop-ing under the training regime inplace, and the older ones are main-taining the fitness levels needed forthe Championship. Jamal Cambell-Ryce committed to Barnsley FCrather than move to Reading lastseason because of his relationshipwith Simon and his development asa player since joining.

Anderson similar chose to staywith us rather than move to BristolCity. Rob Kozluk turned down thechance in the close season to moveto Crystal Palace for a two year dealin favour of staying with BarnsleyFC for a one year contract.

These decisions cannot be for themoney because it is written in folk-lore that we pay peanuts.

Perhaps the most impressiveaspect of Simon’s stay has been thenurturing of youth in the Academyset up. We are now in the strongestposition ever in terms of the outputof our Academy. There is no doubtthat Reuben Noble-Lazarus is atruly outstanding prospect and godwilling he will get a chance to playat Championship level and beyond.

In the past, the Barnsley FCAcademy seemed destined to pro-duce defenders for the lowerleagues, but now we have a signifi-cant number of quality forwardsand midfielders coming through ourdevelopment squad with pace, cre-ativity and an eye for goal.

It will be down to the fans to helpwith nurturing this talent as itbreaks through by giving strongunequivocal vocal support from thestands.

Remain confidentI have already written to our sea-

son ticket holders to say that wewill run with a lean squad this com-ing season to keep our costs downto make supporting Barnsley FCaffordable. Even so we expect tohave new players in for the start ofthe season.

Our priorities are a centre half, anattacking midfielder and new strik-ers to give the manager options.

It will be difficult to get all our tar-gets because we are in such a com-petitive market, but I remain opti-mistic that we will be in a muchstronger position when the first ballis kicked in our Championship sea-son.

Finally, I would like to thank ourseason ticket holders for their con-tinuing support and wish our supporters a very good season.

“

My support has been, and always will be, unconditional

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Wishing the teamgood luck for thecoming season.

Barnsley’s £1mhitman is on his way backOAKWELL chief SimonDavey is hoping to have IainHume in his match-daysquad sooner rather thanlater.

And the Reds boss is plan-ning on the £1m hitman,who missed the majority oflast season with a horren-dous fractured skull injury,weighing in with plenty ofgoals in the 2009-2010 cam-paign.

Hume made a welcomereturn to competitive matchaction, for the first timesince his horrific fracturedskull injury back inNovember, in the pre-seasonfriendly win atGainsborough Trinity.

The trademark tongue wasout for all to see (as shownin the main picture left) –and the striker almostscored with his first touch, abrave header that brought amagnificent save fromGainsborough ’keeper PhilBarnes.

Now Hume is building uphis match fitness as he eyesa return to Championshipaction with the Reds.

Boss Davey commented:“Iain is still a little rustybut he’s coming on fast.

“He is playing catch-upwith the rest of the squad,but like everyone else I amdelighted to see him backplaying.

“He has shown hisstrength of character andmental toughness and I wasdelighted to see him go onat Gainsborough, in his firstgame back, and immediatelygo in for a header thatalmost brought him a goal.

That showed to me that

there was no problem withhim mentally.

“We have to consider theamount of time he’s been onthe sidelines with what wasa career-threatening injury.It is a huge thing comingback from that.

“But Iain has thrown him-self into training from dayone, and has been headingballs and getting fullyinvolved with every aspectof our training schedule.

“We are now involving himin some games – and havehad him play in somebehind-closed-doors matches– so hopefully that will puta few demons to bed if thereis any still lurking.

“Iain is still a little wayshort of getting a startingplace. No matter how hardyou try in training it is nosubstitute for match fitnessand he needs games underhis belt. But there is nodoubt Iain is on his wayback and when he reclaimshis place in the team it willbe like a new signing for us.

“There is no doubt Iainwill be keen to show he’srecovered. He’ll want to getback playing Championshipfootball and scoring and cre-ating goals for us.

“If he goes well in the nextfew weeks or so then, likethe rest of the first teamsquad, he’ll be a contenderfor a place in the team.”

“Everything’s a possibilityfor him.

“We’ll see how he goes inthe next few weeks buthopefully he’ll be in ourstarting XI before too long.”

Hume, meanwhile, is notsetting himself any targets.

He is just thrilled to be backplaying.

He told the club's officialwebsite: “After eight monthsjust getting back out therewas brilliant.

“I have to admit that I wasclose to tears when I ranonto the pitch during thefriendly at Gainsboroughbecause of everything thathad happened – and the factthat it had been so longsince I last played.

“It was a great receptionat Gainsborough, eventhough it wasn’t a bigcrowd.

“And it wasn’t just theBarnsley supporters andplayers, it was both teamsand everybody in the stadi-um.

“It was such a fantasticovation and it brought alump to my throat.

Hume went on: “It's notover. Not by a long way. Itwas a big step getting onto afootball pitch again, butthings are far from over inmy eyes. I still have a lot todo and I'm way behind therest of the lads in terms ofmatch fitness.

“And to be fair, even if Iwas approaching full matchfitness then I would bestruggling to get a look in atthe moment.

“Kayode (Odejayi), Jon(Macken), Daniel(Bogdanovic) and Onome(Sodje) have had great pre-seasons, particularly bigKay. He’s been on fire andscored plenty of goals andwe are all hoping he cantake that form into theleague season.”

Welcome back: The trademarktongue was there for all to see asIain Hume made his return to competitive match action as asecond half substitute in therecent pre-season friendly atGainsborough (picture above),while (inset right) the £1m striker,sporting a mean looking scar, hasbeen regularly heading balls intraining.

‘I still have a lot to do in terms ofbuilding up my match fitness but it’s been fantastic getting back playing again.’ – Iain Hume

The poster, featuring Iain Hume, Reds skipper Stephen Foster, and Barnsley-born cricket star Darren Gough, that will be seen on the back of the CK Beckett Stand (Pontefract Road End) at Oakwell this season.

