Although he’s been in the Oakwell hotseat for less than a fortnight, Mark Robins has certainly stamped his authority on the club, and early indications suggest that the future is looking a lot brighter for the Reds.

The new gaffer has injected more belief and a greater work ethic into the squad, and they no longer look like the side which capitulated as soon as they conceded a goal earlier this season. I hate to use that old stereotype - but we actually look like ‘Battling Barnsley’ again.

It has also been a refreshing change to listen to Mark’s post match interviews and feel like you’ve been to the same game as him. Not only does he give credit where it is due, but he’s not afraid to criticise if he feels it necessary. This is in stark contrast to Simon Davey who would often speak in bland cliches and rarely reveal anything insightful (which ultimately contributed to his lack of rapport with supporters).

Fans can forgive bad performances if they know the players have given 100% commitment and that they are treated with respect by a manager who gives an honest view of the game, explains his decisions and doesn’t seek excuses. So far Mark Robins has delivered on all fronts.

However, as he has rightfully pointed out, actions speak louder than words and where his predecessor spoke about becoming more ruthless, Robins is ruthless. He may be thoughtful and quietly spoken but you can already tell that this masks a steely determination to succeed.

There will be little doubt in the dressing room as to who is in charge. To quote the man himself “If the players come with me and do what I am asking of them there won’t be a problem. If they can’t or won’t then it is a different matter”. And he’s been good to his word with under-performing players dropped or dispatched on loan, and reinforcements recruited to solve obvious frailties (such as a lack of competition in defence).

His demeanour on the touchline during games also suggests that he is a man in control. He continually stalks his technical area encouraging or berating his players - in fact I can’t remember him retreating to the bench in any of the matches so far. I also like the fact that he’s not afraid of making decisions or indeed acknowledging when he’s made the wrong decision. The Watford match illustrated this when he had no hesitation in replacing the below-par Thompson with Odejayi after just 30 minutes. Not only that, but he then took Odejayi off when he too failed to have an impact.

Of course it is still early days and we shouldn’t get carried away by a couple of good results. The next few months are going to be tough - especially with the transfer window being closed till January - but Mark Robins is certainly winning over many fans by the way he has gone about the job so far. His hard work and honesty has certainly struck a chord with the people of a town which was built on similar values.

Although it is sad that Simon Davey has finally left the club it was an inevitable conclusion considering our continued poor form. It became impossible to justify a record of only 1 League win in 14 attempts and no home victory since March.

There is no doubt that Simon brought many positive things to Oakwell. He steadied the ship in his first season, had the epic FA Cup run in his second, and built a solid infrastructure at the club - such as bringing in a development coach to bridge the gap between Academy and First Team and creating an extensive scouting network. However, managers will always be judged on results and unfortunately for Simon it was becoming abundantly clear that we were heading for a fourth straight relegation battle under his leadership.

Clearly this was a totally unacceptable position to be in again, and both the fans and the Board knew action needed to be taken. Yet I read in the national press - and surprisingly from a number of our own players - that avoiding relegation every season should be viewed as an achievement for a club like Barnsley.

‘A club like Barnsley’ presumably being defined as small town, unfashionable, no money etc. The stereotypical ‘battling Barnsley’ as we are so often condescendingly viewed as. Now correct me if I’m wrong, but haven’t we had more seasons in the second tier of English football than any other club? We’re hardly punching above our weight or drunk on over-ambition by expecting mid-table mediocrity are we?

What has really got me going have been a number of stories in the media which are seemingly based on the two times the journalists have seen us in action under Simon Davey - namely the Liverpool and Chelsea FA Cup victories. There is no doubting that they were two phenomenal performances, but they didn’t offset the numerous poor displays we witnessed in the bread and butter of the Championship (e.g. just 12 wins in 61 away games) . If those two encounters had been typical performances would Simon Davey now be out of a job? Of course not. They were the exception, not the rule.

One Guardian journalist - I won’t name her to save her embarrassment - talks of the ‘…sweet passing football that had persuaded locals to make “it’s just like watching Brazil” the team’s anthem’. I think she is the only person to have ever compared the style of football witnessed over the past two and a half years to that of Pele, Zico and Ronaldinho. I have no doubt that is the type of football Simon Davey encouraged, but it certainly never materialised.

