Did any of us really expect us to play 442 this season? Especially early on? Much as I've enjoyed watching Moore Woodrow has always looked the more clinical finisher and the one I'd pick playing just one central striker. I'm disappointed he's gone and hope we bring in a replacement. We may find it difficult to spend 3 million on someone who is willing to come and sit on the bench while Woodrow plays mind you. Nevertheless I hope we try. We have had a conveyor belt of quality young players coming through the club for five years now. I doubt that any of them would have signed for us without provisions and promises that we would not stand in the way of them furthering their career when they wanted to. Unless and until we can draw in much bigger crowds and revenue or achieve the riches of the Premier league that will remain the case and our hand will remain relatively weak in player negotiations. Just as it always has.
I don't think 'salivating over an excellent bank account' is the way the owners look at it. They might see cash lying around as a wasted investment opportunity. If our P&L account was £0 every year they'd probably be happy because that means all our transfer business has gone back into improving the squad or club and facilities in general. It's like if you buy a fund, you can buy for growth or income. They are buying for growth - to grow the club and the value of its assets including players. They want to re-invest the profits back into the club to keep that growth going. So far it's looking good.
Got to agree with others your post annoying! Played 1 won 1 conceded no goals. Paid less than a million for Davies, Pinnock, Lindsay and Moore. And sales returned just short of £10m. If you were at the match on Saturday you must have appreciated the performance and result. And on that showing! Pinnock, Lindsay, Davies and Moore would all struggle for a regular start. Good deal if you ask me! And I have every confidence Moore will be replaced. How you can be negative after the weekend result is beyond me. If Moore had played, and single handedly won the game. I get it! But he didn't and we coped very comfortably without him.
Can’t see why anybody is that surprised tbh, look at the guys history he never seem to stay anywhere long. I liked him but can’t say I was fussed either way if he stayed or went, he’s a handy player yes, but more of a target man / striker I can’t see him being prolific in the Championship given his conversion rate and playing against better players. Maybe he saw the writing was on the was on the wall regarding him not being a guaranteed starter anymore? I just think if he backed himself as much as he seemed to he would have gone somewhere other than Wigan.
All about the quality of the replacement(s) for me. It's alright listing loads of players we have in the squad and saying X or Y 'can' play there but the cold hard fact is that Cauley is the only one that does successfully. I 'could' play up front but I'd be sh!te. The other thing we appear to have missed - Wigan were over a barrel, Garner is the only experienced striker they have at their club, we should have been able to name our price or leave one of our potential relegation rivals without an adequate forward line. Kieffer was much more than a target man, he was actually quite comfortable on the floor and not slow by any means. Lastly, my only concern from Saturday was our woeful finishing - Stendel's approach will regularly create chances in my view and we have to have the wherewithal to convert. Who was it that said that "you can never have enough quality strikers"? As I say I await the replacement(s) announcement(s) with baited breath.
I agree on the, you can't have enough strikers, we certainly still need a decent replacement. Quoting , thiam, brown and the young boro lad is no use, we need a ready made player. "Charlie" chaplin maybe a good one and wilks may do a job but lets use the money wisely please.
Pretty sure the coaching staff were aware all summer. Moore barely featured in pre season. No disrespect to Miller, but if Moore had been staying, he’d have been given far more time than him. Pretty sure a deal fell through whilst players were in France, which is why he didn’t travel.
My car isn't for sale, but if someone offers me much more than book value they can have it. If the £4million quoted is to be believed, then it's good business on our part, and a gamble on Wigans. Nasty head injury last season, and not a proven championship striker. Could be a great signing, could be a flop.
Well that’s caused a few comments. Most have an opinion that disagrees with me - fair enough. Some have got their own ‘facts’ as well as opinions - less good - even in Trumpian 2019. I won’t go over every point but just two ‘opinions’ if I can. First, I do think our player policy is plain wrong. Only buying young players means we’ve access to around 40% of the available market when our competitors have 100%. Crackers. Even if the policy had some merit the fact we then sell on those developed players for peanuts when they show signs of ability and seek to replace them with the next gamble doesn’t seem to me like a policy that will sustain itself. It didn’t when we were last in this Division- would love to be proved wrong this time. Second, I don’t buy the idea that DS and the coaching staff are on board and fully aware of the player decisions that are being taken by the Club. The comments i’ve seen from DS from January onwards suggest that to me. So what some might say, he’s only an employee. Well, I think he has, and continues to perform miracles with the players at his disposal and i’d Like to think the Club thought the same and will match his ambition. But I don’t. His recent comments about his contract extension are beginning to sound a lot like Adam Davies’s last season and I don’t think it’s a good thing. We’ll see whether i’ve Called that right or wrong in the very near future. One final point. Troff. Your comments which essentially said, “if you don’t like the way things are done **** off and support Wednesday. “ Bang out of order. I can see from that comment that you haven’t trolled my previous posts but if you had you would have seen that my commitment to this Club is absolute. I’ve watched them for 49 years (regularly for 43). I’ll be here long after the current Board, Coaching staff and players have departed. Until the day I croak in fact. So diasagree with me fine but don’t question my comittment. Loyalty doesn’t mean blindly following the club line. If you have any understanding of this town and the values it breeds in its people, you’d understand and appreciate that.