Davey looking forward to seeing Hume return

6 – Kick Off, Friday, August 7, 2009 To advertise telephone (01226) 734666

Oakwell number one determined to stand up and be counted in the Championship

Man of Steele ready to show his mettle

‘I did question my futurehere last season but circumstances changedand I’m delighted.’– Luke Steele

KEEPING SCORELUKE STEELE

Age: 24.Nationality: English.Height: 6ft 2in.Weight: 12st.Previous Clubs: Peterborough

United, Manchester United,Coventry City (loan), WestBromwich Albion.

Reds appearance record: 28.Oakwell history: Enjoyed a

sensationalBarnsley debut atAnfield in the FA Cup. Signed aone-year deal last summer andstarted the 2008-2009 campaignin the team but was left outonce Heinz Muller returned tofull fitness. Regained his placein the closing weeks of the sea-son and his superb performanc-es helped the Reds retain theirChampionship status. Nowarmed with a new two-yeardeal he is the club’s numberone choice.

BARNSLEY’S man of Steele isdetermined to show his mettle inthe heat of Championship battlethis season.

Luke Steele has been installed asthe Oakwell Club’s number onegoalkeeper, following his string ofsuperb performances late last termand the departure of giant GermanHeinz Muller.

And while Steele does admit tohaving had thoughts of leavingOakwell at the end of last season,he says he was eventually thrilledto sign a new two-year contract.

Barring injury, Steele will beSimon Davey’s first choice in hecoming campaign.

Luke said: "I did question myfuture here last season because Iwas not getting any football but cir-cumstances changed and I felt thatI wanted to sign again.

“I am settled and could not behappier. I was delighted to sign anew contract in the summer. Therereally is nowhere else I would liketo be.

"Football is tough. There were

DAVID Preece hasn’t just signed on at Oakwelljust to make up the numbers.

The experienced goalkeeper, who agreed a one-year deal with the Reds in the close season, is seenas back-up to number one choice Luke Steele.

Following the summer departures of HeinzMuller and Kyle Letheren, Steele is Barnsley’snumber one, with Preece his understudy.

But Sunderland-born Preece, back in Englandafter a four year stay in Denmark, is determined topush Steele all the way – and be ready to take hischance if his club colleague suffers the misfortuneof getting injured, or loses form in the comingcampaign.

The former Sunderland and Darlington shot-stopper had a two-week trial with the Reds –including being part of a seven-day training campin Spain – and impressed Simon Davey.

The Reds manager says he is delighted to haveacquired such an experienced goalkeeper.

“David has done very well training with us andhas all the attributes needed to be a quality goal-keeper in the Championship,” enthused Davey. “Hehas played well in the pre-season matches he’sbeen involved in.

"We are delighted to have brought him here toOakwell. He has signed a one-year deal but there isan option to stay on longer than that.

“David has the necessary experience and abilityto provide healthy competition for Luke Steele.

“Finding a number two ’keeper is difficult at thislevel because every ’keeper wants to start, but wewanted someone who could push Luke hard andfill in if he got injured.

“I wanted an experienced pro rather than a

Preece determined to push Luke all the way

hard times last season when I wasnot in the team. I had to be profes-sional and work as hard as I couldbut I did feel that I had to move onsimply for footballing reasons.

“But things change. Football islike that really. I got back into theteam towards the end of last sea-son, felt I did well, and in the end Isigned the new contract as soon aspossible.

“I know that I have to work hardto make sure I stay in the team.David Preece has come in and he’san experienced pro.

“I know that it is all about per-formances. I have to make surethat I do the business otherwisethere is always going to be a ’keep-er waiting to take my place.”

young lad so I’m very pleased to have landedDavid.”

Preece, aged 32, started his career at Sunderlandand after five seasons teamed up with fellowNorth East club Darlington, where he made 106appearances between 1997 and 1999.

A move to Aberdeen followed and Preeceimpressed with 83 appearances in a six-year spellat the Scottish club.

In 2005 he joined Danish side Silkeborg – andmoved to fellow Danish club OB three years later.

“David had been looking for a move back toEngland and so we decided to give him a chance tocome and play over here again,” added Davey.

David Preece in pre-season action for theReds against Ferencvaros at Oakwell.

To advertise telephone (01226) 734666 Kick Off, Friday, August 7, 2009 – 7

From current ’keepers to a meeting with ex-Red shotstopper ‘tall as trees’By Matt Goodwin

ON August 28, 1997, over 18,000 Barnsleysupporters were waiting to catch aglimpse of new goalkeeper Lars Leese atOakwell – but the big German was him-self playing a waiting game.

He was itching for his first seniorgame.

In the Reds’ early fixtures in thePremier League, the German, signed bymanager Danny Wilson that summer,had been named on the substitutesbench, behind Barnsley’s number oneranked ’keeper, David Watson.

But then Watson suffered an injuryduring a match.

Lars recalls, with a glint in his eye ashe casts his mind back over 12 years tothat memorable afternoon: “Of course Ifelt for David but in all honesty it was adream come true for me.

“I’d always wanted to play one game inthe top flight.”

These days, the likeable Germandoesn’t have to battle his way throughthe streets of Cologne. He is hardly everstopped, unlike those halcyon days inBarnsley back in 1997, when the OakwellClub reached the top flight for the oneand only time in their history.

“I can remember when I first arrived inBarnsley,” said Lars. “It was a late after-noon. I went alone up to the ground andjust said to myself ‘I want to play justone game here’ and then the third homegame arrived and I got my chance.

So excited“I came on and it was the first home

victory as well. I was so excited becauseI knew how difficult it was to climb allthe steps up to the top flight. I was like‘yes!’ for each game.”

Few actually knew that the Germanhad never made a professional appear-ance prior to him signing for the Reds.