The same journalist then moves on to the old myth over lack of resources and how Simon Davey had ‘used his imagination in beating Barnsley’s budgetary restrictions’. During his tenure Simon spent in the region of £3m on transfers and brought in almost 40 players (including loans). Not only that, but he wasn’t under any pressure to sell his star names (e.g. JCR last season) and he had a Chairman who was willing to sanction the mammoth wages of Kevin Phillips. His hands were hardly tied were they?

Compare that with a couple of clubs down the road - namely Doncaster Rovers and Sheffield Wednesday. Sean O’Driscoll has spent just £300k over a similar period and built an excellent side which plays the ’sweet passing football’ talked of by our Guardian friend. Likewise Brian Laws has invested only £500k in 3 years and provided a team which is always comfortably mid-table. In both cases they have also been forced to continually part with their prize assets to balance the books.

And how much did Owen Coyle spend on transfer fees to get Burnley - a similar sized club to ourselves - promoted to the Premier League? Absolutely nothing!

Don Rowing hit the nail on the head when he spoke on Sky earlier this week. He talked of football being aspirational - about believing that one day we may grace the Premiership again. If we don’t have a dream what on earth are we working towards?

Patrick Cryne reflected last year about his fear that he would only be remembered for saving the club, rather than achieving something with it. He has invested an awful lot of time and money in trying to take the club forward and quite rightly his ambition doesn’t end with fourth from bottom.

What we now need is an enthusiastic and ambitious manager whom both players and supporters can rally behind. If we become ‘Stronger Together’ then why can’t the dream become reality?

I know it’s a cliche, but Saturday’s game at Hillsborough really was a game of two halves - or as Brian Laws succinctly put it “We (Wednesday) were like Real Madrid in the first half and a real pain in the a**e in the second!”

The first period certainly had a feeling of deja vu about it with effectively the same side we fielded last term illustrating the same shortcomings - poor goals conceded at one end and golden opportunities missed at the other.

Jon Macken said that Simon Davey gave the players a ‘rollocking’ at half time and it certainly seemed to have the desired effect with the Reds going on to dominate large periods of the second half and scoring two very well taken goals. Butterfield showed great composure with his finish and Macken deserves credit for keeping his head up despite missing a couple of great opportunities earlier in the game.

Although the goalscorers will deservedly get the headlines, the key man for me was Anderson De Silva who performed well for the full 90 minutes. He was a class apart and at the heart of almost every attacking move we had - his performance underlined how critical it was we retained his services over the summer.

The other positive to come out of the game was the attitude of the players. To come back from 2-0 down is a big achievement - especially in a local derby game at a ground we have historically struggled at. Perhaps the lack of transfer activity has had a constructive side-effect in that we have a very settled squad which appears to have developed a strong team spirit.

It is also apparent that whatever we as fans think of Simon Davey, the players clearly support and respect him. He just needs to convert his good work on the training ground into results on the pitch and then I’m sure he will begin to win over the doubters. Incredibly some fans were already calling for his head after 45 minutes of the season. Give the man a chance - lets judge him after he has made the signings he wants to and can field his strongest side.

The game at Hillsborough further emphasised how critical it is for the gaffer to get new faces in. Firstly there is the left back spot. Rob Kozluk is trying his best but clearly isn’t comfortable on that flank - if he can’t contain 35 year old winger Michael Gray then he is going to be further exposed against more mobile players. I’d be tempted to give the naturally left sided Luke Potter a chance after his strong displays in pre-season.

The other problem evident against Wednesday was the lack of width - you could probably count on one hand how many crosses we got into the box. In fact the only decent delivery we had resulted in Butterfield’s goal. Hopefully the signing of Adam Hammill - and a return to form by JCR - will go a long way to rectifying that issue.

Hammill should also bolster our set pieces. It defies belief that direct free kicks around the edge of the box are having to be taken by Bobby Hassell. That’s no disrespect to Bobby, who is a fine player, but 7 goals in nearly 350 appearances does not suggest he is a dead ball specialist. From what I’ve seen of Emile Hallfredsson he could take up that mantle if he signs on loan - it looks like his left boot could match the power of Dominik Werling’s!

And if you add Andy Gray into the mix then we are beginning to assemble a decent Championship squad which should have enough quality and experience to banish fears of relegation.

What is important now is that we keep the momentum of pre-season going. If we can do a professional job at Lincoln then we can head into our first home fixture high on confidence.

