SPORTING director Mladen Sormaz has ‘loved’ his time at Barnsley so far and promised fans to communicate more in the future.
Sormaz was appointed in February, having previously worked in recruitment for 777 Partners who have owned various football clubs across Europe – after he worked with Huddersfield Town and Leicester City.
He told the Chronicle: “I have loved it. I love the passion.
“There is loads of noise around the club all the time because the fans really care. That’s what I really wanted. I love the EFL.
“Having a role like this at a club as big as Barnsley is a great first sporting director gig for me.
“I have spent pretty much every minute since I have started thinking about how we can make next season or the next three or five years better.
“I am really passionate about this project and it’s been great so far.
“I should be honest and say that there has not been a lot of communication from me.
“That is probably because I came in at the end of February, there were a lot of games condensed in a short time.
“You don’t need players’ heads turning because you are speaking out in the media for the sake of saying ‘I’m here’.
“It was a case of working in the background and getting things going.
“As we start executing things, there will be more communication from me on the football strategy.”
Barnsley sacked Neill Collins with one league match remaining last month and put Martin Devaney in charge for the play-off semi-final against Bolton.
Trailing 5-2 at half-time in the second leg away from home, they came back to 5-4 and almost forced extra-time.
Sormaz said: “We could only do that (sacking Collins) because we trusted Martin. We thought we would play either Peterborough or Bolton in the play-offs and the only way those teams lose is if they are pressed and attacked consistently throughout the game.
“We saw that in the second leg at Bolton, we dominated and came within a goal of taking it to extra-time and maybe getting to the final.
“Obviously, it didn’t come off so we take any criticism.
“But the thought behind it was the style of play for those games.
“At some point we thought Neill couldn’t do that for us long-term.
“As much as I respect Neill and enjoyed working with him, we thought long-term he wasn’t going to provide the style of play we wanted. So why wait?
“The easy thing would have been to let the season die off and try again next year. There’s no scrutiny if you do that.
“But we know if you attack it and maximise chances in the short-term, that’s all you can do.”
The aim now for new head coach Darrell Clarke is clear.
Sormaz said: “For Barnsley in League One, the goal will always be promotion.
“Part of the reason we got Darrell is because he has a track record of five promotions. He knows how long and tough an EFL season can be, especially Saturday, Tuesdays.
“We have got him in to maximise what we’ve got in the squad next year and get us towards the top end of the table in what will be a dogfight of a league.”