Leese arrived from Bayer Leverkusen,having been their third choice ’keeper –and was one of several foreign players tojoin the Reds in their bid to survive inthe Premier League.

For Barnsley, a small mining town stillrecovering from the industrial devasta-tion caused by Thatcher’s government inthe 1980s, it was more of a culture shockfor the towns’ folk, rather than the foot-ball team’s new arrivals.

Pronounced ‘Lay-zeh’, Leese stillsmiles warmly at how the people ofBarnsley used to say his surname.

“I didn’t mind. After a few months Ieven started to introduce myself as LarsLeece! It was fine, I saw the funny side ofit and it was nice.”

Leese may regard his first matchagainst Bolton Wanderers as the moresignificant date of his short-livedOakwell career, but Barnsley’s trip toAnfield on November 22, 1997 is what theshotstopper will always be rememberedfor.

Game of his life“I was thinking ‘me, a small boy from

Cologne, playing at Anfield?’ “Looking around the stands, the cam-

eras, the photographers, I really startedto enjoy it because it’s what you want asa footballer.”

The cameras were rolling and photog-raphers snapping. And Leese was aboutto have the game of his life.

“I can remember walking through thetunnel and it was getting louder andlouder,” he said. “When I made my firststep onto the pitch, my knees becameweak, they seemed to stop working!”

A string of world class saves were theresult of a Liverpool onslaught on the

Giant Lars looks back onOakwell days with affectionBarnsley goal.

Ashley Ward had given Barnsley thelead but as the match wore on the tiringvisiting rearguard was continuallybreached. Leese, however, was unbeat-able.

“I had plenty of shots at my goal in thesecond half. That’s part of your job ifyou’re a professional footballer. Youhave supporters shouting at you, too.They shouted ‘let one in you b******!’and I laughed so they became mad!

“I wasn’t nervous. It went so fast andsoon there were only 10 minutes to play.

“I thought even if I let one in and itwas a draw it would be okay. I was quite

confident. I was like ‘come on!’ I feltunbeatable.”

Describing the Liverpool stage as some-thing like an ‘opera’, Leese certainlyastounded all four sides of Anfield withhis defiance of the Liverpool attack,including fellow German Karl-HeinzRiedle.

“You don’t realise who’s shooting atyou. You don’t realise during a game, itwas white shirts against reds shirt.

“But it was a great honour playingagainst such a respected German inter-national.”

Barnsley had travelled to Anfield andsnatched all three points. Leese willremember it for the rest of his life.

“I couldn’t calm down. I wanted to ringeveryone up and tell them. In front ofthe Barnsley supporters, one of the stew-ards said ‘calm down, get to the dressingroom!’”

Leese was surprised by just how popu-lar he and his fellow team-mates becamein the town.

“I didn’t expect it that much. InGermany, as a professional footballer,you can sit in a restaurant and no-onewill really talk to you and ask you foryour autograph.

“In England, people were sitting infront of my door. I liked it, it’s part ofthe game, you get well paid and you justhave 90 minutes of practice a day, so youhave plenty of time to talk to support-ers.”

Leese never distanced himself from thefans, and always had his feet firmly onthe ground, which is testament to hischaracter; a friendly and down-to-earthperson.

“As a small boy in Cologne, players did-n’t sign anything for me. So I said tomyself, if I become a professional, I willalways sign autographs for supporters.

“For me it’s nothing special to giveaway my gloves, but hopefully the fanswill always remember the day I gavethem to them.”

The memories are obviously treasuredby Leese, who coaches German side,Bergisch Gladbach while studying forhis Fifa A licence.

However, it could have been a totallydifferent story for the giant German, ashe gave up football altogether as ayoungster.

Best job in the world“I didn’t miss out on life as a youngster,

as I stopped playing when I was 16. “But I missed three years of good train-

ing in goal, I was just hanging aroundwith my friends when I could have usedthe time for training to make me a bettergoalkeeper.

“It wasn’t worth it. If you get thechance, it’s the best job in the world. Tomake money with your hobby is definite-ly worth the sacrifice.”

The footballing world would be a betterplace if it was filled with more charac-ters like Lars Leese, those who appreci-ate what they’ve got, when they realisetheir dreams have become reality.

Supporters of Barnsley Football Clubwill never forget him.

Lars Leeseshows hisBarnsleycolours(left), and ispicturedbelow withReds fanMattGoodwin.

BRAZILIAN AndersonDe Silva (pictured inaction against Reading)will be one of the firstnames Simon Davey putsdown on his team sheetin the coming season –but only after he returnsfrom injury.

The samba star misseda couple of pre-season friendly fixtures because of a nig-gling ankle knock andthen pulled his ham-string in training on theeve of the ManchesterCity friendly.

He will be a doubtagainst SheffieldWednesday tomorrow.

Barnsley rejected twoseven-figure bids fromBristol City for the mid-field ace this summer.

To advertise telephone (01226) 734666 Kick Off, Friday, August 7, 2009 – 98 – Kick Off, Friday, August 7, 2009 To advertise telephone (01226) 734666

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Back row, left to right: Luke Potter, Jordan Hibbert, Hugo Colace, Steven Foster, Luke Steele, Bobby Hassell, Kayode Odejayi, Simon Heslop, Jon Macken, Martin Devaney, Daniel Bogdanovic.Front row, left to right: Reuben Noble-Lazarus, Jamil Adam, Darren Moore, Onome Sodje, Mounir El Haimour, Iain Hume, Anderson De Silva, Michael Coulson, Jacob Butterfield, Robert Kozluk. Inset: David Preece.

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10 – Kick Off, Friday, August 7, 2009 To advertise telephone (01226) 734666

‘All you need is a bit ofconsistency – and luck!’