It is sad to hear that Simon Meeks passed away over the weekend. Although many of us who worked with him knew that he had a terminal illness, I still don’t think any of us were prepared for such a loss.

Simon, of course, covered Barnsley matches for The Star and was a popular figure around Oakwell. He was an excellent journalist who managed to develop a good rapport with Simon Davey and Patrick Cryne, which often resulted in him breaking a number of ‘exclusives’.

Although he gradually developed a soft spot for the Reds, Simon originally hailed from Norwich and was a Canaries fan at heart. As you’d expect, he was never allowed to forget that fact by us Barnsley lads in the press box, and he was constantly on the receiving end of some anti-Norwich banter! Don’t feel sorry for him though because he gave as good as he got and he especially revelled in our seemingly annual thrashings at Carrow Road.

He had a wry sense of humour and was a very unassuming bloke in what can be an egotistical industry. His dignity over the past few months was testament to that.

Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time and hopefully Norwich City can do him proud this coming season and get promoted back to the Championship.

The news that Heinz Muller has departed back to his homeland is disappointing but not surprising.

With Luke Steele taking the German’s No.1 spot at the end of last term - and subsequently signing a new 2 year contract - indicated that Heinz would be seeking pastures new. There was no way the club were going to keep two keepers of their calibre happy. In fact I’m surprised we have got this far before one of them departed.

Some fans are suggesting that the rumoured £600k transfer fee is inadequate for a player of Heinz’s quality, but to put it into perspective he is 31 years old, he would have been available for free at the end of the coming campaign, and we will have a healthy return on the original transfer fee we paid, which will aid Simon Davey in rebuilding the squad.

There is no doubt that Heinz will go with best wishes from Reds fans. He put in some outstanding performances for the club and became a cult hero at Oakwell. I suppose the stand-out memory is of his last minute penalty save against Preston the season before last. Unfortunately within weeks of that performance he suffered a serious knee injury, which he never seemed to fully recover from. It was most noticeable in his wayward kicking, and last season he struggled to recapture his early form. He was never quite the commanding and assured presence he had been in his first season.

That said, I would still rank him amongst the best goalies I’ve seen at Oakwell (along with the likes of Dave Watson and Steele) and I’m sure he will do a great job for Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga. Good luck to him.

With both Heinz and Kyle Letheren leaving Oakwell that means we have only one senior goalkeeper in the squad, so it would appear Simon Davey will need to recruit someone to compete with Luke Steele. Or perhaps after his Masters’ performances Kelham O’Hanlon fancies himself to make a comeback?!

Last weekend saw the 2009/10 Championship finally take shape following the end of the Premiership campaign and the Play-offs.

So what impact will the new entrants have on the division, and will it make it even harder for the Reds next term?

Of the sides dropping into the Championship - Newcastle, Middlesbrough and West Brom - I think the latter of the trio are potentially best placed to bounce straight back up. The Baggies are the archetypal ‘yo-yo’ club who have been in this predicament before and will be well prepared for it. In fact, they deliberately avoided spending big bucks so that if/when the inevitable happened they wouldn’t be saddled with huge debts and forced to sell players. Provided they retain the services of the wily Tony Mowbray - rumoured to be a target of Celtic - then I would expect them to be challenging for an automatic return to the Premiership.

I’m not convinced Newcastle will be joining them. The club is clearly in turmoil, and with the untested Alan Shearer in charge it may be that a season of consolidation is required (although I suspect that won’t be tolerated by either his Board or the ‘Toon Army’). They will have to cope with the loss of a number of key players, and no matter how much money Shearer is given it will take time to gel a new squad together. They will also have to cope with the huge expectancy of their fans and the prospect of being a prize scalp for every other team in the division.

As a Reds fan I have to say I’m not too concerned by the prospect of Middlesbrough entering the division. If you take Tuncay and Dowling out of their team (both of whom will surely leave) then you are left with an average Championship squad. Boro have overstretched themselves financially over recent seasons in trying to compete in the Premiership and won’t be flush with cash next season to rebuild their side. The jury is out on Gareth Southgate too, who seems to be as unpopular at the Riverdside as Simon Davey has become at Oakwell!

With regards to the clubs promoted into the Championship - Leicester, Peterborough and Scunthorpe - I think they will have differing fortunes next term.

