I'd love to be able to say I have confidence, but realistically I think at the end of the season it will be so long, farewell. I suppose that's what happens when we sign players who are only 16 going on 17, then expect them to climb every mountain that's put in front of them. But anyway, as BFC is one of my favourite things, I'll be there on Saturday, hoping to see something good.
We all have more important things in our lives. If, for example, I’d have been given the option of staying in the EU, or Barnsley staying in the Championship, I’d definitely have opted for the former. Also, just like most families we have some pretty weighty health concerns etc. But football provides an important escape from the realities of life, and that’s probably why some of us find the sort of analysis provided by the likes of Red Rain so dispiriting. Remove the dreams and aspirations from football and there actually isn’t that much left. For some of us anyway. I first attended Oakwell in October 1966, and have introduced two sons and three grandchildren to the delights of following Barnsley Football Club. I hope and trust that they will support the club for many years to come. For me personally, I am finding it difficult at the moment. Perhaps it’s just my age, who knows?
great post. That’s what I’m finding so difficult about this regime Their mission statement has nothing to do with football at all. it’s about making money which is spirit crushing football is not a commercial vehicle - it is hopeless optimism, ecstasy, agony and escapism
A wonderful post. And heart-warming regards the offspring. I’m some 14 years behind you on the attendance front and seemingly more at ease with the current state of BFC, but I definitely wish we weren’t leaving the EU. So we can agree there! And I do understand that for some, reading the views of Red Rain and maybe even myself at times, could perhaps prove a little dispiriting. Cold water and all that maybe. I like to think I’m fair when being critical and I’ve made my feelings known about the way we recruited last summer. I just don’t agree with the slandering and name-calling of people at the club who for all we know are trying their best. They’re maybe making errors but show me a person who doesn’t, I also don’t agree with the way fans are so quick to label our players as useless, the worst ever, nonsense like that. And so I’ll have my say in response. But I don’t post to antagonise and want no quarrel with anyone. Because deep down we must all be wanting the same. A win on Saturday and maybe our age will go out the window.
I am another who wishes that we were staying in the EU, but it is too late to dwell upone any warnings about our future. What's done is done. I'm genuinely sorry that many find my stuff dispiriting. I really do not intend it to be. What would be dispiriting, to me at least, is the prospect of my club never playing another game at our famous old stadium, a stadium that I have been happy to pay to enter, even when we were at the very foot of the league back in 1966. It is not the threat of relegation that I find dispiriting though, after all, there is always another season with new players and new hopes of a better future. My only concern is the threat that there is no future. I know that sounds dramatic, and I know that people hate it when I write dramatically, but our brush with death was a very real event, and had we not been saved by Patrick Cryne, I do not know how I would be getting my football fix now, because I certainly could not transfer my affections to another team. The picture of how they thought it would be, when we were taken over by a group of billionaires is not how has turned out. Many cannot forgive our present owners for giving them hope, and then taking it away. I perhaps listened more closely to what they were saying, and as a result, I am less unkind in my judgement of them. I tell it exactly as I see it, and it is clear that many do not like my brutal honesty. Nevertheless, I do not try to hurt when I explain what I see. I have a background in finance and in business management, and I simply try to explain things from that background, a background that many do not have. It is clear from their reactions that many do not like it, and this week has caused me to think once more about whether I should have another long break from the BBS. I do not think that is likely, but equally, I do not like the treatment that I get sometimes. We are all made up from our experiences of life, and our view of things reflects those experiences. My experiences have thought me much, but subtlety is not high on my agenda. I hope that I do not upset people with my frankness, but at almost 69, it is too late for me to change.
I spent many years as a senior manager and company director, and have a pretty sound formal and practical background in business. I have had all the good and bad experiences that this brings. Sport, and particularly Barnsley Football Club, was my main safety valve. I never thought of football as a business. It was sport. Once the money men took over from the well-meaning amateurs who used to run the game, then I guess it was inevitable that we were going to end up where we are now. Incredibly sad as far as I’m concerned.
I'd be very disappointed if you took any sort of break. Post more often would be my suggestion. But I'm selfish and enjoy your analytical take on BFC. The accounts will be due soon anyway. Maybe the notion that this ownership prefer us being in the third division will finally be dispelled, as I expect we lost a fair old chunk last year.
Money has eaten away at the game, there's no hiding from that. But it often reads on the board here, that fans yearn for us to be like the rest and our so-called billionaire owners should be funding our hopes and dreams. When in reality, just as they've said they would do, they've run a steady ship. Football and the division we are in at the moment, has to implode at some point. Clubs are in real trouble. Look at Bury. Look at Bolton. There are others in this division now who are sailing very close to the edge. I can't admonish our ownership for running a club within its means. But I can hope for better ways of doing so, and last summer's transfer activity wasn't ideal. I hope the club learns from that.
Did people listen "very closely " to the bit about revenue streams they would be bringing to the club from there "Worldwide business connections" streaming , working with Barnsley council ,improving the town etc. hows that all going any updates i mean they didn't just make that up did they , wasn't just lies was it so i suppose it did get a number of Barnsley fans hopes up. Not mine personally it was obvious they were bullshitters from the start and any one who did any checking up on them just confirmed it They told the OCG Nice owner they had Chinese and American sponsors lining up to go when he had a meeting with them to buy the club. they were going to build hotels etc in the area. so he didn't renew the old main shirt sponsor, 3 years later he was still waiting for any sponsorship to arrive and ended up having a blank space on the shirt for the start of the season then putting a free charity sponsor on as there main sponsor for the next two seasons. so he walked out with the vice president ,the manager who had taken them to the champions league walked out a couple of months earlier after he was told he had to sell players to pay there debt off they bought the club for and couldn't use the money to buy adequate replacements . i find it bizarre that people seem to think they are not spending money because they somehow love the club and want to keep it afloat. so we can continue watching our club for ever and ever every penny of our money they spend has to be made back plus profit on top of that the best way to do that is not spend any money or as little as possible They are not looking to make billions doubling your money is considered a very good return. The groups investors will be putting pressure on Mr Conway with the prospect of us dropping into a lower league which will severely impact the sale price of the club more than half way into a five year maximum investment term hence the Hail Mary, last throw of the dice signing of a older player to try and save relegation. not because they have altered the plan in any way just frankly a desperation move to try and stave of relegation when they sell the club inside the next few years at the latest. Does anyone think they will carry on turning up with there red and white woolly scarfs for games with there stated love of the club and area. or will those scarves be in the bin and there new ones with the colours of the next club or victim be around there necks if the club went bankrupt 24 hours after they sold the club ,does anyone think they will be heartbroken or care in the slightest if the club folded They bought the club on a brighthouse repayment plan over 5 years. So they will use funds generated by the club to pay the remaining 3/4 payments which they are fully entitled to do and frankly if i had no connection to the club just a business investment i would do the same. meaning they are actually buying the club for around 2 million hoping to hit the jackpot and get to the premier league or player/s who turns out to be a star sale but in reality a more realistic and achievable aim to consolidate the club in the championship midtable and put the club up for sale would be there aim for the best resale price they are frankly just chancers gambling with our money in a no lose / win win situation for them. Pulling the wool over peoples eyes just long enough to do what they came here for before the majority of fans turn on them.
Nobody wishes our wonderful club to perish you see. If you refer to my previous post entitled "Nobody wants us to do a Bury', then it becomes abundantly clear for all with a background like me, which is better than most you see, for my intelligence allows me to make statements based purely on assumptions that others can't see, you see.
Haha. He will still read that and compute it as you not liking his views, which must be the only logical reason, right?! Couldn't possibly be any other explanation...