The suggestion about following Wednesday was very much tongue in cheek. I didn’t make that as a serious suggestion, we just happen to be playing them next - and they have overspent to the point of being in trouble. Just illustrating a point. I stand by what I said with it though - if you have such strong feelings against how the club operates, you should consider your future level of interest in it. Whilst of course you’ll never change allegiance, you are bound to be continually frustrated as for the foreseeable future it will continue in this manner. How is it that different to before though? Other than the policy on signing exclusively younger players (there has been a suggestion that they’re relaxing this to a point too, they’ve mentioned signing experience - though no evidence they are yet), is it really any different to how it’s always been? Serious question, you’ve quite some years as a fan more than me, I am starting my 26th season. As I see it there has never been a time where we haven’t sold pretty much anybody that anyone asked for. I can’t think of an example of us refusing to sell anybody. We always have and always will sell players. We’ve never had the ability (or at least the will) to hold on to our best players. We don’t even worry about where they’re going, be they local rivals - or rivals for promotion/relegation etc in whichever season and whatever level we are at. I’ve always felt that a good player for us will be here for a good time, not a long time. As soon as they are linked with someone else, they’re invariably gone. It was ever thus. At least now we have an open and honest modus operandi. Wanting older more experienced players is great in theory as you could get some Hendrie, Wilkinson or Thompson’s. The trouble is you might also get Kevin Richardson, Kevin Donovan or Ian Woan. And they’re all by definition much more expensive, in wages if not in fee. More expensive risks. Buying young, promising players means only one in two or three has to come off, less than that if one does exceptionally and is sold for a huge profit. The only difference I see now to what it has always been is that we aren’t wasting money with loans developing other team’s players or on giving final pay days to has-beens and/or never-weres. It’s a risky strategy, over the years we’ve had some great players on loan or older guys on short contracts that strengthened the team. It has been decided they add no value. I can see why you’d argue against that I really can - but it is folly to waste your time and breath. It’s how it is going to be done whether you, I or anyone else like it or not. Getting as angry as your initial post suggests you are isn’t healthy - and it certainly won’t benefit you to continue to get as frustrated as the club continues to build in this way. Re your last point/sentence - a little condescending that. I see what you mean though. But I in any case have doubts as to the values of some of the people in the area - as the hard grafting, straightforward and straight-talking honestness I associate the area with has in a lot of places seemed to be replaced by a ‘want everything for nowt’ sense of entitlement, coupled with an unnerving level of sometimes covert, sometimes blatant little englander bigotry. I’m not from Barnsley. North side of Donny though, so hardly a million miles away - nor traditionally much different in outlook, industry or type of people. The values I believe you refer to, where any working man is equal to the next, encouraging equal opportunity to all and extending that to everyone having a voice and using it if you don’t agree with something, seems to be dwindling, and there is little noise going around encouraging equal opportunity, socialist policy if you like, around here. More an ever louder, far right thuggish mentality - still hopefully a minority - though I wonder for how long. Sorry if I caused offence, that wasn’t my intention, I did disagree with most of what you said though.
How can I respond to such a thoughtful well structured post other than to say thanks. There’s probably not a lot between us on the football front and certainly nothing between us on the values/politics side of things either. Maybe we can discuss over a beer one day. I still reserve the right to get frustrated with my club though in the same way i’ll still be crapping myself if we’re 2-0 up with two minutes to play. It’s a genetic thing that comes from being a Reds fan.
The stated ambition of the new owners is Premiership football. I think they have the plan to achieve it and the will to make it happen. All the new signings seem to fit the style of play that we are told DS presented to the board at his interview and has been putting into practice since he arrived. Most seem I be on decent length contracts now so if we are successful we have the option to keep them. The club seems to be on a sound financial footing. Maybe I am just an optimist but currently I am happy with the way things are going and excited about what may come next.
Maybe the reason he’s gone is that Stendel doesn’t think he fits the way he wants us to be playing the championship and the club got a good offer. He can get someone more suited to his style of play now from the 3mish profit that’s there to be reinvested. There’s obviously more to it from the players point of view as well. I also have to think about the sale of Bradshaw. Plenty of the same sort of comments were made. We ended up stronger is actual fact. Hopefully the same happens this week. Paul Conway said they would sell, reinvest and like at Nice the money spent on recruitment would increase season on season and quality will get better and better. Obviously early days but it does look like we’ve spent more than (ever?) before. The quality looks good at least based on Saturday’s performance.
We’re all wanting the same thing, we all have ideas about how it’s best done. And yes, I’d love to chew the fat over an ale or two, that goes to everyone else on here too. I don’t know so many other reds fans having never lived in ‘tarn’ - and I missed the last bbs get together as I had to work. Hopefully there will be ample chance in the coming season