Ex-Reds striker ‘Stan’ Ferenczi believes his former club can confound the bookies

FORMER Oakwell favouriteIstvan Ferenczi believes thatBarnsley can confound boththe bookmakers and the scep-tics in the coming season.

The bookies have the Redsdown as one of the favouritesfor Championship relegation– but Ferenczi reckons theycould be in for a big surprise.

The Hungarian hitman,known as ‘Stan’ in his days atOakwell, returned to his oldstamping ground withFerencvaros for a pre-seasonfriendly this summer – andwas impressed by the per-formance of second half sub-stitutes Kayode Odejayi, newboy Onome Sodje andteenage prodigy ReubenNoble-Lazarus.

“All three of them made areal difference to Barnsley’splay. They looked hungry andvery sharp. Reuben in partic-ular could go all the way tothe top. He has a special tal-ent.

“Even when I was at theclub the first team squadwere all aware that there wasa young lad coming throughwho had real potential.

“I also think Kayode has allthe attributes to be a success-ful striker in theChampionship for Barnsley.He has power, he has pace.He just needs to find that

consistency – and a littlemore luck in front of goal.

“In fact, that is what thewhole team needs, that littlebit extra consistency with ahealthy mix of good fortune!

“There are some good play-ers, with some youngsterscoming through too.

“I think that the managerwill be looking to sign one ortwo forwards to provide com-petition for Kayode and otherplayers like Jon Macken.

“The club have beenunlucky with the injury toIain Hume. They spent a lot ofmoney on him and he wasexpected to be a match-win-ner for them but the cruelinjury ruled him out for mostof the season.

“Hopefully they will get himback on the pitch and scoringgoals soon.

“Stephen Foster is a verygood captain and defender,while Darren Moore is verystrong and very experienced. Ihad a good battle with himduring the friendly! He isalways talking to the otherplayers and has very goodorganisational skills.

“He is crucial to the team Ithink.

“Barnsley look to have astronger defensive base nowbut they need to find a way toscore more goals.

“The Championship is avery tough league and youhave to have the right qualityplayers to unlock defences.

“A team is only as good asthe strikers you have – andthe goals you score. That iswhat proves decisive.

“But Barnsley have a goodmanager there in SimonDavey, who I believe is gettingbetter and better each season.He is learning all the timeand gaining more experienceas a manager.

“I really enjoyed playingunder him but it was the righttime for me to leave, eventhough I have to admit Imissed the fish and chips!

“Seriously though, I hadscored goals in my first sea-

Double act:

Istvan celebratesBarnsley’shistoric FACup quarter-final victoryoverChelsea atOakwell in2008 withgoalscorerKayodeOdejayi.IstvanbelievesOdejayicould yetmake animpact forthe Reds.

Istvan Ferenczi claps the Oakwell crowd who cheered him on hisreturn with Hungarian side Ferencvaros for a pre-season friendly.

Above: Istvan in his firstweek of training as aBarnsley player.

Left: Ferenczi warmsdown after the friendly atOakwell this summer,wearing the shirt ofDarren Moore, who hedescribes as ‘crucial’ forthe Reds because of hisstrength, organisationalskills and experience.

son at Barnsley, to help theclub stay in theChampionship but thenstruggled to get in the teamon a regular basis.

“But everything has gonevery well for me since return-ing to Hungary.

“I scored lots of goals lastseason to help Ferencvarosgain promotion back to thetop division.

“This term we will be look-ing to make an impact in thetop flight of Hungarian foot-ball.

“It would be nice for us tobe successful in Hungary andmy old team Barnsley to defythe odds and do very well inthe Championship.

“I think both are very possi-ble.”

Six new grounds for Reds fans to visit as the Valley is replaced by a Riverside

St James’ Park, home of Newcastle United.

Scunthorpe United’s Glanford Park. The Walkers Stadium, where Leicester City play.

The Riverside, base of Middlesbrough FC. The Hawthorns, home of West Bromwich Albion.

Peterborough United’s London Road ground.

Coming down from the Premier.....

Coming up from League One.....

To advertise telephone (01226) 734666 Kick Off, Friday, August 7, 2009 – 11

wishing BFCCONTINUED SUCCESS

“Come on you Reds”

New signing from York looking to make striking impact in first season at Oakwell

Onome eager to take his opportunityYOUNG striker Onome Sodje was Barnsley’sfirst summer signing.

He was initially brought in, on a free trans-fer from non-league York City, as part of theOakwell Club’s development programme ona one year deal.

But such has been his performances in theReds’ pre-season programme that managerSimon Davey says he could well make a firstteam impact this season.

The 20-year-old Nigerian-born forward hasput pen to paper on a one-year deal with theReds – but hopes to make such an impactthat a new contract will follow.

Sodje, whose uncle Akpo plays forBarnsley’s opening day opponents SheffieldWednesday, started out in CharltonAthletic’s Academy.

But it was at York that he caught the eye ofBarnsley boss Davey and his scouts.

He scored 22 goals in 81 appearances forthe Minstermen.

He also netted at Oakwell in a pre-seasonfriendly against Hungarian side Ferencvaros(picture right).

And Davey enthused: “I am very pleasedwith the impact Onome Sodje has made. Heis powerful, quick and has energy to burn.He has also proved he can finish, with thatgreat header against Ferencvaros, from apinpoint cross by Reuben Noble-Lazarus.

“We have no aspirations that Onome is thefinished article yet, but he works very hardand has an impact on every game he playsin.

“He makes things happen, is unselfish andcreates chances. Onome will get us goals thisseason. He has come a long way in threeweeks and if he keeps developing like thisevery three weeks I will be delighted.”

And talking of delighted, Sodje cannot con-tain his own thrill at joining aChampionship club.

He said: “You only have to look around thefacilities and the stadium to see what itmeans to me. It is totally different to YorkCity. I am very excited. I feel Barnsley are setto go places. There is everything here that ayoung player would need to develop. I amjust thrilled to be given the chance to devel-op and try to do something in the game.”

