The realistic limit of our ambitions

The most sobering aspect of this week is the huge disparity demonstrated in what we can offer players and what the likes of Wednesday can. It's even greater than I thought. And there are bigger clubs than Wednesday out there in our league. It effectively means that any of our players can be cherry picked at will, and it doesn't even represent much of a gamble for the big boys. In the past I've argued that a limited injection of investment wouldn't go amiss, but when you look at the money waved about this week, what we could afford would make little difference.

This summer we're going have to try against the odds to find someone who can partially fill Conor's boots. And there may be several other gaps to fill as well. If the new recruits prosper, off they go to other clubs and we repeat. The first time the new draft don't polish up as well as our current players, we drop like Rotherham (and Donny before them). So while we're going well at the moment, sooner or later we will revert to becoming a 'yo-yo' club. If we're lucky, brief moments like last season may come along again. But if we survive comfortably this term, in no way will we have gained a foothold in this division, because the economics are against us in the longer run of things. And how do we feel about that, as supporters? Whatever our history, I'm afraid that Grandfathertyke has it right when he says that our natural centre of gravity has shifted to League One.

A depressing view of things, I know. But it's realism.

(And I don't even like The Smiths!)

 

That report is excellent .
This last week has brought home the fact that in this league we are never going to progress against the billionaires/ sky parachute monies.

 

The buy them young, cheap from the lower leagues sell em for a profit policy is a fantastic league 1 policy not sure what the championship version is.

It may be buy them young from the premier league who can't get a game, put them on longer contracts, pay them and the rest of the squad more and sell them back for more to the premier League. The new policy is a lot harder I would think so maybe league 1 is our level.

 

The problem is nowadays, even Div 2 players, who are any good are commanding riddiculous transfer fees. Omar Bogle...1.5million...come on really. We paid 250k for Conor 2 year ago, fast forward to now, he would have probably cost 4 times that.
I do think its important not to go down the route of spending brass we havent got, live within our means...even if it does mean we have to sacrifice championship football. Weve done fantastic over the last 12 months, and were somewhat victims of our own success to an extent. Its worth remembering thats some teams (and I include the fowls) spending is just not sustainable and eventually will end in tears...it nearly always does.
Like many have said, lets ride the wave, while ever it lasts. COYR

 

Whilst I agree with most of that, what makes the current situation difficult to take is, we are competing at this level but we are lacking real commercial awareness. We are still happy to sell players for peanuts, we are happy for players to get into the last 12 months on their contracts and then hold all the cards. Those two things should never be allowed to happen. They certainly don't happen at Peterborough for example.

We need to look at within to see where the problems are, maybe it's too late for this crop of players.

 

Facts as I see them

1. There are teams with smaller attendances than us in this division.
2. We are throwing revenue away left right and centre because of short sightedness in our off field business decisions (purchasing an inadequate scoreboard that cost money but hasn't brought in be penny in advertising revenue because it is too small to properly display videos, running out of kits before the season kicks off, having empty advertising spaces throughout the ground, no proper supporters bar, tat in the club shop etc)

With bigger attendances than other clubs logically we have more money than them, if we were to stop throwing revenue away like it is confetti then that would combine into even more money. There is no reason at all that we cannot compete in this division.

 

Sadly what you're saying is absolutely spot on. We knew it wasn't a level playing field but the disparity of funds we have to live with is truly mind boggling. Football has been ruined by Sky & the money men and it'll probably only get worse.
I do like the Smiths btw....lol

 

When we went up I thought the scenario you described would be the case us yo yoing having a good season occasionally and then selling players and struggling. As you say that has come into even sharper focus now.

I bloody love The Smiths.

 

I disagree with the sentiment.

If we continue to think and act smaller and inferior to our rivals then we will certainly remain so.

The club and our town in general needs to think big and start aiming higher.

 

Do you have a realistic and/or sustainable plan that would enable us to offer players £18K per week? I'm blowed if I have.

 

The article is probably on the Huddersfield Examiner website but in the paper yesterday it mentioned a 70 odd percent increase in merchandise sales in their two shops one at the ground and the other in the town centre due to the feel good factor around the team. They are bringing out a legends collection of things (surprised we don't sell stuff with past legends on) and are letting fans come up with stuff and design ideas. We on the otherhand......

 

Our lack of commercial acumen is something I've never been able to understand, surely prior to ordering for the shop surely the first question they should ask them selves is would anybody want it? in the case of clothing is it stylish would anybody want to wear it in the case of gifty stuff does it look good or like seaside tatt, and when we have something folk want like shirts the number of times we run out at key times is ridiculous. It's not as if there aren't enough clubs out there with excellent models that we could base ourselves on!
The contract problem we have got ourselves into is I suspect tied up with our meteoric rise up the league last year and largely unforeseen promotion in a relatively short timescale and some doubt within the club how we would fare this year, although it beggars belief we couldn't sign one or two up. Connor I can understand as he is clearly destined for bigger things.
The other stuff like wages that other clubs can afford look at such as Villa, big city club, parachute payments and a wealthy owner, triple whammy. Wednesday similar city club bigger catchment area and recently taken over with cash injection.
I still think if we tighten up and get more professional the off the field stuff that there is no reason why mid to upper championship with an odd flirt with the play offs shouldn't be our mark, after all there are clubs that do have more money and catchment area than us than us that have struggled more than us, look at the Blunts for example

 

As the furore of the last few days developed, I read again the thread "After the Party is Over" ( http://bbs.barnsleyfc.org.uk/showthread.php?244682-After-the-Party-is-Over ), which I wrote in June, and which presented a very intelligent and logical discussion, not least including contributions by yourself. That is not to say that we all got all of our predictions right. We did not. It is merely to point out that we can all learn from looking back at what we wrote then and trying to relate them to what has happened since. For example, I thought that we would struggle from the start, which in fairness, we have not done. Nevertheless, my points about being able to compete over the long term with clubs that have far bigger financial resources than we have has been illustrated in the clearest terms this week. The thing that I struggle with is this. How can the club devise a policy that would have made the parting of the ways between Sam Winnall and ourselves any better.

