Up into the play-off spots. Shows how thin the dividing line between success and failure is.
And emphasises the importance of being in the Championship. With a small well managed squad there’s always a chance of getting on a run and sneaking sixth place. And then who knows what can happen..
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For his sake and to give belief to many other clubs, I hope they go up this year via playoffs.
It is indeed a fine line between success and failure as @kinveachyaddick said. Let's hope we get to emulate that in the not too distant future.
What Ismaël has done better than any manager in the football league is adapt to the five subs rule. He’s often used them all by the hour mark. I am sure that could backfire occasionally but it’s interesting to see how many games where that extra energy off the bench has made a positive difference to them.
I don't blame them for the result on the last day, I blame Brentford.
It's bad enough having "Birthplace: Barnsley" permanently on your passport, but I then ended up going out with a bird from Barnsley for 8 years, which resulted in me having to travel up to visit there once every few weeks to visit her mum, who lived in a pretty village outside the town called Dodworth.
A few tales that sum the place up for me - After her mum died, the house was on the market for quite a while, and we used to go up once a month to check it was okay, no leaks, frozen pipes etc. The estate agent retained a key for the house so that he could conduct viewings for potential buyers. A few days prior to one visit, they showed the house to an Indian doctor and his family. We arrived up on the Friday afternoon, and within half an hour of getting in the house, one of the neighbours knocked on the door:
"Eeh, you're not selling 'ouse to t'Pakis are ya? Don't want the whole street smelling of curry!"
I also went to watch a Sunday lunchtime game in the local pub on one occasion. The pub was virtually empty, enabling me to hear chapter and verse from one of the locals (who was at least 35) about the beating he'd given to some bloke from one of the nearby villages who decided to venture into Dodworth for a pint on the Saturday night.
The last time I went up there, the front page of the local paper was focussing on the latest trend amongst local youths - setting fire to wheelie bins so that they could get high on the fumes.
They're the sort of people that claim Northerners are friendly and Southerners aren't, but actually they're friendly to each other a hostile to everyone else.
As an aside for any horse-racing fans, the mate in question went on to own Badsworth Boy, who was a star at The Cheltenham Fesitval in 1983, 1984 and 1985. Dad and all the pit-lads were lumped on that day in 1983. Lovely footage of Doug patting Badsworth Boy on 7.50 on the Youtube video. Every time we played at Barnsley, I would stop off at the farm and give Badsworth Boy a sugar-lump and Doug would give me a couple of season-tickets so we could sit in the main stand.
It comes in many shapes, could be from a league one promotion, strong finish end of a previous season, or in Barnsley’s case surviving against all odds.
With that of course, you need enough backing that you can keep your current team with a few tweeks.
I genuinely believe if Thomas came in the day after Wembley we’d of made a real go of promotion to the premiership last season.
Some superb restaurants up there.