Nigel Pearson did a remarkable job last season with the Foxes, leading the division from beginning to end, and they should easily adapt to life back in the Championship. Provided that Milan Mandaric doesn’t default to his ‘hire and fire’ tactics then I would expect them to be competing in the top half of the division.

Peterborough have come a long way in a short time under the leadership of Darren Ferguson - two seasons ago they were in the bottom half of League 2 - and it remains to be seen whether they can continue the momentum. I would hazard a guess that it may be a step too far for them, but they may have just enough quality to stay up.

And finally that leaves us with Scunthorpe United (or Barnsley reserves!) who only lasted one season in the Championship last time they were promoted, but Nigel Adkins will have no doubt learnt from that experience. Glanford Park is always a difficult place to go and they will be relying on their home form to get a foothold in the division.

Already it appears the bookies have got us as one of the favourites for relegation - alongside Scunny and Plymouth - but if we manage to make some key signings over the next couple of months then I don’t think we have an awful lot to fear ahead of the 2009/10 Championship campaign.

The departures of Kyle Letheren, Marciano Van Homoet, Diego Leon and Dennis Souza seem to have passed without comment this week.

Normally the ‘retained list’ sparks huge debate amongst supporters, but it has to be said the departure of this quartet has come as little surprise.

Dennis Souza has been a big disappointment this term following the successful impact he had last season. The big defender has become error-prone at the back and seems to have lost a lot of confidence. He certainly didn’t help his cause by refusing to sit on the bench against Palace in March having been dropped from the First XI. I suspect that was the final nail in the coffin as far as Simon Davey was concerned.

Spaniard Diego Leon has never quite looked comfortable in English football. There is no doubt about his technical ability - some of his passing and movement has been sublime at times - but he simply didn’t have the physical strength or pace to compete in the hurly-burly of the Championship. It was no coincidence that probably his best game for the Reds was in the FA Cup tie at West Ham where he was afforded the time and space to do what he did best and embarrassed a good number of so-called ’superstar’ Hammers. Alas Diego’s departure also means we say a fond farewell to Mrs Leon, who arguably put in more eye-catching performances at Oakwell than her husband!!

As for Marciano Van Homoet, well the best you can say for him was that he had pace and was able to get forward down the flank to support attacks. However, his pace couldn’t mask the fact that his tackling and distribution wasn’t good enough for this level of football and he was never able to secure a consistent place in the starting XI.

Finally - and perhaps least surprisingly - the Club have released goalie Kyle Letheren. Unfortunately the abiding memory most Reds fans will have of Kyle is his nightmare performance against Wigan in pre-season where we conceded 6 goals. With Heinz Muller and Luke Steele ahead of him in the pecking order he was never going to make the breakthrough, and his stints at Donny and Grimsby this season indicated his future lay elsewhere.

As always it will be interesting to see where these players end up next season, although I can’t imagine our paths will cross in the future as no doubt most will return to the Continent.

It has been interesting to see that football agents have already moved into top gear in readiness for the Summer transfer market - especially in relation to two on-loan Reds players.

Sky Sports’ website has produced a couple of stories this week, both of which would appear to have been planted by the respective players’ agents. 

Firstly, Andranik is quoted as saying that ”My contract runs out next year and I would like to return to Fulham.” The probable story here is that Barnsley have told him they don’t require his services beyond the end of the season, therefore he has to try and rebuild bridges at The Cottage. As one bloke who sits behind me at Oakwell sagely observed, Andranik is ‘a rich man’s Togwell’, referring to the fact that he runs around a lot with little end product yet probably earns significantly more than poor Sam ever did. Andranik then goes on to contradict his statement of loyalty to Fulham by saying that “(my) contract allows me a transfer to a different club if I have an offer. I would consider other offers.” Which - in agent speak - means ‘please come and get me’.

Meanwhile ‘Sky Sports understands’ (i.e. his agent rang them) that Adam Hammill is being tracked by ‘a plethora of clubs …thought to include Bolton, West Brom and Wolves.’ Again, the likely truth behind this is that Hammill has realised he has no future at Anfield and his agent wants to put pressure on Barnsley to make an offer (and therefore prompt a bidding war for his services).

I’m sure that the Oakwell hierarchy are wise enough not to fall for all this propaganda. Due to the parlous financial state of most clubs at present it is likely that there will be plenty of players available for transfer over the Summer and the Reds don’t need to be hasty in their recruitment policy. We need to concentrate on quality - not quantity - of signings. Although it would be nice if we could recruit Adam Hammill who has been ‘earning rave reviews’ and been a ’shining light’ for the Reds, so much so that he has ‘alerted the England U-21 coaching staff’ to quote the words of his agent…sorry, I mean Sky Sports!

