... we will continue to lose games and struggle. So what? I love the club just as much as anyone else and I'm fed up with the recent stats but I do have faith in the management team in the long run. I am a Hill supporter for several reasons as I have often spouted but I must admit I am peed off with recent results. However, I am looking to the longer term and in spite of recent results I am convinced that Hill will turn things around and make BFC a great team. I know that some are clamouring for his head but yet only two months ago after Brum away he was a top notch bloke! Thats also what pees me off - fans who knee jerk too quickly. Hill has a massive mountain to cross, limited budget, expected to have his team play like Barca every week and get the Reds in to mid-upper table by the end of the season. The Reds are a small team in this division and in the short term, while things develop, any manager who keeps them up on 8000 crowds with no real funding has done a good job. Even if the Reds go down I would still err on the side of keeping Hill as the continuity is really important and something we just don't see at Oakwell. If I were Cryne I'd back Hill all the way.
Hill has NEVER been top notch, only inside his head. How long is the long run? No-one has EVER said that he should get his team to play like Barcelona, except Hill himself "Barnsleona "!!! If you want to keep him fair enough, but yopu are in a very small minority at the moment.
Without knowing the figures,I would have thought there probably weren't many more,other clubs gates have fallen worse than ours according to something posted on here a few weeks ago,and the travelling numbers seem to be a lot lower these days,probably a combination of the cost of football,petrol and the general dismal economic situation,I've got a suspicion that even if we were well up the table it wouldn't put many bums on seats...especially at £28 a go.
What this says to me is that whilst Cryne/Rowing appear to have addressed the balance sheet, it does not necessarily mean that the fans see any tangible benefit in this, as we are currently witnessing poor performances, zero marketing, constant negativity, reducing crowds, etc. In fact you have to say the P+L balance sheet is about the only thing that is positive about BFC at the moment..........and it means nothing to us, the fans?
I'm inclined to agree with you. Even in 96-97, when it was a tenner a pop in much less trying economic times, crowds were hovering around the 8,000 mark until after Christmas when it became clear that we were likely to stay the distance.
It 's been mentioend so many times before.........BFC off-the-field Marketing is simply deos not exist............we rely solely on ticket sales and selling players for revenue. Club shop might bring a few quid in, but this will be "small beer".
We used to be on par with teams like Bristol City, Watford, Burnley, Millwall (and Preston) - 12-13k each week. That is biggest difference between Hill and Robins/Davey