A high-pressing superfit football team at Oakwell who have turned their form around this season under a German-born coach.
Many Reds fans will recognise that description of Daniel Stendel’s Barnsley but may not realise that it also applies to Chris Hamilton’s Barnsley FC Ladies.
The 30-year-old was born in the army base of Rinteln, Germany where his father was stationed with the military – and also where Reds goalkeeper Adam Davies was born five years later. But he grew up in Scotland and played for Livingston, Dumbarton and others in a decade-long career.
He arrived at Oakwell in June after success with Lincolnshire side Nettleham and took over a Reds team which had narrowly avoided relegation the previous season.
There are multiple similarities with the men’s club as both Oakwell outfits were bought out by ambitious new owners midway through last season, with local businessman Steve Maddock aiming to take the Ladies into the SuperLeague in five years. Both sides have also changed the way they play as former Hannover96 boss Stendel has brought the ‘gegenpress’ counter-attacking style to the men’s team.
Hamilton said: “We don’t play the same formation as the men but we play the same high-tempo and pressing style. “It’s good that there is that same philosophy running through the club and, if the fans of the men’s team come to watch us, they will see some similarities.
“Both teams are doing really well this season which is great for the club and for the town. The men’s club are putting our reports on their website and interacting with us more which is great.”
Hamilton’s side lost six of their first seven matches but have now won four in a row. He said: “Anyone who has watched our games all season will know that a run like this has been coming. We have been playing well in every game but now we are turning those performances into wins.
“When you get the first win then the second, it just starts to build and we have a lot of momentum and confidence now. There are still areas we can improve in and we’re working hard. We have been creating ten good chances per game on average and I think we are due to give someone a real hammering. One of the main things I wanted to improve when I took over was the fitness. We did a lot of work on that in the summer and that is really starting to pay off.”
Barnsley are now ninth out of 12 in Division One North with ten points from eight games but, in a congested table, they are just five points off the top three. Hamilton said: “We are not getting carried away, we’re splitting the season up into little blocks of three or four and not looking too far ahead.
“The next target is to get into the top half of the table then we’ll look to push on from there. I believe that, if we play like we can all season, no one can stop us apart from ourselves. Last season the club only stayed up by a goal so it was never going to be a one-year turnaround. It’s a three or four-year project.
“The main thing for this season is to show Barnsley is a progressive and attractive club which players want to join. Before this season I was having to work really hard to get players to come here but we are getting more interest now.
“We want to be one of the biggest clubs in Yorkshire, not the place where players go if they can’t get a deal anywhere else. That is starting to happen.”
The Reds will look for a fifth successive win when they host second-bottom Morecambe on Sunday on the Oakwell astroturf from 2pm.
