Said it a few times. Much is made of January, but results have been very poor at home all season. 50% of our home wins in the last 9 months came in one month, August. I don't know about "value for money" though when it comes to season tickets though. It's sport with absolutely no guarantees. Basically you pay your money and hope for the best. I made my choice to do every game this season, and hit the jackpot and have seen all the away wins. Next season could be the total opposite. Sent from my SM-G850F using Tapatalk
My dad took me to Oakwell as a child, but I did not truly chose my football team until I reached the age of 14. I consider that I made the choice myself. There really is no point agonising on why individual fans decide to support the team, or withdraw their support. There is nothing that we can do about it. I would argue that after last season's achievements, the team deserves our support, but in practice individuals will chose how they spend their own cash. The web of cause and effect is important though. An individual who walks away denies the club his revenue. I have argued that revenue as transformed into player wages is the biggest predictor of league position, so an individual who walks away becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. He walks away because the club has not achieved, and the club fails to achieve because an individual, or actually many individuals. walked away. I do not know how to express this other than to ask others to be patient, and to keep contributing even when they would rather not. Just be patient and keep believing. Others will tell me that the board made bad decisions, and they have lost patience with the board. I do not agree, but even if I did, the board is not the football club. The board, the owner, the players, the staff, they will not be part of the club structure for very long. But the club has been with us since 1887 and hopefully it will be here long after we are all gone, but that will only happen provided we support it whilst we can. I am old now, but once I was young, once I was impatient, once I wanted everything and I wanted it now. And you know what. Things were no better then because I willed them to be, and I campaigned, and I found fault. Because the problem is that as fans, the only effective thing that we can do to influence things on the field it to turn up, keep paying our money, and keep supporting. All the rest is just hot air.
How dare you come on here and write such a good post, rounding it off with the above which is the truest thing written on here in a long time, perhaps ever? Careful, you might earn Barnsley fans a reputation of having half a brain cell between us. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
As things stand, our away form is only 1pt better off. Home: P:22 W:6 D:10 L:6 F:31 A:32 PTS: 28 Away: P:22 W:9 D:2 L:11 F:32 A:31 PTS: 29 Overall, the away record is not as superior as some are making out. I agree the home form needs to improve, mainly turning some of the draws into wins. If anyone's bothered, our 2017 form is Home: P:9 W:1 D:6 L:2 F:8 A:11 PTS:9 Away: P:11 W:4 D:1 L:6 F:13 A:15 PTS:13
This is interesting, hadn't realised the stats looked like that! So turns out it's win/lose away, with a lot more draws at home. Also, possibly critically, we've barely been scoring at home since Jan. 21 in 20 games H&A, but only 8 in 9 at home. Can dress that how you like but it won't look good. Here's to a decent summer.
I don't think it's about the points as much as the lack of wins. Sent from my SM-G850F using Tapatalk
I know it's boring old-hat but, at the end of the transfer window in January, or even during January, how many points were we behind Sheff Weds? I genuinely don't know but I bet it wasn't many. However I do notice that we are about 21 points behind them now. Has that just happened by chance or is there a more apparent reason... you know what I am getting at. If we are looking for lack of wins then we are dredging back old mud again.
Interesting - so even though we have been "poor" in 2017 we still managed 22 points from 20 games which translates as 51 points over a season which is not relegation most seasons. And I think about points dropped against Ipswich, Wigan etc and we are a long way from being next seasons Rotherham. As said last summer - the recruitment is key - get it right and we could be top half quite easily - very few teams have outplayed us by a significant margin this season - and none of those are outside the current top 6. I think though our biggest problem is Crynes illness - he can hardly be concentrating of the football club and its lack of a chief exec means this summer could be very difficult for Hecky. It doesnt affect whether I renew though the club needs support and I plan to give mine again
When I say lack of wins, I'm comparing home v away over the whole season, and I suppose I'm making the point that it's wins that people remember and judge success by. Not getting into the whole January argument. It's been done to death. Sent from my SM-G850F using Tapatalk
We need to pluck a set piece specialist from league one or fringe in the champ/prem. I was hoping mowatt may be that but hes done nothing since he came - tad disappointing. And @YTBFC couldn't we put it into player contracts when we sign them that we only conduct sales in the close season and we always put in an option of a further year. Surely we hold all the cards when we sign players and the future success of any deal on a player turning up trumps for us is made when we draft out and sign that contract! Just a thought...
Damien, mate... I work in media. I can affect what goes on the website, in the programme, match reports, videos, what to say on social media etc. I have no power regards footballers contracts.
WTF. We stayed up in style. I agree we should have kept StS. Cheer up. WE ARE BARNSLEY. WE ARE THE UNDERDOGS. WE WILL NEVER GIVE IN.
Once again, I find myself having to explain the principles under which our club operates. I think it important that I do so because I think it important that our fans have realistic expectations about our future. Our club has one of the lowest budgets in the second tier. It does not have parachute payments, and although our owner helps when necessary, he is not super rich and cannot cope with the depth of pocket of many owners in the league. We must therefore rely upon the income generated from our fans, and there are neither enough of them nor are they prepared to pay enough individually to sustain a higher budget. That means that we must shop in the lower divisions and pick up problem players and young loan players from higher divisions. In both cases, these players are not the complete package when they come to us. We work on them and we hope to improve them, but nothing in the world of football is ever certain and we never know if we will be successful. We have to be patient, and some will respond, but others will not. Because we cannot afford to pay top wages, the contract has to be one that dangle carrots before players. The carrot that they desire is access to the big money, and the big money is just not available at Barnsley, so the carrot is a short term contract with a transfer to a big club provided the player responds to our coaching. The contract also fits in with what the club wants, because the club must trade in order to acquire the funds to supplement the limited revenue provided by the fans. So the contract benefits both the player and the club. The only people left out in the cold are those fans with unreasonable expectations about what is possible on a limited budget. These things are clear to me and I hope to make them equally clear to others. Sadly, it means that fairy stories are not allowed in my world and reality is the sad but inevitable truth. I still believe the impossible is possible because I believe in the principles that the club is using. I believe that if we are patient we can achieve, and finally, I believe that the club is more important than any individual, be that a player, a coach, an owner or a fan.