Kick OffSupplement:

Words: AndrewLodge andNathanHemmingham.

Pictures: WesHobson, JamieLorriman, ScottBairstowand KeithTurner.

Davey’s men denied the perfect pre-season after late Manchester City equaliser

Who ate all the (best) pies...?FOOTBALL fans still love their match-day pies.

But who provides the best?Well, Barnsley supporters who regular-

ly travel away to watch Simon Davey’sSuper Reds are in for a treat.

For being voted the joint-best inEnglish football are two Championshipoutfits: Ipswich Town and Reading.

Reading's steak and kidney pie, andIpswich's steak and ale number, mademincemeat of their rivals at the BritishPie Awards in Melton Mowbray.

The clubs' creations were each award-ed 91 marks out of 100, to scoop Goldawards in the football club category.

It was a particularly tasty win forIpswich, especially considering that

their fierce local rivals, Norwich City,have as their majority shareholder thelegendary cookery queen Delia Smith.

The Canaries decided not to enter thecompetition, but there were 105 clubs inEngland and 25 in Scotland who diddecide to put their pies on the menu.

An Ipswich spokesman said: “This isthe first year we've entered, and the ideawas to challenge Delia and Norwich to a'pie-off, but sadly they opted to not sendone in.”● But the overall winner came fromnorth of the border.● Scottish Highland League sideClachnacuddin were the overall winnerswith a steak and gravy pie that received92 marks out of 100.

Kayode Odejayi was Barnsley’s top marksman in pre-season. Here is he coolly tuckingaway the winner against non-league Gainsborough Trinity.

Pre-season pointersBARNSLEY were denied the perfect set ofpre-season results courtesy of a lateequaliser in their final match againstManchester City.

The Reds had gone into the match witheight wins from eight games and whenDaniel Bogdanovic had moneybags Cityreeling with a late strike, it looked asthough win number nine was on the cards.

However, Martin Petrov popped up twominutes from time to earn Mark Hughes’smen a draw.

The Oakwell outfit had started their pre-season preparation with their annual trip tonon-league Buxton – and goals from Mateseinternational Daniel Bogdanovic (2) andKayode Odejayi helped Barnsley breeze to a3-0 win.

It was the start of a scoring spree for bigman Odejayi. He was to find the net in hisnext four matches.

Next up was Hungarian side Ferencvaros,who included ex-Red Istvan Ferenczi intheir ranks.

The Reds registered a 3-2 win, with anown goal and strikes by Odejayi and newboy Onome Sodje before the club went on a

week-long break to Malaga in Spain. Theyplayed two fixtures, against Glenn Hoddle’sAcademy XI and CD Alhaurino, andclaimed 5-1 and 3-0 victories respectively.

The marksmen against Hoddle’s teamwere Odejayi, Jon Macken, JacobButterfield, Jamil Adam and Anderson DeSilva, while on the scoresheet againstAlhaurino were Odejayi and Adam (2).

Barnsley then returned home and splittheir squad in order to play non-league pairGainsborough Trinity and Fricley Athleticon the same night.

Another Odejayi goal earned the Reds a 1-0 win at Gainsborough, while on target in a3-1 success at Frickley were Butterfield,Martin Devaney and Bogdanovic.

The Reds then moved on to League Twoopposition, Bradford City, and claimed asolid 2-0 away victory with goals from cap-tain Stephen Foster and Macken.

They repeated that score in a behind-closed-doors match at home to a Hull CityXI, which saw youngsters Sodje andMichael Coulson on the scoresheet in thefinal match before City arrived at Oakwelllast Saturday.

12 – Kick Off, Friday, August 7, 2009 To advertise telephone (01226) 734666

SPOTLIGHT ON THE OAKWELL OLD BOYS WHO SIMON DAVEY’SREDS WILL FACE THIS SEASON

BARNSLEY FC GOALKEEPERS BIRTHDATE BIRTHPLACE PREVIOUS CLUB TRANSFER FEE APPEARANCES GOALSLuke Steele 24-09-84 Peterborough West Brom None 28 NoneDavid Preece 26-08-76 Sunderland Odense OB None None None

DEFENDERSStephen Foster 18-09-80 Warrington Burnley £100,000 78 6Bobby Hassell 04-06-80 Derby Mansfield Town Free 188 4Robert Kozluk 05-08-77 Mansfield Sheffield United Free 68 NoneDarren Moore 22-04-74 Birmingham Derby County Free 39 1Luke Potter 17-07-89 Barnsley Barnsley Academy None 1 None

MIDFIELDJacob Butterfield 10-06-90 Bradford Barnsley Academy None 9 NoneJamal Campbell-Ryce 06-06-83 London Southend United £175,000 83 13Hugo Colace 06-01-84 Buenos Aires Newell’s Old Boys Undisclosed 35 NoneMartin Devaney 01-06-80 Cheltenham Watford Free 168 18Anderson De Silva 28-08-82 Sao Paulo Everton Undisclosed 53 2Mounir El Haimour 29-10-80 Limoges (France) NE Xamax Undisclosed 17 NoneSimon Heslop 01-05-87 York Barnsley Academy None 1 NoneJordan Hibbert 25-10-90 London Chelsea None None None

ATTACKERSJamil Adam 05-06-91 Bolton Bolton Wanderers None 2 NoneDaniel Bogdanovic 26-03-80 Libya Lokomotiv Sofia Undisclosed 16 5Michael Coulson 04-04-88 Scarborough Scarborough Undisclosed 25 2Iain Hume 30-10-83 Edinburgh Leicester City £1.2 million 16 4Jon Macken 07-09-77 Manchester Derby County Undisclosed 75 17Reuben Noble-Lazarus 16-08-93 Huddersfield Barnsley Academy None 2 0Kayode Odejayi 21-02-82 Ibadon, Nigeria Cheltenham Town £200,000 75 7Onome Sodje 17-07-88 Nigeria York City Free None NoneSTAT ATTACK

