Keith Hill, one of the most under rated managers

I saw an article a few days back about managers who don't get the recognition they deserve, and a manager that somehow wasn't in the said article was Barnsley's Keith Hill. The former Rochdale manager has done an incredible job at Oakwell with limited resources in a league that is getting financially stronger.

Half way through their last campaign Barnsley were flying, however in January they lost three key players in the form of Ricardo Vaz Te who went to West Ham, Danny Drinkwater whose loan deal expired and Jacob Butterfield via a combination of long-term injury and his end of season move to Norwich City. Their form nose dived towards the end of the last campaign and many tipped them to go down this season, however once more Hill has defied the critics.

Not only are Barnsley doing well, they are playing an attractive style of football. The signing of Jacob Mellis from Chelsea has been an inspired one, with the youngster bringing class to their midfield. The Pole Tomas Cwkya is another technically astute midfielder and fits perfectly into the Hill way of playing.

Given their budget Hill has had to bring players in on the cheap, and his ability to judge a player is as good as anyone's in the league. A policy of signing released players from the Premier league and Championship combined with younger lower league talent has worked and Barnsley are reaping the rewards. Hill has helped revitalise the career of Craig Davies, with the Welsh forward in brilliant form this year with seven goals in seven league games.

If leagues were decided on budgets and transfer fee's then Barnsley would be a bottom three side; however their team spirit, manager and style of play will probably ensure they won't go down, provided they avoid a huge dip in form like last season.