When I was growing up watching the reds I went to games not expecting anything. If we won I was on top of the world, but if we lost I wasn’t down in the dumps. I loved going to the games and seeing us try to play football, the fans getting involved to drive the team on and the feeling of togetherness with everyone else in the ground. The only time I was ever disappointed was when I thought the club was about to disappear from existence. Unfortunately that has changed; the fans aren’t together and are largely divided by “hate” that is spewed out on message boards. Once private lives of footballers and board members are picked over by vultures, unable to comprehend that these people have imperfections like the rest of us. The pressure on players is much higher than it used to be. This isn't just happening at Barnsley, but everywhere. Can you imagine if we had this medium of communication in our premier league days? For a start, we’d have all been calling for John Hendrie to be sacked for his Nazi jibes. We justify our polarised criticism by claiming we pay our hard-earned money and should be allowed to vent our anger. Why are we even angry? Isn't football something you enjoy - I know I enjoy watching it - win, lose or draw. Football has lost its soul; we expect instant success and unreasonable amounts of control over decisions. Football clubs need to be run like a business, but we think it’s reasonable to pay £200k (plus wages) for a short-term loan. Money like that will NEVER be recouped. As KH said in his interview, teams that are buying players at the moment can’t afford to do it. The sooner we wake up to this the better. It might even make us realise that the club can only spend what is makes, and when it spends money we need to expect to recoup that money when we eventually sell them. As with all managers, I will give KH the time and respect he deserves to make Barnsley into a team we can be proud of. If he makes a decision to sign x player, and release y player I will always support him. If he asks his defenders to pass the ball across the back (risking giving the ball away) I will support him. If he asks me to come and watch Barnsley with an open mind, give constructive feedback and most of all – support the club, I will do that. I’m part of what is happening at Barnsley, good or bad. I’ll do my bit to make a difference; I’ll trust the people in charge at Oakwell to do theirs.
Good post. But discussing what goes off is noit a new thing, it has always happened, it is just more visible now.
I agree, it always went on but it was usually in the pub, on the terraces, with mates and usually led to reasoned discussions. Now though, people depend on their literacy skills to get across very complex points - and instead decide to post blunt, polarised replies. We're either great or we're ****. It is now physically impossible to play well and lose. You are now either the best team we've had in 40 years or the worst team we've had in 40 years. All I'm trying to say is that I support Barnsley FC, I support Hillcroft, I support PC and DR and I support all of the other people who are part of it. By support I don't mean blindly follow - I just mean that I will try to have faith in what they're doing, even when sometimes it doesn't make sense to me.
Re: Why I'm not going to complain, Its not the complaints that concern me its the NEGATIVE WINGERS, Sad thing is Mr Hill is not helping the situation any introducing five or more lower division players into the team in one go cannot help n why oh why is Bobby on the bench the 110 percent man.
Re: Why I'm not going to complain, Keith Hill has stated he wants his full backs to get forward, and that should give us the width we are crying our for. However, at the moment our poor passing isn't allowing us to get them forward without being caught out. Bobby Hassell is very much a defensive player and IMO will be used more as a CB this season than a full back. If he had Wiseman's pace maybe he'd have more opportunities because he is a smart player. My only real worry is Jay Mac, as much as I try to like him I'm still not convinced. However, if KH puts his faith in him then I'll back him.