At least there has been some good news emanating from Oakwell this week, with everyone’s favourite canine being awarded a prize at the annual Mascot Gold Cup.

Apparently Toby won the ‘Best Mascot in Parade Ring’ at Wetherby Racecourse, where he was no doubt demonstrating the same type of swagger he displays at Oakwell before kick-off.

I’ve always been intrigued by football mascots - or more specifically the people who don such outfits. Why would you do it? Surely there can’t be much job satisfaction - you have to lumber around the pitch wearing a very heavy (and sweaty) costume while several thousand people take the mick out of you. Nor can it have much kudos with the ladies either. You can imagine the scene; you’re on a first date in a posh restaurant with the girl of your dreams. All is going well, when the conversation naturally turns to what you do in your spare time. “So what hobbies do you have?” she enquires. “Well, I like to dress up as a giant dog…”

Talking of dogs and dating - I’m not going where you think here - reminds me of that awful decision to create ‘Tina Tyke’ as a partner for Toby. Whoever came up with that concept needed their head testing. A bulldog with a handbag and the facial expression of an inflatable doll (so I’m told!). It was like something from an erotic version of Hammer House of Horror. Unsurprisingly Tina was soon sent to the doghouse.

Anyway, I’ve gone off at a tangent. In the same way you wonder why you never see baby pigeons, or why men have nipples - I’m sure I’m not alone in wondering who is ‘Toby Tyke’? (I also wanted to know who ‘The Stig’ was, but his identity was revealed the other week). There have always been plenty of rumours circulating amongst fans, from the plausible (an Academy player) to the bizarre (a former Chairman), but most have ultimately proved to be unfounded.

I did unwittingly discover the identity of a mascot the other week at Coventry. I was making small talk with the chap in the press room before the game and he came across as an intelligent and unassuming guy. Anyway, about an hour before kick-off he made his excuses and left (I assumed he was heading to the press box to prepare for a broadcast).

Imagine my surprise therefore when said man walked into the press room at half-time dressed as an elephant (minus head obviously or I wouldn’t have recognised him!).

It begged two questions. Firstly, why would a well-adjusted bloke perform such a role? And secondly, what the hell has an elephant got to do with Coventry?!

Well you certainly can’t say it’s dull being a Barnsley fan. There’s no danger of mid-table mediocrity for us, as once again we head into the final week of the season with our Championship status at stake.

It could have been oh so different. Had we hit the back of the net against Derby in a game we dominated, had we scored that penalty against Forest, had we not conceded at the death against both Watford and Coventry. And that is just in the last month! There is a thin dividing line between success and failure, and unfortunately we’ve been the wrong side of it all season.

The result at the Ricoh Arena was a classic example of a missed opportunity - a draw plucked from the jaws of victory. It is easy to point the finger of blame at the referee - or curse our bad luck - but the players must also accept some responsibility. Yet again both Bogdanovic and Macken missed simple chances which would have given us an unassailable lead, and in the last 20 minutes we retreated deeper and deeper, allowing Coventry to camp in our half with the inevitable consequences.

For once I actually felt sorry for Simon Davey. He got his tactics spot on, he picked the correct personnel, his substitutions were timely and logical and he clearly had the players motivated. He must have felt as though he’d run over a black cat or walked under a ladder.

So, on to our next ‘cup final’. Anyone who thinks Saturday’s game will be easier because Wolves are already promoted and Mick McCarthy is a Barnsley lad are sadly mistaken. They will want to put on a show in front of a sell-out away following and as there isn’t any pressure on them they can play without fear. Equally, if there is one thing we know about Mick it is that he is as committed as a manager as he was as a player - there will be no room for sentimentality.

Unfortunately I won’t be at Oakwell to see the game because I’m off to a wedding. I accepted the invite many months ago when I assumed the Reds would be comfortably placed and there would be little at stake. How wrong I was!

As the wedding doesn’t start till 4pm I will no doubt have to sit in the church listening to the commentary like on one of those comedy sketches - although I will try and refrain from jumping up during the nuptials if we score! Rest assured that while I’m in church I will take the opportunity to pray for divine intervention at Oakwell!