WE’LL MEETAGAIN:

Barnsley bossSimon Davey andex-Red star BrianHoward will be plying their tradein the same divi-sion next season –after the midfield-er suffered Wembley heartbreak in May.Howard lost along-side Davey lastyear in the FA Cupsemi-final againstCardiff (pictureabove, by KeithTurner) – and atend of last season, this timein Sheffield Unitedcolours, Howardsuffered furtherheartbreak in theChampionship play-off finalagainst Burnley. As a resultBarnsley missedout on £300,000that they wouldhave received ifthe Blades hadwon promotion tothe PremierLeague. Themoney was due aspart of the thedeal that tookHoward to BramallLane.

Barnsley-bornstriker Jon Parkincheered the Redson last seasonfrom the PontyEnd (left) but willbe part ofPreston’s squadthis season.

Ex-Red Paul Hayes, who plies his tradewith newly-promoted Scunthorpe United.

Michael Chopra, after being booed in hisearly days as a loan player at Oakwell,gradually became a firm fans favourite.This season he will be a key component inCardiff City’s team, after completing a£4m-plus move from Sunderland.

Chris Morgan was very popular with hishometown supporters during his daysas an Oakwell defender, but his clashwith Iain Hume last season saw theSheffield United man come in for heavycriticism from Reds fans.

Stephen McPhail helped Barnsley toLeague One play-off glory. He now controls the midfield department forCardiff City.

Welsh international Lewin Nyatanga spent a successful spell on loan at Oakwell but this summer moved from Derby to Bristol City in a£400,000 deal.

Michael McIndoe had a majorimpact as a goalscoring widemidfielder in his brief spell as aBarnsley player, before movingto Wolves. He then teamed upwith Bristol City but is struggling to tie down a firstteam place. A summer switch toSheffield United fell through.

To advertise telephone (01226) 734666 Kick Off, Friday, August 7, 2009 – 13

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Foster fighting fit and raring to gofor fresh Championship challengeSTEPHEN Foster is hopingfor an injury-free season thatgoes hand in hand with teamsuccess.

The Barnsley captain wasplagued by a niggling groininjury towards the end of the2008-2009 campaign – butplayed through the pain bar-rier in order to help theOakwell Club retain theirChampionship status.

He has now shrugged offthose injury worries – andhas played up to his usuallyhigh standards in the Reds’pre-season matches.

Now he has set his sights onhelping turn the Reds into afar more established andharder-to-beat Championshipteam.

He said: “This summer waspretty quiet for me. It wasvery nice to be able to spenda bit of time at home with myfamily. I was able to get abreak away on holiday,recharging the old batteries!

“We had a fitness pro-gramme to work on throughthe summer and it was toughto start with, as I was stillstruggling with some littleknocks and niggles that I hadpicked up towards the end oflast season.

“But those gradually easedand I enjoyed the pre-seasonfixtures. I thought we didpretty well and are now rar-ing to go.

“I cannot wait to get crack-ing and the season certainlykicks off with a mouth-water-ing match, a local derby atSheffield Wednesday.

“Last season ended upbeing a long hard slog to behonest.

“I had an operation on mygroin late in the campaignbut the situation we foundourselves in, battling to get

the first few months of theseason.

“But we know we have asquad of players here atOakwell now who are capableof so much more than scrap-

away from the bottom of thetable, meant that I had topush myself through the painbarrier.

“I never really felt 100 percent in those closing fewweeks of the season but Ialways gave 100 per centeffort.

“I always felt I did the teamand myself justice.

“And it worked out alrightin the end, with the teamstaying in the Championship.

“During the summer I wasable to work on the strength-ening work programme and Ifeel absolutely fine now.

“In fact I actually feelstronger. I’ve had some timeoff, feel fully refreshed and Iam looking forward to acracking Championship cam-paign.

“I think we can surprise alot of people and do well.

“Staying up last season wasan achievement, especiallywhen you look at the clubsthat went down.

“And this term looks to bejust as tough, perhapstougher. Some very big teamswill be in the Championshipthis season, teams likeNewcastle United,Middlesbrough and WestBrom, but we feel we are a lotbetter than what we showedin the 2007-2008 campaign.

“There were times when weput in some very good per-formances but we were notconsistent enough.

“We never took our opportu-nities when they came along– and never really turned onewin into two, two wins intothree and so on. We were toohit and miss.

“The start we had certainlydidn’t help our cause. It putus on the back foot and weended up playing catch-up for

CaptainStephenFosterbelievesBarnsley willimprove theirstanding in theChampionshipthis season.

ping at the bottom end of thedivision.

“We just need to nail thatconsistency as a team andindividuals.

“Make no mistake, all theplayers who were here lastseason know we under-achieved as a team – and aredetermined not to let thathappen again.

“The players who have comein during the summer havealso added to that feeling of‘it’s a fresh start let’s go outthere and make people sit upand take notice of us.’

“Of course we are fullyaware that this season’sChampionship is harder than

ever, with so many perceivedbig clubs in there, but we allfeel here that if we perform toour ability on a consistentbasis then we will finish thiscoming campaign higher upthe table.

“As players, we let the man-agement, the fans and our-selves down last season andthat is something we are des-perately keen to put right.

“We want to set the recordstraight and prove to peoplewe are good players and thatwe can combine well as ateam.

“There is such a fine linebetween success and failureand that was shown last term.

“There were a lot of occasionswhere we had got ourselvesinto a winning position, orwere on the road to a gutsypoint but we let it slip awayright at the death, eitherthrough individual errors or alast-minute lapse in concen-tration.

“It all comes down to the lit-tle details.

