It started with defeat at bottom club Doncaster and ended with the sacking of manager Keith Hill, in 2012 Barnsley were the worst club in the Football League!
Counting all 90 clubs that were in the Premier and Football League for the entirety of the calendar year The Reds finished 90th as they picked up just 0.77 points per game. This was the same as Queens Park Rangers, but The Reds finish bottom due to having played eight more games than the Rs. They won just nine and lost 29 out of 47 matches and scored only 39 times.
Not surprisingly the two Manchester clubs topped the table although United finished above City, whilst Barnsley’s South Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United were fourth.
Meanwhile the club have taken a rather unusual step of releasing a statement to update people on the state of the managerial search.
The club hope to have a new boss in charge by the next Championship match- the derby with Leeds on the 12th January and have started interviewing candidates.
Former Nottingham Forest and Doncaster manager Sean O’Driscoll was believed to head the shortlist but it has been reported he has told the Oakwell board he is not interested in a move back to South Yorkshire.
In the statement, quoted below, the club appear to aim sly digs at former boss Keith Hill, who had labelled the club a “sacking club” and had criticised the supporters during his time in charge.
The Board of Barnsley F.C have drawn up a shortlist of applicants for the vacant First-Team Manager’s position and the interview process has commenced.
The Board will seriously assess every aspect of the character they want to bring in to the football club before making a decision.
It has been said that it is a tradition of Barnsley Football Club to change the Manager often, whereas reality suggests prior to Keith Hill's departure there had been only one managerial dismissal in the past six years.
The Board has stated it is imperative that, as a Club, they realign themselves with the supporters. Barnsley Football Club need to become more involved in the community – an area in which it appears to have taken a backwards step over the past couple of years.
The Board are hopeful of making an appointment prior to the Leeds United fixture on January 12th