Apologies if already posted, but this piece is spot on.

https://www.thetotallyfootballshow....barnsley-replaced-his-best-players-with-kids/

 

Spot on

 

It really is. Excellent and concise read.

 

Really well-informed piece that. Nail well & truly hit on head

 

Questionable whether we sold our 3 best players, but it’s a moot point. It’s the failure to invest in players of sufficient quality to improve the team that’s killing us.

 

As my mate remarked,
"It's like getting a glazier to come and mend your broken window and only giving him a wood plane, spanner and screwdriver to work with"

 

It's a bit OTT in fairness. The disparaging remarks about the current 'no good' squad. Nonsense. There have been some good signs and decent displays, often without reward admittedly but there's only the Luton first half and the second half at Preston where they were beyond bad. It's 11 games old this season and whilst I'm as gutted as the next fella about Daniel's departure, I'm not writing off a squad after 11 games.

He's also wrong to describe Lindsay, Pinnock and Moore as our best players. I'd have have said Pinnock, Davies and Mowatt last season, personally speaking.

For clarity, I don't agree with Daniel leaving, I found the board statement yesterday obscene and I think the trading policy should be more flexible.

But I'm bored after just a day of the endless attacks on our club, especially from outsiders and neutrals, some of whom that I've seen support clubs who sell their stadium to continue breaking the rules, or clubs who've benefited from mad investment.

 

Couldn't have put it better. And anyone thinking this squad is anywhere near good enough for this league needs to think about following a different sport.

 

How many points have we got? I'm sorry, but the squad is a long way off being ready as a collective. Some good performances by individuals & a lot of individual signs of improvement.

Article pretty much sums up how I feel. We have had a bit of bad luck with injuries, which could also have been mentioned.

 

I still think this team can stay up.

 

We sold three players. One is reported to have refused to speak to the club about a new deal. Another is quoted as saying he has outgrown the club. As far as I'm concerned, if these two things are true, those players can sod off.

The sales aren't the problem, they are a symptom of the problem, which is we have a wage structure which would probably have us sit maybe top 10 of league 1. Once we can't agree terms with existing players, stands to reason that the budget wont allow for a transfer fee and wage of a like for like replacement.

How close/likely we are to increasing that wage structure, and why we have landed on such a structure I do not know, so cannot judge.

I also think we have been tactically naive which would be for the coach to address, but some of the mistakes made by players are inexcusable for a professional footballer, regardless of experience, which no coach can account for.

The statement however, was a joke, and I doubt very much we'll get a better coach in as a replacement.

 

Great article that.

 

I'm not fully bought into the plan and am appalled at how this has been handled but I am torn when it comes to the decision (mainly because of the concern about who the replacement will be). But I have some genuine doubts about Stendel's handling of whatever resources he has had available to him. I don't see how we have gone from such a promising start on the opening day, when we played as a team, to recent displays and most notably at Preston, where we look like a collection of individuals and not a team. Surely the head coach has to take a large slice of responsibility for that. Some decisions I find odd, like Bahre being named captain, constantly changing the team and dropping players after improved performances, like Wilks against Leeds, Thomas against Forest, taking Sibick out of the midfield on Saturday, picking Brown and retaining him on the pitch in any position even though he hasn't performed. Confidence has clearly suffered because of this, as well as the results.

As far as the players that left, Davies is 3rd choice at his new club, Lindsay and Pinnock have not started the last few games (both struggled in the championship last time due to lack of pace) and Moore is yet to score for Wigan. Some of the recruits, look to me, like they will be valuable assets in the future but I fully accept the point about the need for experience and tinkering of the plan.

There is no doubt that Stendel has been one of the most engaging managers we have ever had but I do think his lack of experience at this level has also cost us. Whether he would have turned it around, I don't know, but from what I was witnessing, things were getting worse not better. I am disappointed he has left but I can equally see the reason why it has come to this. We have scored the fewest number of goals and conceded the most and we look disorganised, defending as individuals and not as a team. However I could see us being in a worse position as I fully expect an unknown foreign coach to be appointed based on him having the same philosophy/style of play and his willingness to buy into the plan.

 

They were arguably the most crucial positions; both centre-halves and the centre-forward.

No it isn't. The article sums things up pretty well. The people involved in our recruitment are either rubbish at building a Championship side, they've got carried away with the execution of the plan or retaining our status is of secondary importance to them.

 

If any manager avoids relegation with this team we should chip in for a statue outside the town hall.

 

I agree with this. Think there is a great deal more to come from the team. it's a nice break from a lot of the over-emotional posts, and fantasy football being discussed on here. Also quite concerned about who might be tapped up as a replacement.

 

My favourite sentence in that article..

"Stendel spent the last few weeks with the look of a man asked to traverse a ravine with a bit of string and a cocktail umbrella."

IMO a brilliant image

 

I cannot repeat this much more, but it’s not the departed players that has hurt us, but the failure to deviate here and there with regards to the trading policy. So again, I find that bit of the article to be OTT. It also fails to mention the fact that Lindsay refused to even discuss anything and wanted out, or that Pinnock turned down a new and improved deal, or that Moore refused to travel to France.

Clearly we have issues, but it’s October. Things are fixable.

 

Think they already do tbh, Paul Conway needs to realise we play with ️and not . Most successful transfer window ever