I've gathered my thoughts, and have re-evaluated our situation.

I'm still not happy, not by a long chalk, however, I do feel that my expectations have been aligned with that of the clubs, so I guess I'm satisfied and am willing to give Keith Hill and his team time to improve into next season.

Before the Forest game, I predicted we'd only get another two wins all season. I predicted we'd only get 7 points in total - I didn't expect us to get a point against Forest. I do expect us to beat Peterborough on Saturday, get something at Bristol City, and get something against Brighton on the final weekend. If that happens, my expectations will have been met and I guess I should be satisfied.

What has happened to this club over the course of the season, is something (like I've said in the past) that will continue to happen, season after season, and will more times than not see us finish in a similar position to what we are now. You cannot hope to build a successful football team, while continually selling on your best assets for small fees, and replacing them with players who aren't up to scratch. We as a club, have done this for as long as I can remember - nothing will change in the forseeable future. We are a small team. A small club in a considerably big pond. At a set point of the season, we 'clicked' - the jigsaw slotted together and we had it, but not for long, as is the case, star players left, injuries set in, and we began to crumble, and crumble, and crumble. The cracks have been papered over with the likes of Chris Dagnall, Scott Golbourne and Lee Collins, the latter two of the three may well go on to prove me wrong and be star players for us, like Vaz Te and like Craig Davies, and I will give them time to do so.

We are in veiled position. We don't know what Keith Hill has to work with, and we don't know the full extent of what goes on behind closed doors. I'm pretty sure that if Keith Hill had been given an open cheque book to keep hold of Vaz Te and Drinkwater, he would've done, and I'm sure the same goes for Butterfield, and of course, signings that he has made in the market. He can only work with what he has inherited and with the finances that he has available - if that's peanuts, then he can only bring in players of peanut worth, and hope that they develop and mature under him, which, the likes of Drinkwater, Vaz Te obviously did.

I could go on, but I'm not - everyone knows we need to defend better and score more, and cut out the stupid, sloppy mistakes, but I guess that comes with the territory of having a team consituting of lower end Championship and mid-to-high end League One players.

The atmosphere in the first half against Reading was great, and that reflected in the performance of the team as we more than matched Reading. The first five minutes of the second half, saw that stupid, sloppy side of us creep back into play, and straight away it was like a knife through the heart of the supporters, because I think we all knew, deep down, it was game over. It was like sitting in a morgue thereafter...

It's a two-way deal. We support the team and they entertain us. They play bad, we jeer (I guess) or try to encourage them. They play well, we cheer!

What we need to realise though, is that this is NOT the same team that we had six months ago, far, far, far from it. If you take the engine out of a car, and only give it a new paint job - it's not going to do anything. That's what we are currently left with. A car without any decent parts inside it, but that looks nice on occasion. We've replaced top end Championship players, with untried and untested League One and Two players.

We are where we are in the league because, pure and simple, we deserve to be there. It's nothing to do with luck, or referees, or lack of support - we are there because over the course of the season, we've been poor more times than we've been good. Fact.

Is that Keith Hill's fault? On occasion, yes, I'd say so, but overrall, no - he's only been doing what he can, and if the primary piece of what he's been doing includes playing mainly with ****, then he's only going to be able to make something out of ****. He will know that, so will Flicker and so probably will Patrick Cryne - we can't do anything about that except get behind them and just continually take the heartache, dissatisfaction and frustration that comes with being a Barnsley fan...whilst keeping that flickering flame of hope burning.

 

You say it's not keefy's fault............so who's is it?........he brought all the garbage to the club.

ffs..........get a grip

 

Did you actually read the post? Can you read?

If Alex Ferguson was in the hot-seat at Oakwell, and was given the same budget and the same constraints, do you think he'd do a better job? He'd still have the same team, and would probably be able only to bring in the same players, resulting in probably the same situation. He might get them to play better, but we're still up against better teams with better players and will more times than not, lose.

I don't like the situation as much as the next bloke, but what can we do?

 

What Poet is doing is something we normal, rational human beings like to call 'looking at the bigger picture'. It means he is acknowledging that Keith Hill is struggling to get a team together which can compete at this level, yet he recognises that there are other factors in this which would affect whichever manager took the job.

 

So you don't think Alex Ferguson would do a better job? Do you think Simon Davey would do a worse job? or are you saying all managers are equal?

 

Very reasoned, rational post, Poet. My hope for next season is that some of the high wage earners who aren't regular starters are moved on and some of the others agree reduced wages which would free up the existing budget to be used more effectively. It is going to be a key summer in achieving that and Hill is going to have to make some shrewd signings, but he did so last year, hopefully that wirk won;t be undone again in the transfer window.

In the meantime I think he needs to try and put the same team out for two games in a row and also get Davies upfront. At the moment there just seems to be too much chopping and changing. We desperately need to get O'Brien and Perkins fit too.

 

Sir Alex is interested is he? And you ask Sir Alex what the key is to success in football and he would tell you not to sack your manager every time you hit a bad patch

 

You shouldn't have bothered.

zzzzzz

 

So, In Other Words, Poet............

Tha's been conned by t'club!

 

I never said that.

On paper, you'd think Sir Alex would do a brilliant job, wouldn't you? All I was trying to illustrate, was that he'd be in the exact same situation with the exact same financial constraints imposed on him as Keith Hill and it would be a tough, tough ask. It's impossible to say he'd come in and a magnificent job, because we don't know and never will know.

 

Re: You shouldn't have bothered.

Thanks?

 

Excellent post, and pretty much sums up the situation perfectly.

Encouraging to see that a few people are able to see the bigger picture.

 

I sincerely doubt it but why don't you actually respond to the point I've raised?

 

How many reds fans there FR do you know?

 

Well said.

 

Cheers mate. Was reading Palace board last night and someone mentioned that there looked about 70, thought it couldn`t be right.

 

Someone could come in and do a far worse job than Hill, equally someone could do a far better job - I just don't know who that man is.

 

Is the most succesful manager in the modern game better than Keith Hill? Yes. Would he do better in the context of this season. I would guess yes, but it wouldn't be guaranteed. Would I have given him the job at the start of the season over Keith Hill? Yes. Would he have wanted it? No.

Is Simon Davey a better manager than Keith Hill? No. Would he do a better job? No, as he did a similar job with more resources, although I would add on balance he had a decent record as our manager we've certainly had worse.

Are all managers equal? See above.

Does that answer your points?