Manager heads for hero’s welcome at former club Barnsley with his new team third after implementing the same direct style
Aside from
Liverpool, West Bromwich Albion are the only team in the top four tiers with an unbeaten league record at home this season. They also have the best defensive record in the Championship and are third in the table, five points off the summit, but not all supporters are feeling the festive cheer there. On Friday, Valérien Ismaël will return to Barnsley – whose fans developed an unconditional love for him during a remarkable run to the play-offs – for the first time as an opposition manager and knows his popularity at Oakwell could plummet if he picks up three points. “It [would] mean I did my
Job,” Ismaël smiles.
Barnsley know what to expect. “Yes,” comes the instant reply from the defender Mads Andersen, a key cog under Ismaël as Barnsley finished fifth last season. “High press, direct play, set pieces – we are ready for it.” Ismaël has implemented that style, which transformed Barnsley from relegation candidates to unlikely promotion contenders, at Albion and a minority of fans remain unconvinced. The Under-23s, second in
Premier League 2 Division Two, have adopted the same 3-4-3 formation and philosophy. “The people needed to learn about my methods and our way to play and it is still a process but I think now, after six months, we have learned a lot and we have progressed a lot,” Ismaël says. “We know more about ourselves and the players believe more and more in our way.”