Barnsley start life after Gerhard Struber against Championship’s high-flyers

Barnsley are set to start life without their miracle-working manager at the helm, as they welcome table-toppers Bristol City to Oakwell.

Barnsley’s start to the 2019/20 campaign has been fairly catastrophic, picking up just one point from their opening four league games. They now prepare for their first match since manager Gerhard Struber left the club to join New York Red Bulls.

The Austrian miraculously led the Tykes to survival last season, with a last-minute winner on the final day at Brentford which sealed their place in the Championship for another campaign. Barnsley were bottom of the league and seven points adrift of safety when the league restarted in June.

Despite the Tykes’ recent run of poor form, losing Struber so early in the season is a huge blow. Under his management, he made Barnsley a very tough side to play against and teams struggled to leave Oakwell with a result. Unfortunately for the South Yorkshire side, they were unable to compete financially against a top MLS side and had to let Struber leave for an undisclosed compensation fee.

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Various names have been linked with the job at Oakwell, with Darren Moore, Hannes Wolf and Eddie Howe looking to be the bookie’s favourites. Despite all the rumours, caretaker head coach Adam Murray will take charge of the Tykes this weekend.

He doesn’t have the easiest of jobs either, as Barnsley welcome table-toppers Bristol City to Oakwell. The Robins have won all four of their opening league games this season, having scored eight goals and conceded just two. While not originally tipped as a promotion candidate, Bristol City are proving their critics wrong so far this campaign.

Under Dean Holden, the Robins have taken on a unique 3-5-2 formation that has seen Andreas Weimann and Jamie Paterson transformed into attacking midfielders. The duo have combined to score four goals between them so far this season as Bristol City seem to be a much more threatening side going forward than they were last season.

Barnsley are, in fact, facing a similar dilemma to the problem Bristol City had back in July. The Robins made a shock decision to sack manager Lee Johnson after a poor run of results saw them fade away from the Play-Off race. Johnson took over at Ashton Gate in 2016 with the club sitting dangerously near to the relegation zone. He subsequently transformed them into promotion contenders and famously led them to the Carabao Cup semi-final in 2017/18.

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Sacking such an influential manager was a huge risk for Bristol City, but one that has so far paid off as they’ve shot up the league table under new manager Dean Holden, who was assistant manager under Johnson. Barnsley have similarly lost an incredibly distinguished manager and one that had worked miracles with the players available. While the situation looks daunting for them, the Robins have shown that Barnsley can bounce back from losing Struber, should their next managerial choice be the right one.

Caretaker manager Adam Murray will have another chance to prove that he’s the right man to take Barnsley forward. The former Mansfield and Boston manager took charge of the Tykes after Daniel Stendel was sacked last season, drawing three and losing two of the matches under his management.

While Barnsley have proven that they thrive in the underdog position, it looks unlikely that the Tykes will come away with a result against the Championship’s in-form team. The transition period that they now face without a permanent manager could be long and hard, as they continue to search for their first win of the season.

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Bristol City will be expected to keep their sensational form going. While still not nailed as one of the automatic promotion contenders, many fans have been surprised by the Robins’ recent performances and there’s a genuine feeling that the squad Dean Holden has at his disposal can challenge for a Play-Off spot.

Adam Nagy and Famara Diedhiou have both played for Hungary and Senegal respectively during the international break, so may be given an extended rest rather than travel to South Yorkshire. Callum O’Dowda should be fit to return to the squad on Saturday, while Tomas Kalas is still a doubt due to a shoulder injury.

Bambo Diaby won’t be featuring for Barnsley again, as the 22-year-old was handed a two-year ban by the FA for testing positive for a banned substance, and subsequently had his contract at Oakwell terminated. New arrival Callum Brittain may be handed his first start, having recently arrived from MK Dons.

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