Barnsley have had a poor first half of the season, which has led to the team being rooted to the bottom of the table. As a result, the club had no other choice but to change the manager by sacking Keith Hill ahead of the January transfer window in order to give his replacement an opportunity to bring in a few players of his own. They were hoping to lure the Nottingham Forest manager Sean O’Driscoll as the replacement. O’Driscoll is clearly the first choice for the club and the fact that he had been sacked by Nottingham Forest a few days ago looked to have made things easier.
O’Driscoll revealed on Sunday that he did have talks with the Barnsley board over the various aspects involving strategies, but he decided not to accept the offer from the club. The Barnsley director Don Rowing has revealed that it is extremely disappointing not to get a man of the O’Driscoll calibre, but he understands the decision taken by the former Nottingham man. Barnsley decided to sack the manager Keith Hill after the poor run of results concluded with the 3-1 defeat at the hands of manager less Blackburn a few weeks ago.
His assistant David Flitcroft has been placed in charge of the team on a short-term basis. “It is a body blow for us. I think he liked what he saw but it was just the wrong time. He has undoubted coaching ability and has great experience in this division but we pick ourselves up and we will look elsewhere. We have to be very careful in terms of what we do and give it some thought. We don’t want to make a rash or rushed appointment; we have to get someone who is right for the football club,” said Rowing.