After a short break for international football, the Reds return to action this weekend and will welcome early Sky Bet Championship pacesetters, Bristol City to Oakwell on Saturday in a 3pm kick-off.
Despite this last fortnight being deemed a 'break' of sorts, it has been as eventful as ever at Barnsley. The departure of Gerhard Struber kicked things off.
The man who helped steer the Reds to an improbable safety mission just a few months previously in one of the world's most competitive leagues, decided after a third league defeat in four games - at Boro last time out - to make the move to the home of soccer.
Back here in the home of football, there were further departures in the form of two players brought to the club by the Austrian coach in Kilian Ludewig whose loan-deal was mutually terminated, and Marcel Ritzmaier who has made a season-long loan move to Rapid Vienna back in his homeland.
The club quite rightly thanked all three men for their sterling effort and commitment to the cause during the 'great escape' campaign.
Central defender Bambo Diaby had his contract mutually terminated following a two-year FA Anti-Doping ban.
There have been a number of additions to the playing group also. Scottish youngster Jack Aitchison arrived from Celtic and the forward was swiftly sent on loan to Sky Bet League Two outfit Stevenage FC, where he made his debut last weekend, playing 90 minutes in his new side's 0-0 draw at Mansfield Town.
Full-back Callum Brittain was signed last weekend, joining from Sky Bet League One outfit MK Dons for an undisclosed fee and will be looking to make his Reds bow this Saturday as we take on the league leaders.
The big news on the transfer front came on deadline day with the arrival of two brand new midfielders. Well, new in the case of Herbie Kane certainly. The attacking midfielder arrived from Liverpool on a four-year deal.
He was joined by a former Reds favourite as we brought Matty James back to Oakwell on a loan-deal from Leicester City. The holding midfielder adds some vital experience to the young squad and is without doubt a real coup.
And whilst interviews have been taking place since Struber's decision to head to the Big Apple, regards the vacant Head Coach position, a new man isn't imminently expected, and so it looks like Adam Murray will once more lead from the dugout in the interim.
The former Mansfield Town gaffer spoke to the press in midweek, as did his goalkeeper Jack Walton and you can watch both of their pre-match press conference interviews by clicking the linked videos below.
Murray is a popular figure at the club and was also in caretaker charge when the Reds last met the Robins in this fixture, last season. That finished in a 2-2 draw with Barnsley fighting back for a point having been 2-0 down. Maybe Adam will be able to find the magic that's been missing so far in 20/21, particularly in terms of the Reds' output in front of goal.
Just one point from the opening four league fixtures and just the one goal to show for over 360 minutes of football. The solitary strike being Cauley Woodrow's penalty kick in the dying embers of our defeat on Teesside on October 3. Under Murray last term, the Reds did score in every fixture, eight goals across the five matches. It was keeping goals out at the other end that was the issue, with Barnsley drawing three and losing two of those games.
Its been practically 12 months, strangely enough - thanks to the impact of COVID-19 - since the former Derby County midfielder's first caretaker stint. He will be hoping for a big performance at the weekend, and we imagine it will need to be to take anything from this one against a side who've won all four league games and currently sit atop of the embryonic Sky Bet Championship standings.
It’s been a fantastic start to the new campaign for Robins boss, Dean Holden.
Saturday's visitors made some very canny signings during the summer, so it’s not a huge shock seeing them start so well. They added proven nous up top in Chris Martin, strengthened their defence with former Reds central defender Alfie Mawson and brought veteran midfielder Chris Brunt to Ashton Gate too.
Former Huddersfield Town hotshot Nahki Wells is a proven scorer at this level, assisted by the likes of Jamie Paterson and Andy Weimann from a little deeper, and in central midfield, the Robins added another ex-Red in Joe Williams. It's a very talented and well balanced squad at Holden's disposal as he looks to make good on the promising work done by his predecessor and our former coach, Lee Johnson who was dismissed after four years in charge during the back-end of last season.
You've to go back eight years for our last victory in this particular fixture. That was a 1-0 win at Oakwell in 2012, with Jacob Mellis' goal earning the Reds all three points under Keith Hill.
Five of the last eight clashes have ended in 2-2 draws. In fact, this has to be one of the most high-scoring football fixtures in history. There have been many 5-1, 5-2, 5-3 scorelines for both sides. Lots of 3-3 draws too, and, a 7-1 Reds win in 1913 and 7-4 defeat in 1958!
It'll be 0-0 on Saturday, we've just jinxed it.
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