Reight then lads n lass's Let's all put us differences to 1 side for this un' and be honest on what this season as been like. I'll start off, after first 2 games r thought this could be a total white wesh but we picked up momentum and at 1 stage looked a good team. I'll be honest, at 1 stage a thewt we could make play-offs here. Personally a think Ipswich at home was a pivotal point in season, 2 nil up and cruising, it would've been 5th win on bounce and it would've put us right in mix but from that game onwards we seemed to capitulate, a mix of players leaving and a big injury list made things go from bad to worse. I'm a realist and know that we are punching above our weight so been in this league is a massive thing for a club like Barnsley (in my opinion). We seem to have too many deluded fans who believe and think we're a top 10 club, wake up n smell coffee. Every nar n again we'll ev a good season where we float around dizzy heights of top 10 but until we get some good financial backing i'm sorry but we'll probably ev to settle for being a 'battling team' making a few bob here n there on transfers. Apologies if I've ruined anyone's Easter Sunday with my summary but that's the way I view it! Opinions welcomed
Great post. Thank God there's some balance to the tripe spouted by the likes of Wath and West Melton, etc My thoughts in a nutshell: 1) Our expectations for the season were set when the previous manager threw in the towel at the budget he was expected to work with this season. At that point, I'd have taken anything to avoid relegation this season, and I still feel the same way. It's getting a bit more tense than I'd like, but if you'd offered me 7 points clear of relegation at this stage of the season at the time I'd have snapped your hand off. 2) I'm as disappointed as anyone by the drop-off in form in the second half of the season, but we've seen the same thing happen with both Davey and Robins in charge, so it seems to me that this goes deeper than any issues with the current management. I've seen it too frequently now and it's starting to become an expectation. 3) Hill looks like he'll achieve the same outcome as the last two managers with a greatly reduced budget and inferior pool of talent than the last two managers had to work with. The bad performances are no worse than we saw in their day, but the good performances have been far better. I'm still waiting for someone to come up with a credible alternative manager who will work with the same budget and achieve more. Instead we hear names like McCarthy being spouted by people living in cloud cuckoo land. Personally, I don't want another summer of worrying that Russell Slade, etc are being linked with the job. We made the right appointment in choosing Hill and nothing I've seen this season has changed my view on that. 4) Hill is a victim of getting hopes up earlier in the season by flirting with the play-offs. If we'd accumulated the same points more evenly over the season, rather than the feast-famine type run we've been on then the venom on here would be greatly reduced (albeit not eradicated completely). People need to think back and honestly recall what they expected to achieve this season when it kicked off. 5) If people want to point the finger for how things are turning out then they need to look above Keith Hill at those controlling the club's finances and setting a budget that is League One, at best. If the reason behind this is that it's necessary to keep the club afloat then, fair enough, I'll live with that and keep hoping we overachieve. Also, I think everyone appreciates the fact that the owner isn't in a position to continue to fund the shortfall any further (and I will remain forever thankful that he's done so for this long). However, the Board don't help themselves with the wall of silence they maintain, ridiculous policies like the utterly discredited category scheme, the obvious lack of commercial nous in maximising value for the assets we hold, and their attempts to not reveal anything which might highlight their ineffectiveness even further (e.g. all transfers are 'undisclosed' amounts). They need to show more accountability to the fanbase as they're driving away supporters in droves, and that doesn't look like changing anytime soon. 6) If the worst happens and we go down, I'll blame the Board for giving up on the club by working to Fair Play rules that no-one else appears to have adopted. However, if they can demonstrate that the alternative would have been to go down the Portsmouth route then I'll accept that, but until that happens then I'll go on believing that different decisions could have been taken to drive more revenue through the Club. 7) If we do go down, then I think the best manager for us in League One will still be Keith Hill.
Excellent well rounded opinion - in my opinion. I hope people take the time out to read your musings and get things in perspective.
Thanks. I doubt it will happen though. Perspective seemed to disappear a long time ago for quite a number on this forum.
