‘Special’ Bielsa provides boost for Reds’ Struber
BARNSLEY HEAD coach Gerhard Struber has revealed that a ‘very secret message’ from Leeds United counterpart Marcelo Bielsa has provided him with a big fillip in the Reds’ relegation fight.
Struber and Bielsa embraced at the final whistle of last Thursday’s game which ended in a fortunate 1-0 victory for the hosts.
Bielsa admitted afterwards that he told his opposite number that Barnsley had deserved a different result after Leeds propelled themselves to the cusp of automatic promotion with the title having since been confirmed.
Struber, whose Reds side took their survival fates to the final day at Brentford tomorrow after Sunday’s dramatic events against Nottingham Forest at Oakwell said: “He is a very special coach and he told me a very secret message which is not for everyone.
“This is only for Bielsa and me. It was helpful in this moment.
“I will treasure it 100 per cent.”
It promises to be an evening not for the faint-hearted at Griffin Park, but Struber is adamant that it will be the hosts who are saddled with the most pressure.
Barnsley head into their finalday Championship game at the promotion-chasing Bees on the back of a thrilling last-gasp win over Forest – when the Reds were effectively three minutes away from a return to League One before substitute Patrick Schmidt’s scrambled winner in the third minute of stoppage time.
They now need to surpass those heroics by spoiling the Bees’ final scheduled game at Griffin Park – where the hosts will secure automatic promotion if they win and West Brom fail to beat visiting QPR.
To stay up, Barnsley need to win and hope that Luton fail to beat visiting Blackburn Rovers and Charlton Athletic lose at newly-crowned champions Leeds.
Struber, who welcomes Elliot Simoes back into the fray on Wednesday, said: “Brentford have big pressure. They have a lot of pressure. I think we have experience with pressure this season.
“Both teams have a lot of pressure, but especially Brentford. They can go directly to the Premier League and they have a lot of pressure.
“But my thoughts and energy is not so much on Brentford, but on my team and we work for a very good plan.
“It is a big task, but I like big tasks and challenges on this level. Also my boys (do).”