That's a pretty bold statement. I'm not disputing what you're typing. Did GG really say that transfer funds accrued were being saved towards a tilt at promotion to the Premier League? Certainly a statement I can't believe I've missed. That said. It would explain a player of Mowatt's calibre signing a new contract. Cauley Woodrow signing and Kieffer Moore stating in a recent interview he wanted to achieve something at Barnsley. It would to a degree explain Thiam talking in the long term too.
What about martin waghorn though bought for a million sold for seven a year later. To make money they dont have to come from lower leagues.
But surely that’s even more of a reason to say ‘you know that £6m we lost in revenue by been relegated we’ll Sunderland & Portsmouth have been depleted let’s go for it & be champions & get that revenue back. Potts & Pinnock & any other players are all young & on long term contracts. Their value isn’t going to go down between now & May, let’s keep them & reassess then without upsetting the team’. It is in my eyes anyway. We’re hardly gambling with our future
You do have to pay them though - remember that people like Waghorn will want a 3 or 4 year contract at very good wages. If they break their leg or don't fulfill their potential you still have to pay them. That's why young, up and coming talent is preferable - less likely to get injured and less like to demand huge money. I'll have to have a search for it now - surely it can't have been my imagination! I seem to remember them saying it after the takeover. Found this so far, immediately after appointing Stendel: “The last months of the season we had been working on the two different scenarios between League One and the Championship, we were all hoping we would use the Championship one but unfortunately it was League One. But, we were prepared for this and we had a list of different player targets for each division we may have been in, we were prepared." He also said: "‘If we go back to Championship and manage to get revenue just to Championship average and reinvest that in the team we can be very competitive" - link here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...t-chief-executive-29-impressing-Barnsley.html
Moore, Woodrow, Mowatt, Lindsay, Cavare, Fryers, Thiam, Dougall didn't come from the lower leagues either.
If the conveyor belt was a part of the journey to something better then I would agree with you. However, weakening a squad in the middle of a promotion push (although I will add the caveat the window hasn't quite closed) would indicate the conveyor belt is the destination.
The point was we have KEPT players as the poster was saying we had lost more than other teams . I’m not advocating selling players I agree with you just making a point that the poster was wrong.
I remember after selling a whole team and the Stones money Robert Zuk saying in the chron after paying back the Cryne family and running costs ground improvements etc theres nowt left. That was before it was sold. If your right and their saving a war chest for a tilt at the prem one day I hope im around to see it. Also dont you think think this plan is reinventing the wheel a bit ? When have Bfc not been interested in young talent that has gone under the radar and developing talented youngsters through the youth set up.
Really good thread so far. The question though shouldn't be about the strategy.. it should be about the goal, the objective. Strategies underpin and support an objective. And that's the question... what is the objective of the ownership and the club? You can certainly assume some things, but its never been crystallised as to what the reasons for ownership were and subsequently, the reasoning for the actions the club take, on a short, and long term basis. I can understand why the owners would follow a route of develop to sell to try and escalate revenues to come into the club. The flip side, more clubs are doing the same, so our initial short lived competitive advantage is diminished. With Beane, will there be a supplement of other key data added to the model, will we look at rejected players or players dropping down the leagues to bring experience at a later date. Will we tap into other regions and leagues that are presently only moderately tapped into? But the same remains this... for what reason are the club operating this way? To generate money? To generate success? To provide a vehicle to generate successes in other ventures or open markets in key target countries? To access a deprived cheap labour area and invest to benefit over time? I've no idea, and I don't think it will be evident for 3-5 years and depending on what the team does on the pitch. What I hope to see though, as well as what others have touched on with an elevated target player from where we've fished to date (but all routes should be available if a player is right), is to add 2 aspects to this current model, I genuinely don't think we could survive in the championship and become more secure otherwise... 1, to retain some core of team. That may mean the player isn't a superstar, but is a key component to passing on how we do things here, what it means to fans, what they like, get into good habits and pass the baton. Someone like Mowatt (previously Scowen) would be ideal. And we build around them. I think that gives some consistency internally, but it also gives the fans reassurance they have some heroes to grow a bit older with. The hardest thing for me from our last promotion is looking at the squad, the bench, the directors box and seeing so little that remains the same. Change is good, but constant upheaval and regular reinvention very much isn't. 2. To add more experienced players in who flatten the learning curve. We're seeing some good football at times this season, but I think this team is way off being able to operate mid table in the championship. Decision making can be very poor at times, and its that aspect which will make all the difference. You would hope that time helps youth players in that respect, but there are others who flatter to deceive and super wasteful. If, when we're promoted, this year, next, 10 years from now... it may be necessary to get a plug and play option in that doesn't require 18 months of development to then see them sold. But again, it comes down to the objective of why this ownership acquired BFC and what purpose it has in their portfolio.
Decision making certainly makes sense. On saturday Cavare had two marauding runs that both came to nothing because he couldn't make his mind up whether to shoot or cross and in the end did neither.
I think we're getting better at the decision making, and I think that's assisted by confidence. At our best we're holding the ball longer and there is better movement and rotation of players. But we still have some players who strongly flatter to deceive and have peaked. I think Potts and Moncur fell into that category too.