Gerhard Struber was delighted with his rampant Barnsley side as they ran out 5-3 winners at the weekend against Queens Park Rangers at Oakwell.
After what was an electric, end-to-end game of football, the Reds’ boss told us: “I am very very happy for my team but mostly for every Barnsley fan. This was such an important game for us, we gave a good performance but even better, we got the three points.
“Its been a difficult week, but we end it with 4 points. We wanted 2 more but we’re happy. Together, my players played a very good game, especially the offence. They’re doing what we need them to do, to stay in this league.”
Barnsley still sit at the foot of the Sky Bet Championship table, but it can be argued that the performances have warranted more points since Struber has taken over.
Going forward the Reds have looked fantastic under the new management, that has been obvious with the amount of goals that have been scored. The struggle remains keeping them out at the other end.
The coaching staff are aware of this and are looking to improve the team in that area as the Austrian coach explained, saying: “The reality is we conceded three goals, we must work very hard next week to solve this. My to-do list is long, but step by step we get better in our process.
“We have to work on our defence, and we have a full week to do it. I think the training will help to make us more compact at the back. I have a plan of what we need to do to improve in that area.
“I see today a mentality that is not one of a relegation team.”
The players have really stepped up their performances both individually and as a team in recent weeks and that has resulted in the upturn in results. One man in particular, Conor Chaplin, who scored a hat-trick in this weekend’s victory is really impressing the Head Coach.
“I am delighted with Conor and how he’s playing. I am happy with all my players, really. Every player is very important in our programme. My style is always teamwork, we don’t just want to create for on or two players, but instead, everyone. They all did a good job today.”
Due to an injury sustained in the Reds’ 1-1 draw with Reading last Wednesday, Ben Williams missed out on the R’s game, giving Clarke Oduor his full first team debut and Struber was happy with the youngster’s performance.
“It was a very good performance from Clarke,” the boss explained.
“I think he is very reliable. He has a good dynamic, he’s great offensively and he’s good technically too. He’s a big talent here in Barnsley, we hope we can continue to improve him.”
The Reds face a journey down south in a week’s time to face next weekend’s opposition Milwall, at The Den, a ground that Barnsley have enjoyed some good results at in recent times and they will be hoping to keep that up with their first away three points of the 2019/20 season.
