Barnsley boss Darrell Clarke has labelled his side ‘sloppy’ despite picking up three points from last season’s play-off rivals, Lincoln City.
The Tykes registered their first league win at Sincil Bank since December 1972 to get their campaign up and running, but their new boss was far from happy with the performance. Backed by a vocal crowd, they took an early lead through Sam Cosgrove, who slipped Sean Roughan in the area and finished low to keeper George Wickens’s right-hand side.
After that, the Tykes were largely second-best and yet managed to double their lead after halftime. Marc Roberts nodded home a cross from the right, but they continued to ride their luck. Roberts was fortunate not to concede a penalty for a foul on Tendayi Darikwa in the box, and despite Ben House’s late acrobatic consolation goal, Barnsley held on for the win.
However, it wasn’t enough to satisfy Clarke, who finally got a degree of revenge on the Imps. It was defeat against them at Port Vale which cost him his job, and a late goal conceded at the tail end of last season against the Imps pushed his Cheltenham side onto the precipice of relegation, from which they didn’t recover.
“Nowhere near good enough,” he told the Yorkshire Post of his side’s performance. “I don’t paper over the cracks, the performance was poor. We were sloppy.
“We had one or two good moments and I am pleased to win so I don’t want to be too negative, but we have to be better. Our decision making, transition of the ball was sloppy.”
The Tykes now have three home matches in a row, starting with Manchester United Under 21s this week in the EFL Trophy. Northampton visit the league next weekend before another midweek cup match at Oakwell, with Championship outfit Sheffield United the visitors.
They are braced for a departure before those games are completed – Hungarian international Callum Styles is set to complete his move to Championship front-runners West Brom this week. Styles, who has not played for Clarke’s side this season, has been valued by his employer at around £500,000.
Writer’s View
It was a tough afternoon for Lincoln, as they were by far the better side in terms of possession, shots and xG. However, there is only one stat that counts, and that is goals scored. Clarke might have felt his side were sloppy in possession, but in front of goal they were clinical – three shots, two goals, three points.
He might not feel it right now, but there’s a lot of pressure on the former Bristol Rovers boss. Barnsley have been in top six two seasons in a row, falling short on both occasions, but they haven’t started this campaign in the manner some fans might expect. Losing Styles will be a further blow, and they need a couple of good results heading into that cup tie with the Blades.
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