The facts are as follows:

1. Any player that goes through a successful period will be underpaid as measured by his historical contract terms.
2. The club can attempt to renegotiate those terms in order to exchange a better salary for a longer contract term.
3. It is for the player to judge whether his best interests are served by signing the contract that results from those negotiations, or whether his best interests are served by letting the contact run down further.
4. The club will be aware that as time ticks away, the position of the successful player becomes stronger, and it must decide at what point it retakes control of the situation by selling that player's contract.
5. The club should allow a reasonable time, but in the end, it must sell before the players value begins to depreciate because the end of his contract period is approaching.
6. The club must have in mind the reaction of fans to the sale of the club's best players, especially when emotions are running high following a successful season.
7. In the end, the club must act in it own best business interests, unclouded by the interests of the player or the ambitions of the fans.

The problem is that successful players hold most of the cards in any contract negotiation that takes place. In the case of Barnsley FC, there are also some special factors that further weaken their negotiating position.

1. The value of many of the players increased dramatically in June 2016 following promotion to the Championship. At that point, many of them had just 12 months left on their contracts. Theoretically, their value continued to increase as the team did well in the Championship. But in fact, as the end of the contract draws nearer, that value can only be maintained if there is competition between at least two clubs for the player's signature.
2. The club finds that it cannot compete with the player's salary demands. It does not have parachute payments and it does not have a super rich owner who is willing to invest with such a poor short term chance of a return on his investment that promotion to the Premier League might provide.
3. The club is conscious of the negative effect that the destruction of the wage structure has on team morale.
4. The club knows that a failed gamble would see a return to League 1 and a forced sale of playing assets as a result of SCMP.

The club is caught between a rock and a hard place. It becomes increasingly obvious that the only thing that it could have done is to sell sooner, and risk the adverse reaction of the fans. The summary that precedes this closing paragraph is intended to show how difficult it is to manage successfully a small football club in a small post industrial northern town. It is just very, very difficult and the criticisms of the fans do not take full account of those difficulties. It is a job for professionals and those with extensive experience in the game. It is fine for we fans to bitch and complain, but we should all just remember how little skill we actually have at running a football club.

 

Rubbish. Most posters on here (except me) would be far better in charge of the club than the current staff. Obviously.

 

Flipping, heck, I agree with you!
I'll be looking for one of these tonight!
<img src ="http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Blue_Moon.jpg">

 

That depends on whether we look at the football club as a one man band type of thing or whether we break it down into areas and specialties. In fact I believe that is where we have gone wrong.

There are people on here who are really good at media etc, exactly why whitey got a job at the club.
There are people on here who have retail knowledge and a knowledge of purchasing and trend prediction.
There are people who are vastly experienced at contract management, recruitment and asset retention.
There are people who have marketing knowledge and could increase the club's image in the area.
People who have a knowledge of advertising and sales who could increase revenue that the club are currently letting slip through their fingers for example by having poster advertising slots sat empty in the concourses.

It is correct to say that (unless somebody on here is good at keeping a secret) we all lack skills/experience and knowledge of how to run a football club from top to bottom there are many who have knowledge on subjects and areas that the club do work within.

For example I contacted the club several times several years ago regarding advertising revenue. I told them to do 5 things. One was to get a tunnel wrap with an advertisers logo on it, one was to do the same with the backs of the dugouts, one was to utilise the PA system and instead of just saying 'goal for Barnsley scored by Marley watkins' to start saying 'goal for Barnsley sponsored by xxx', one was to install small advertising boards above the entrance to each gangway as people see them every time the exit the stadium and the last one was to install advertising on the steps going up the stands.

All five were shot down each and every time I suggested them with excuses made as to why they couldn't be done. Fast forward a few years of lost revenue and we have now finally adopted 4 out of 5 of these money making revenue streams. And that is just an idiot like me, imagine what the smarter and more skilled bbsers could actually do if they were listened to

 

I also contacted the club several years ago, offering to help voluntarily, as I was getting close to retirement from my "proper" job). I was very politely told that I had nothing to offer, as I had no experience of running a football club. I left feeling pretty pissed off, if I'm honest.

To be fair that was a long time ago now, and I feel the current structure is far better - or it was until Patrick sadly became ill. The Winnall transfer doesn't bother me because the bloke has obviously wanted to leave for months, for whatever reasons, and nobody knows what the actual fee was anyway.

The replica shirts business boggles my mind though. Here's a video of my last attempt to buy a replica shirt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWDdd5KKhts

 

All small town clubs like us have the same problems when competing with the big city teams - we're not on a level playing field financially.
Luckily football doesn't always pan out as per the financial clout otherwise we wouldn't be playing Villa or Newcastle this season and teams like Burnley & Bouremouth wouldn't be hosting Man United & Arsenal.
We can all dream and aim for the top otherwise what's the point in watching your local team play football?
I'd use Burnley as the example. Similar sized town, fan base and financial clout prior to them gaining Premier League status.
Why couldn't be that be us, Preston, Blackburn, Bolton or other similar sized towns?

 

I've never seen that sketch before. Absolutely loved it and now I can't get the image of a Barnsley fan out of my head.

Have you get any home shirts? Away shirts? Third shirts? Training shirts? Kids shirts? T-shirts?

 

They said that in1997