Jose Morais believes Barnsley's second half performance in their midweek loss to Burton Albion is a 'turning point' in their battle against relegation and that a victory will change the mood at Oakwell.
The 52-year-old from Portugal has been head coach for a week after taking over from Paul Heckingbottom and caretaker Paul Harsley. His first match on Tuesday saw Burton lead 2-0 after a poor first half display from Barnsley who were much improved after the break but lost 2-1 after being denied an injury-time penalty. The Reds have won just one of their last 18 matches in all competitions, and none of their last seven, a run which has left them 23rd in the 24-team Championship.
They are one point adrift of safety with a game in hand on many of the sides around them ahead of matches at fellow strugglers Birmingham City and Hull City in the next four days. Morais told the Chronicle: "One win would change everything because positive moments bring more positive moments. One win will turn our form but I also believe that the second half against Burton is a turning point.
"I am taking the positive of what I saw in the second half with the players' attitude, character and reaction. I want to move forward from that and have that from the start of the game. It is a question of mindset and belief. The players need to agree with me that they have potential. We don't want to play like we played in the first half again."
Morais has signed an 18-month contract but has said that he would like to stay at Oakwell for longer than that. He is hoping to bring an attractive style of play to the Reds but, in the short-term, he says he will sacrifice that to get results and is expected to be more direct at Birmingham tomorrow.
He said: "Now I just have to use what I have, being pragmatic, practical and adapting, while also introducing some things that can help the game we have now like keeping the ball more and unbalancing the opponent more. The way I want to play will take some time and we don't have time to do that.
"The second half (against Burton) was an image of a way that you can play and have possibilities to win the game. I now have more information and a better feeling about the players so I am able to take decisions in the future which will probably help the team in the direction that I want to go in."
Barnsley chief executive Gauthier Ganaye has said that Morais was always the top choice for the job and that other candidates were only given an interview 'to make the process transparent.' Morais has revealed he did not have to make an initial application for the job, as he was approached by the Reds following Heckingbottom's exit.
He told the Chronicle: "I had been looking for the opportunity to come back into English football and I had been following as normal the Premier League and Championship for different reasons. Barnsley spoke to me about the possibility of a vacancy here and they contacted me to see if I was interested.
"I said: 'wait a second, let me try to know a bit more about the team and I will give you an answer very, very soon.' I analysed the team. I watched them live and felt the atmosphere (against Sheffield Wednesday). That made up my mind so I went to an interview."
Although the January transfer window has closed, Barnsley could still sign free agents. Asked if that was a possibility, Morais said: "What I want to do is to take up the belief of these players, and I believe we have enough quality to do what we have to do."
Morais was one of Jose Mourinho's assistants at Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Chelsea – winning the Champions League with Inter in 2010 as well as doubles in both Italy and Spain. He has also been a manager at clubs in various countries including Greek giants AEK Athens last season.
He now has 14 games to keep Barnsley in the Championship, something he is confident of doing.
"The team is where it is. There is a lot to do every day in order to achieve a certain goal, which is to make things better and get a certain number of points which allows us to stay in the Championship. We expect to be in the Championship next season.
"We learned in a hard way (against Burton) and we will move on from that because I see that there are players with enough quality to change the situation we are in. My job is to establish confidence and create some stability. We need to create a rapport and tell the players we are here for only one cause. Football is a fantastic game which reveals character and that is what I want my players to do, to reveal their characters.
"We need to do something different because, if we do things in the same way, we will achieve the same results which have not been good. When you say you want to achieve something in two months, you need to give feedback which can create some discomfort in people but we need to forget to worry about the future and remember to worry about the present."
Morais was asked about Christoph Knasmullner, the Austrian midfielder who joined in January but has not been in a matchday squad yet."He is close. I realise that he is a player with quality. He is on the way to being ready and I believe he will be useful."
