"Credit to the board": Barnsley chiefs praised for key transfer window stays - Reason why revealed | OneFootball

FLW’s Barnsley fan pundit has commented on the Tykes’ ability to keep hold of Luca Connell, Adam Phillips and Davis Keillor-Dunn beyond the summer.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Barnsley have made an impressive start to the new League One season under Conor Hourihane.

The Tykes sit in the play-off places after six league games, taking 13 points out of a possible 18 with four victories, one draw and just a single defeat.

The Yorkshire outfit will be looking to maintain their early-season positivity after the international break when they host Reading, with three points vital to putting pressure on the automatic promotion setters in Cardiff City and Stevenage.

Over the course of the summer transfer window, there were fears that Barnsley would have to sell some vital first-team assets in order to balance the books financially.

But that didn’t stop the club from being busy over that period, as eight players came through the door to bolster the playing squad as the Tykes target a return to the Championship.

Meanwhile, Barnsley were able to retain the services of Luca Connell, Adam Phillips and Davis Keillor-Dunn, who were rumoured to be making their exits in order to boost the coffers.

In what is hugely positive news for the club, they can now look forward to the foreseeable future with their prized assets to maintain their place at the top end of the third-tier table.

With this news in mind, FLW’s Barnsley fan pundit has commented on the club being able to keep the trio in Yorkshire.

Barnsley claim made on why Tykes were able to keep Adam Phillips, Luca Connell & Davis Keillor-Dunn

Speaking to Football League World, Barnsley fan pundit Andy Symcox expressed his delight to see the trio of Luca Connell, Adam Phillips and Davis Keillor-Dunn remain at Oakwell beyond deadline day, believing the high number of players they released at the end of last season was a contributing factor to this successful outcome.

Symcox said: “There have been rumours throughout the summer transfer window that Luca Connell, Adam Phillips and Davis Keillor-Dunn would be sold to offset our financial losses, and most Barnsley fans would have been delighted if we would have sold only one of those. I also include Jon Russell in that group.

“However, it is credit to the board that we have kept our three, in my view, biggest assets, even though there have been reports for a long time that various bids had been turned down.

"If you listen to the rumours, we sold Davis Keillor-Dunn nine or 10 times this summer, so rumours are just that until we actually know what’s happened.

"It’s good that we’ve kept them. I think a word of caution about what our chairman said earlier in the summer about player sales in order to balance the books.

"We did release 21 players that included three, possibly four loan players, some of whom were big earners, and that created a great deal of space. It trimmed the squad down considerably.

“We have brought players in but nothing to that extent, so in that respect, maybe a lot of the savings that have needed to be made, we’ve made through the release of so many players.”

Barnsley can look forward to the future with a strong squad

Barnsley’s ability to keep all of Luca Connell, Adam Phillips and Davis Keillor-Dunn is the biggest success of their transfer window, with all of these players set to play a massive part in a promotion push forming under Conor Hourihane.

Connell is the club captain and a leader in the heart of the Tykes’ midfield, while Phillips has been pulling the strings further forward and is an effective creative spark to keep the goals flowing at the top end of the pitch.

Meanwhile, Keillor-Dunn has been sensational at the start of the season, cementing himself as one of the first names on the teamsheet, completing 90 minutes every week and scoring four goals from those opening six League One games.

All of these players will be imperative to maintain the early form they’ve built, and now they’ve managed to stave off interest for them all this summer, you would expect Barnsley to continue to grow and push towards the automatic promotion places.