‘We are HORRIBLE to play against’: High-energy Barnsley can go all the way in the play-offs and win promotion to the Premier League, insists Cauley Woodrow
- Barnsley have transformed into different beast under manager Valerien Ismael
- The Barnsley manager has overseen a frantic, high-octane brand of football
- Ismael’s men face Swansea in the first leg of their play-off semi-final on Monday
- Striker Cauley Woodrow said he’s never known a team with such high work ethic
Barnsley were bottom of the Championship with two matches left last season before injury-time winners against Nottingham Forest and Brentford pulled off arguably the greatest escape ever seen in English football.
It was a spectacular achievement but, if anything, the encore has been even more impressive, particularly with new manager Valerien Ismael replacing Gerhard Struber, who departed for Major League Soccer.
Ismael has overseen a frantic, high-octane brand of football that would make Jurgen Klopp and Marcelo Bielsa blush and taken the homely South Yorkshire club to just three games from the Premier League.
Barnsley are bidding to pull off an astonishing achievement by winning promotion to top-flight
Even the timing of Monday’s play-off first leg against Swansea at Oakwell looks ideal. It is the first date fans are allowed inside club stadiums and Barnsley will benefit from having 4,500 Tykes cheering every run and tackle — of which there will be plenty.
Such is the emphasis on youthful energy, striker Cauley Woodrow was the oldest Barnsley starter on the pitch last weekend. And he’s only 26.
‘Our target at the start of the season was to reach 50 points so we’d be safe,’ says Woodrow, who has played Premier League football for Fulham and was part of Gareth Southgate’s England under-21s side earlier in his career.
‘We got there quickly and since then we’ve smashed it out of the park. I’ve never known a team with this work ethic. We run all day and make sure we are horrible to play against.
‘It can also be very technical: different jobs on the pitch; different presses. It’s crazy I was the oldest player on the pitch against Norwich. Everyone is calling me Grandad.’
Valerien Ismael has overseen a frantic, high-octane brand of football since taking over
Ismael, whose playing career took him to Bayern Munich and Crystal Palace, doesn’t have the worldwide reputation of Bielsa but has been massively influential.
‘The manager says we can’t be tired, we can’t be injured, we can’t be sick. It is the way you have to be this season with the amount of games,’ says Woodrow. ‘He uses substitutions to keep the energy levels high. He’s happy to take off three forwards after 55 minutes so the new players can keep the tempo going. It’s worked amazingly well.
‘As a person, he has a real presence and aura but generally he’s very approachable, not intimidating. Having said that, he hadn’t shouted at us all season until we were losing at half-time at Bournemouth in March. Then he came in and scared a few of us to be honest. It was actually good to see that side and it was the right tactic because we turned things around and won the game.’
Woodrow learned his trade for seven years at Fulham until Slavisa Jokanovic decided he was surplus to requirements, instigating the move 180 miles north. There would be some irony if he stepped up to the top flight at their expense.
‘I’m devastated Fulham were relegated. I played with Scott Parker and know how passionate he is,’ says Woodrow.
‘I don’t think people at the club lost belief in me. It was one manager [Jokanovic] wanting his own players; wanting his own everything really. I was there already and didn’t fit in with that.
‘I’ve scored a lot of goals since then, first in League One and then the Championship. If there were any doubters, I have shown them I was up to the task.’
Cauley Woodrow said they make sure they’re horrible to play against and can win the play-offs
Woodrow is Barnsley’s top scorer with 14 this season and he’ll be key if Barnsley are to upset the odds and get past Swansea and face Bournemouth or Brentford in the final.
Many of Woodrow’s former England team-mates grace the Premier League, including Jack Grealish and James Ward-Prowse. He’s keen to join them. ‘Different players take different pathways. Sometimes the route is directly upwards, sometimes you take a step back, like I did to sign for Barnsley when they were in League One.
‘There is no inferiority complex from me whoever we play. On the pitch you are all equals. I don’t feel afraid of anyone or get excited by the name on the back of someone’s shirt.
‘Swansea beat us home and away earlier in the season but we’re a different team now. They finished only two points ahead of us in the table so it’s an even playing field. They will be two tough games for both teams.’