Could this sudden reversal of a stated plan and the flash sale be for a reason

It's not just a question of making a bet to get promoted - it's also to stop a tumble down the league and registering that we are serious about getting as much value possible out of our players on the pitch. Do you think we would have been promoted to the Prem if we had sold or best players come Xmas? If Winnall had been told no from the start all this stuff about Roberts, MacDonald + Conor would not have happened. Once agents and other clubs smelt blood the unsettling frenzy began and Hecky's workload went through the roof..

 

Good thrrad this and some well worded replies.

 

Is the decision not more like this

Sell:
Pros:
£2m (for example) in the bank.
6 months headstart on trying to find the new hot prospect.

Cons:
Upsets fanbase
Makes us less attractive to potential signings
Lowers chance of promotion
Increases chance of relegation
Risk of lower season ticket sales next season
Nobody for the replacement youngster to learn from
Decreased media coverage

Keep:
Pros:
Increases supporter confidence in boards ambitions
Increases chance of promotion
Decreases relegation risk
More season ticket sales next season
Somebody for a young replacement to learn from

Cons:
Throwing away £2m
Less/no money to pay for a replacement in the summer

 

I agree.

 

Is it bang on that Barnsley fans aren't willing to pay championship football prices? There are 5 teams with lower attendances than us and we haven't had any local derbies yet. By tonight there will be at least 6 teams with lower attendances than us

 

Let us say for a minute that I accept your analysis of the factors affecting the decision making process, there is still a decision to be made. All of the factors must be taken into account and Conor is either kept at the club this month, or we sell him and move on. Assuming for one moment that I am in the hot seat, my decision would be sell and move on. What would your decision be. When you tell us your answer, please bear in mind that this is the real world and not some computer game that has absolutely no consequence in the real world. Please also bear in mind that you do not have access to a reset button, or even a huge pot of cash, that will make everything all right again.

 

After the season that we had last season, and the goodwill that the club took into the season ticket selling period, I still remember people questioning the price and questioning the football going public of Barnsley's ability to pay. At this point you might say, well you are a fine one to talk. You only pay OAP rates, and that is so. But we all measure the price of something by what we have to give up to pay for it. How many pints does a season ticket represent, or how many fags. Again, I am a none smoker and a none drinker, but it is the principle that I am trying to establish. In order to support Barnsley FC at home, and I am not concerned with away games here because that money goes into the pockets of our rivals, what would you have to give up, and was that a price that you think was worth paying after he thrill of last season. Well only 8000 of us thought that it was.

As for the comparison with our rivals, on your calculations, we ought to be in the bottom 5 or 6. But both Rotherham and Burton are limited in their attendances by capacity for at least some of their games. So amongst the teams not limited by capacity, we are 3rd or 4th worst supported club in the league after last season. It sort of makes the decision on selling/not selling an easier choice. In addition to being poorly supported, we do not have any parachute and we do not have a mega-rich owner. Instead we have a responsible board who are running the club responsibly, and that we do for me until something better turns up.

 

Good to see you are still banging the same drum about supporters and their unwillingness to back the club financially. Just out of interest, do you get your season ticket at a discounted rate?

Anyway, what I would like to ask you is where do you think the game of football would be if supporters were logical over emotional? Approximately 1,100 Accrington supporters turn up to watch their club every other week. What's the reason for this? Why do they support Accrington instead of Chelsea? Whatever the reason is, it's surely not logical?

 

I agree, mate. An excellent thread with varied & well presented viewpoints.

 

I get my ST at OAP rates.

Football is an emotional game. I am not trying to say that it isn't. This discussion is about the merits of selling 2 players in the January transfer window and acquiring their replacements. Some posters are coming at the discussion from an emotional point of view, and I can see that there is a lot of emotion that could be brought to bear on the argument. As emotional as I get at games, and I do get very emotional, a business decision must be taken on the basis of cold hard reasoning. We all know the factors affecting this decision, and we can all weigh those factors and come up with a reasoned and informed decision based on those factors. I have said what mine would be, but I have as small a part to play in this process as anyone else on here. I am just one voice among many, who will all voice their decision for their own reasons. I am quite happy to have my logic and my reasoning tested, and for that reason, I give an explanation of my decision making process. How about you?

 

From the start of the season I've felt we should kept them because their worth at the point they enter the last year of the contract is greater to us than selling. I particularly think that is the case with Hourihane as he is so vital to the way we play that I believe we will need a full summer of work to accommodate what may very possibly be a whole different formation and way of playing without him.

 

I respect that view. It is very unlikely that we will find a player who replicates what either Hourihane or Winnall have brought to the team, but that is always the case. The thing is that we must change sooner or later, and if you change in the summer, you begin again without the fee.