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Barnsley s poor performance in a 2-0 loss at Preston North End was a normal human process in their first game after their place in the Championship play-off was secured, says Valerien Ismael.
The Reds conceded either side of the break to set piece goals and lacked their usual intensity in their final away game of the season.
Ismael told the Chronicle: We didn t give the performance we wanted and it is a big disappointment. It is a typical case when you reach your goal last week then the pressure comes down and you switch off for a short time. It is a warning to refocus, come back to our intensity and have a good week of preparation for the last game against Norwich (next Saturday).
3:01pm
There is fake crowd noise being played loudly at Deepdale. It could be the final time Barnsley are ever subjected to it if fans return for the play-offs then next season, as planned
3:02pm
2 Preston win a corner on the right after a decent move. Sepp van der Berg s cross is blocked
3:03pm
3 Preston corner on the right is played short then the cross is blocked by Chaplin for a throw
3:04pm
4 The long throw is headed up in his own six yard box by Dike who seems to play keepie uppies with it before conceding another corner, which is cleared easily
Valerien Ismael was delighted to cap Barnsley’s ‘unbelievable rise’ during his six months as head coach with a place in the Championship&.
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After a play-off place was secured, Doug O Kane looks at what the Reds may need to do to reach the top flight
ENJOY ACHIEVEMENT BUT RE-FOCUS ON HUGE OPPORTUNITY
THERE have been two strong emotions detectable from Barnsley fans this week
One is an immense pride in their team for allowing them to dream of the top flight for the first time in decades and for capping an excellent season, which has brought joy in difficult times, with a place in the Championship play-offs.
The other is a growing excited tension and a sense that, while there will be no shame in losing a semi-final or final they were never expecting to participate in, the Reds may never get a better chance to return to the top level and net the £150million or so that would totally transform the club.
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Where do you even start to analyse Barnsley’s magical, history-making and potentially club-changing season which, following this week’s results, will end in a play-off campaign?
Do you go back to when Patrick Cryne – having saved the club from financial oblivion as the second tier promotion challenges of 1997 and 2000 faded into distant memory – decided after relegation in 2014 to abandon the old strategy of recruiting journeymen and focus on only developing young talent?
You could concentrate on the current owners, who took over from Cryne in 2017 and – despite worrying legal disputes off-the-pitch – have delivered two of the club’s four highest points tallies ever in their first three full seasons in charge and made increasingly excellent decisions in the appointment of head coaches and recruitment of players.