“Our main objective as abunch of players this timearound has to be to defendwell, score more goals as ateam and turn those drawsinto wins – and those defeatsinto valuable points.

“I’m really looking forwardto it.”

The gang’sall here:

TheBarnsleyplayers congratu-late theirskipperafter Fosterhad headedthe Reds infront duringtheir friendly winover LeagueTwoBradfordCity.

‘We just need to nail that consistency as a team andas individuals.’ – Stephen Foster

The rest of the Reds’ rearguard...

Barnsley look set to have a settled back four this season, injuries permitting of course. Darren Moore(above, far right), will partner skipper Stephen Foster at the heart of the Reds rearguard, while BobbyHassell (above left) and Rob Kozluk (above, centre) will be the full-backs.

14 – Kick Off Friday, August 7, 2009 To advertise telephone (01226) 734666

Davey on Noble-Lazarus:

He is 16 in Augustand has played wellin pre-season. He isa big talent. I want to

fast-track his developmentrather than see him play withthe Academy this season, sothe fans should expect to seemore of him involved in thefirst team set-up. He’s anextremely talented young playerand one we have very highhopes for. We’ll nowstart to see anacceleration in thattalent.

Davey on Potter:

I have bigplans for LukePotter thisseason. He

has a good left foot, he’sbig, strong and got plentyof Yorkshire grit. We havea good player on ourhands with him, and heshowed that to the sup-porters when he wasthrown into the homefriendly with Ferencvarosand coped very, verywell.

Meet the man with

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IT took Simon Davey just a couple of hours todecide that Stuart Gibson was the man to helphim reform the coaching set-up at Oakwell.

The pair had met before and swapped variousideas but once the Reds’ boss cast his eye overGibson’s CV, he did not need long to make up hismind.

“It all came about very quickly,” Stuart admit-ted. “I got a phone call on the Friday to say can Icome up for an interview on Monday.

“I obviously said yes and drove up Mondaymorning, spoke with Simon and I was just northof Exeter on the way back to Devon when Simonphoned to say the job was mine. It was all donein the space of a few hours.”

Like his new employer, Stuart has also spenttime on the continent honing his craft and,armed with a Scandinavian pedigree, hopes hisknowledge of coaching youngsters will barefruit at Barnsley.

“I went to Sweden in 1985 on a six month con-tract to a team called Oddevold and I ended upstaying for 12 years.

“I was gobsmacked at the coaching. It was adifferent class, it was unbelievable. I had a goodyear and got offered a good contract.

“In my second year I signed for BK Hackenwhere I broke my ankle. This was the secondtime I had broken my leg and I made a con-scious decision that I was not going to be able toattain the level of football that I wanted tobecause of two broken legs.

“But I was so impressed with the coaching set-up that I started doing my coaching courses. Ienjoyed myself out there and learned a lot. Iplayed under a Dutch manager, with Hungarian,Swedish, Danish and even players from Croatia– a fantastic variation.

“The thing about youth football in this coun-try is that it has no stature. But in Europe it ismassive.

“Fortunately, at Barnsley it has been recog-nised by the manager and the owner and it issomething they really want to see work.

“The problem is that a lot of clubs have anAcademy and think that is it – they just play atit but don't know their stuff.

“The second most important person at BayernMunich is the head of youth. The most impor-tant is the first team manager. That is howmuch attention club's abroad pay to their youthset-up.”

Davey’s decision to ditch the reserve team forthis season and replace it with a developmentsquad raised eyebrows at first but the new manbelieves the decision is something that a num-ber of teams will eventually make.

“The development squad is new to Barnsley. Itis a concept which is new to English football. Idon't know how many development coachesthere are but I would guess at less than 10 in thewhole country.

“The job is the kind of role I have been sayingshould happen for quite a while now. It's com-monplace in Scandinavia, where young playersare given time to develop longer, not like here inEngland.

“The reason it has come about is becausereserve football has been watered down over theyears.

“In my days, the Central League and reserves

would feature a lot of international players whowere in need of first team match fitness and ifthey were not internationals they were still firstteam players and because of that it was compet-itive and the standard of competition was high.

“Nowadays, teams cannot afford to take areserve team long distances and also not everyclub has a big squad, so what you find is a lot ofthe time the reserve team matches are actuallyAcademy kids v Academy kids.

“The Championship is getting stronger andstronger every year and it is taking that stepfrom the Academy to the first team further andfurther away.

“That means it is getting harder and harder tomake that step up.

“Academy and youth football is also develop-ing and moving quickly and this (developmentsquads) will come more and more into the game.

“You now need something in betweenAcademy and first team football.

“In my day it was reserve team football butnow you need something like a developmentsquad where you can work on a player'sstrengths and weaknesses which is not just thetechnical side but also the physical side.

“The resources here at Barnsley are very good.There is a training ground, a good gym on siteand if a player is lacking in physical stature youcan work extra on that for three to six monthsor even a year for example.

“The kids can sometimes fail if they go intothe first team at the wrong time and it canknock them back six months to a year and somemay not come back.

“The manager needs to know that we are 99.9per cent sure that the player is technically, men-tally and physically ready for it. The other pointone you will never know about until he does it.

“In the past players get pro contracts and thenthey get lost. They stop doing the basics andstart strolling in with their toilet bag undertheir arm before training and sit down and starttalking instead of concentrating on the goodbasics that you had at Academy level.

“There are good pros and there are bad prosand nine out of 10 that come through get intothe habit of being a bad pro but that is just lifein general and in anyone's profession.

“Once they get their pro contracts that’s whereI come in.

“They already have the ingredients for thegame, that's why they have the contract, all theyneed to do now is add to that.

“They can go to the first team too early.Players make mistakes but the young lads willmake mistakes through fear of making mistakesand then they try and do something amazing tomake up for that but just end up making anoth-er mistake and then all of a sudden their gamegoes.

