Lee Johnson feels Barnsley are still in pre-season as he tries to gel together a 'new and young squad' which he says is almost where he wanted it to be before the League One campaign began.
The Reds have one of the youngest teams in the country while 11 of the 18-man squad for the 2-1 home loss to Shrewsbury Town on Saturday arrived this summer. They have won three, drawn two and lost four this season while playing twice every week until this week.
"It feels like we are doing a pre-season now," head coach Johnson told the Chronicle.
"Not fitness-wise, but with our tactics and team integration. It's been a very topsy-turvy start to the season in terms of results and performances. If you look at the goals we have conceded so far this season, we wouldn't have let them in if this team had been together for longer.
"It's a young squad and a new squad. I wanted this squad that I have now, plus maybe one more signing, at the start of pre-season. Obviously that was always going to be difficult."
Johnson admits he reads the fans' forums on the internet – because the club's owner Patrick Cryne does – and that he is aware of the criticism he and the team are receiving for their start to the season. He said: "We have to close ranks a bit as a group and a team and it might have to be a siege mentality. Whatever goes on in the coming weeks, we will fight and communicate and get better."
Johnson says communication is the key to unlocking his young side's potential. He has called some of his players 'mutes' and played alongside them in a friendly against Lincoln City on Tuesday in order to encourage them to be more vocal. Johnson said: "Communication is the most important thing. I don't know whether we will ever be able to nail it. I could communicate when I was 17 but maybe that's because my dad was a manager and it was a different era.
"The younger section of society now don't communicate as well and we have tried to fast-track that. I will be picking a team that is good at communicating. If we had a 35-year-old leader in the centre of midfield we wouldn't have to do that work but we haven't got that player. We have very good players who will be stars of the future but, at the moment, they need to learn that communication and make the game easier for themselves. It won't happen overnight. It will happen over probably 20 games.
"We don't fully know what our best team is yet. It's a balance between the energy, quality and communication. I am frustrated because we have good players and we're very close. We just need to stay patient. I was frustrated on Saturday and my communication and body language wasn't as good as it could have been."
