I never understood it when people said "we went up too early". We went up cos we won the final and should have planned accordingly - after all, we had spent most of our lives in the 2nd tier and should have known what it was all about. But we stuttered and spluttered for a few years and dropped back down. Swansea meanwhile regrouped, went up, and the rest is history. 10 years on, we again win a L1 play off. We go up with a decent squad and give it a good go. Collectively, WE SWEAR BLIND WE WILL NOT BECOME NEXT YEARS ROTHERHAM. But alas, this year, our second season back in the league we (should) know so well .......... we are on track to become this years Rotherham. What is it? Lack of ambition? More effort in keeping status rather than improving it? Lack of speculation to accumulate? Or is it down to the spreadsheet not being a viable proposition in this division? Thoughts? My concern now is another few years in the doldrums. I see a vicious circle where if Jose performs a miracle, he will move on in the summer. If he doesn't then then he'll be off and the players will have to start from scratch, in a new league, with a new gaffer and the third set of instructions in less than a year. Likewise, if the players who pull us out of the mire perform, they will be gone and what calibre will their replacements be? I've been a fan of the spreadsheet, but somethings got to change or I foresee another spell in the wilderness and I am not sure we will come out of that any time soon.
I think the plan is a waste of time at this level. Utter pie in the sky stuff, and it's falling flat on its face. It might be a good idea on paper, but it's going to alienate the fans. It should be called the "triple S yoyo plan" - SUCCESSFUL in league one, SELL your best players, end up ****.
I do not buy into the "we have been a second tier club mostly and that's where we should be" Obviously our history does show we have spent the majority of our time in the second tier, that's not my argument. But say that's where we should be is incorrect. Since the Premier League was formed standards altered all through the pyramid of football. The massive influx of overseas players made sure of this, so British players who would have perhaps made it in the old 1st division (tier 1) are now finding themselves in the next tier down and so on and so forth. The ridiculous money that is in football ....well certain levels of football..... are crazy. Unless a club has a sugar Daddy owner these days then they cannot compete. It would be wonderful to be in the Premier league of course. But to have a club to follow that's of a decent quality and honesty is paramount. I feel sorry for the fans who are brainwashed into the "We are a MASSIVE club deserve to be....." attitude, and there are many of them, just look at the Man City fans reaction to their club exit the other night to Wigan, Pathetic, and I hope that Barnsley never ever go that way.
I think we've been blessed as a club since Allan Clarke walked through the door in 78 40 years this year, anyone who witnessed the pre Clarke era could not in their wildest dreams hoped for a quarter of the ups and downs, The Wembley trips, Cardiff, and never ever dare even think about getting to the prem or league 1 as was.. Barnsley FC with all my heart thank you... its been a blast, but the best thing is.. its not over!!!
Rebuilding a team that got sabotaged by letting too many players go at once.ex CEO not tying players down to serious contracts. Maybe this is the time when players gell and find there feet. It's not too late
The plan would work if we bought the style of player that we were short abd was ready to go into the squad. Too many playerswe have bought because they ticked the boxes. We have brought in too many midfielders and not the quality striker we needed and others brought in been miles off such as thiam, mallan, knasmullner a d then players that never even made the first team squad like the dude from spain. For me it should be the coach saying i need a player that has attributes x y and z and the team go find them using the tools available, not hey coach weve got another busload of misfits for you to polish up, look good and sell on for profit. We are not in the business to flip players. We should be building a team as priority one!
Folk have said similar all along; that The Plan ️ depends on on the field success to be a success but isn’t about delivering on the field success
The plan needed to be adjusted in terms of upgraded targets when we went up. When we failed to do this we prepared to fail.