“What we want them to do is go and join thefirst team and feel free to express themselveswithout the fear factor.

“There is much more of a design and structureto it now. Not just a case of come through theAcademy and then sink or swim with the firstteam. There is a lot more planning involved.”

It is still early days, of course, and Gibson hasonly been in the job for two months but healready feels as though he can make an impres-

sion at the club. At Plymouth he was responsi-ble for bringing youngsters Dan Gosling, GarySawyer and Luke Summerfield into the first-team, as well as Reuben Reid and Ryan Dickson.

Gosling has since signed for Everton.And he is now hoping to play a major part in

the development of Barnsley’s young and gifted.“I have obviously not spent too much time

with the players yet, it has been pre-season but Ihave seen one or two things that I think we canwork on.

“First of all, they are all good footballers so Idon't want to highlight anyone because thatwould be unfair but I saw four or five of them atBuxton and did not see any amazing flaws.

“In fact, even with the first team players I have

been impressed. This is the best group of prosas a whole that I have ever seen in person.

“I know you may expect me to say this but it istrue. You never hear a moan during training.Players can get frustrated and disillusioned butyou never hear a player say 'why are we doingthis again.'

Stuart’s role will not just be coaching players.He will oversee the whole development struc-ture.

“As well as doing the training and deliveringthe coaching sessions, my role will be arrangingmatches along with the manager for us to lookat these players and give them games.

“I will also be looking to develop relationshipswith other clubs and some of the development

To advertise telephone (01226) 734666 Kick Off, Friday, August 7, 2009 – 15

Davey on Sodje:

He is powerful,quick and has energy to burn. Onome has also

showed in the pre-seasongames that he can finish. We have no aspirations that

he is the finished article yet,but he works very hard andhas an impact on everygame he plays in. He makes things happen,

is unselfish and createschances. Onome will get us goals

this season and if he keeps developinglike this I willbe delighted.

The manager needs to know that we are 99.9 per centsure that the player is technically, mentally and

physically ready for first team football. The otherpoint one you will never now about until he does it.– Stuart Gibson

Davey on ButterfieldHe’s a committedyoung player andhe’s done very,very well in pre-season matches,

creating chances for othersand scoring acouple of goals,one a real cracker atFrickley.

Davey on Adam:

“He’s donevery well in our pre-season

programme, scoringgoals and looking anattacking threat andhe is determined tomake the next steptowards thefirst team.”

a development plan

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It was only a two-year part-time contract, andhe returned home last year.

It was during his time at Darlington when hefirst met a certain Welshman.

“I first came across Simon in 1997/98 when hecame on loan to Darlington - I remember havinga couple of chats with him - he seemed to bekicking his heels in the office talking football.

“In 2005 at the Academy exit trials at DerbyCounty I bumped into him again where he washaving trouble with Billy Davies (at Preston).

“I was having similar problems with Tony Pulisand he gave me great advice. He gave me thenames of a few people I could speak to and said ifI ever needed a voice I could call him.

“I then spoke to him when he asked for somebackground information on Heinz Muller fromwhen I was in Norway and after the deal Simonrang to thank me for the advice. I asked him if Icould come up and visit Barnsley one day. I cameand watched training, had lunch and then wentto watch the reserves at Rotherham.

“When I saw the job offered on the FA coacheswebsite I immediately applied and sent my CV toSimon. He rang and said he would be in touch atthe end of the season.”

However, one of the reasons why Gibson is soimpressed with his new challenge at Oakwellstems from a bad experience at Darlington.

“I spotted Ross Turnbull, the goalkeeper now atChelsea, and took him to Darlington for a trial.

“The problem was, we had no facilities like thisand we had to conduct the trial in a local park. Itwas not what you call ideal. We wanted to signhim but the day after Middlesbrough took him ontrial too and it goes without saying that after oneday using the facilities there that he decided tosign for them.

“When Ross was called up in to the Englandjunior set-up, I was called into the Board Room atDarlington and given a right talking to for notdoing enough to sign him.

“But there is not much you can do to impress akid on trial when you have to do it in a localpark.

“That’s why it is great to be able to work withthe facilities that you have at Oakwell because itdoes make a massive impression on parents andkids when they come to have a look around.”

Stuart will be hoping his time at Barnsley willbe more successful than his last stint in Englishfootball, where, despite nearly six years atPlymouth, he was forced to leave under a cloud.

He was heavily criticised by former Argylemanager Tony Pulis in a match day programmeduring the 2005-2006 season and as a result, tooklegal advice.

It was after that incident that Stuart took theoption of joining Norwegian outfit Steinkjer FKand, speaking about his strained relationship,Stuart said at the time: “The man (Pulis) has noidea about youth development; otherwise hewould have harnessed it just like Ollie (Ian hol-loway) did.

“He (Pulis) was just ignorant and I think it isnow very clear how wrong he was. It was just ashame that other people were silent when theirvoices should have been heard.

“I feel more than justified and proud of how Iconducted myself.”

squad players would go out on loan when we feelthey are ready for loan.

“It will be my job to watch them play and fol-low that up. It will also be for the apprentices.

“Anyone doing well will be fast-tracked into thedevelopment squad like Reuben for example.And that is open for any of the apprentices.”

Following his 12-year stint in Scandanavia,with included spells in both Sweden and Norway,Stuart returned to England to take up a post asthe head of youth at Darlington in 1997.

He followed that with almost six years as youthteam boss at Plymouth Academy before return-ing to Scandinavia, but this time Norway, to takeup a post as manager of Steinkjer FK inDecember 2006.

The man with a plan: Stuart Gibson has been handed the responsibility of guiding througha promising crop of young talent from the club’s Academy.

16 – Kick Off, Friday, August 7, 2009 To advertise telephone (01226) 734666