My thoughts are these:

It’s been neither good nor bad.
But that in itself could be significant.

We don’t know exactly what’s going on behind the scenes - we only can gauge on what we see and hear.
And something Collins said as a passing comment in my view could be revealing.

We are in the playoffs a few points off the top two.
We have at least £8 Million owed to the club.
And yet we have a transfer window that hasn’t really given the team that extra zip.
Two things:

1) January windows are notoriously difficult to get players over the line - so the club could have worked their socks off and still not been able to sign players - but they have.

2) isn’t it easier to sign players when you know you can spend a bit knowing that there’s money coming in from previous players sales?

My view is the club has gone for the middle ground.
That is to say - they are keeping their powder dry for the summer.

But why when we are a few points off promotion ???
I think this is because the directors are not totally convinced about Collins.

Then we come to the comment Collins said after the Earl signing - “we haven’t got a proper left back”.
What did he mean by that ???

We don’t have full backs - the club for years has signed wing backs.
Wingbacks are obviously players that can get forward and deliver crosses.
They also have a duty to defend the flanks.

A full back is predominantly a defender with added incentive of getting forward if they can.

Is Collins saying he doesn’t like the role of wing backs???
If he doesn’t then there’s a question mark against the future of Cadden, Cotter and O’Keeffe.

And more importantly if Collins thinks that wing backs are something that can be used on occasions - eg switching from 3412 to a flat back four 442 formation - then that’s going against the philosophy of the club and how James Cryne recruits for the club.

As said in another initial thread - it was a bit of a coincidence showing Dikes goals for Barnsley on Twitter during the last day of the transfer window.
The Dike team showed that Barnsley can get into the playoffs of the Championship - with the smallest budget - playing against far better players in opponents teams - but getting to the playoffs by playing a certain power style.

If Collins wants to change that - then watch this space.