Potentially the worst thing to happen to us in recent years ? Went billy big balls and lost the plot, since gone on to prove himself a pretty dam good lower league manager. Hypothetical i know, but wonder what would have happened if the great escape had turned out a narrow miss.
Summer of 2013 there was such a buzz. Fresh CEO, the man who did so much for sport and Man U comes in as chairman, team has battling spirit working great at 352 after Christmas and keeping clean sheets and picking up plenty of points on the road. Come Wigan he goes 442 and slowly from that point we show up those journalists who had us as team to watch.
We have let a steady stream of good managers go. If we could have given this management team a bit more money then in my opinion they would have done the job: Keith Hill with Flicker and Micky Mellon as his assistants. So after getting rid of these managers, that have gone on to do good things on a more limiting budget than what Barnsley has, we have found ourselves in a catch 22 situation. Can we allow another 'up and coming' manager to be sacked - who is likely to go on and do good things at another club? OR.............do we bite the bullet and go down the Coventry route? That is to say........stop trying to find a hungry manager from the lower leagues and appoint a well established 'been there and done it' sort of manager?
You reckon? According to wiki, **** loads of loans last year, but over the past two seasons they've only paid for 4 players... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014–15_Bury_F.C._season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015–16_Bury_F.C._season
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.../bury-training-ground-carrington-city-8710478 Tom Pope wanted £4k a week off us. They've remortgaged the ground, spending cash on 'luxury travel' and all that. A f.cking fortune.
I agree Keith Hill was given bugger all and still somehow managed to get us hovering the play offs with a top free transfer and loan signing, they both went, Butterfield got injured and then that was that. I don't think the Barnsley fans fully understood the situation and gave him enough time but obviously his interviews didn't help either. People say his signings were crap but that's what you get when you spend peanuts, look at us now and where we are - still crap. Agree with everything you say about Flitcroft, why he changed tactics/philosophy I have no idea, don't fix what's not broken. I had so much optimism at the start of the season but again disappointment.