I think Mark Robins was heading the right way. The football wasn't great but we looked more solid. Had the club got him in earlier it might have consolidated and had a proper crack at promotion. We'll never know.
Total cap end. But to his credit found some good players. Am I correct in thinking he brought Hammill to the club,
Thing with Davy is he had the best budget since administration and didn’t do as well as he should have tbh. Apart from that cup run we struggled most times at the bottom end . Don’t think anyone after got as much backing from Cryne imo.
Its classic BBS again, player admits taking our money and not giving a toss. meanwhile we lay into someone else for 4 pages! never change.
Most players are like that. I've mentioned it before. I knew a player who tried his best whilst he was on the pitch but wasn't bothered about the result as long as he got paid at the end of the week.
The fact that Andy johnson was a money grabbing mercenary takes nothing away from the fact that Simon Davey was an arse licking fraud; who some chose to remember as successful as he kept us up for three seasons and had a great at cup run, though others remember as underachieving massively compared to the money he spent who was dining out on a cup run which happened in spite of him and with a bit of luck - Anfield was great but we could have been four down Let’s be honest. The Chelsea game was brilliant yes, but pretty much every other game under him reflected his demeanour. Tepid, boring. He produced a team which was much worse than the sum of its parts. That side would have been comfortably mid table under Robins, even Hill. Nobody since has been backed in the same way. He wasted three seasons of opportunity, the financial workings of the club since have been well documented; Robins walked as he didn’t think it could work, we got Hill who did ok until his team was sold, Flitcroft, Wilson mk2, Johnson, Heckingbottom, Morais, Stendel and now Struber. None of which given the means to compete that Davey got and the fact he’s bombed at Darlo and Hereford, then disappeared out of trace, says it all.
Mark Robins got put on gardening leave and was sold short by the club..Big time The Don helped pull the rug from under him big time... There are better run conference clubs than Barnsley was one of the first comments that came out in my first ever meeting with Mark.. Who might I add is a lovely bloke to deal with.. No nonsense calls as he sees it but prepared to listen to the alternative view before making his final decisions... When we were doing well just outside the top 6 on the verge of the play offs he approached Don with the names of 3 players to strengthen the team and was adament their addition would guarantee promotion be that automatic or be it the play off final at least... The Don's response.. as it had been from the off.... as long as we stay in the championship you've no problem... Don't get us relegated, don't get in front of yourself again... (His first 3 signings he had no transfer budget as such) nearly gave Don a heart attack when he told him he had promised them all 25 grand a week... Needless to say a transfer budget was forth coming albeit a small one compared to most. He wasn't interested at all about going up.. No ambition just a tread water type of guy was old Don... . I know that from personal experience, re ambition... in another instance the Don refused to sanction 3 Portuguese under 21s loan signings all who went on to make full international appearances... In my opinion Mark Robins was too ambitious for the Don and the Don found him difficult to handle .. But then on the other hand he (the Don ) would go the extra mile and do his best to help out if he could with little tasks and requests regarding hospitality and the match day experience... As long as it wasn't too major..lol. If the club had backed Mark Robins in my opinion from what I saw and experienced we would have been back in the Premier league during his tenancy in the hot seat... Happy days... Norman will you make Bryan a black coffee.... He's a big lad he can mek is own... And while tha at it young un al ev a cuppa te'er.. Another story.. Lol.. Rimmo fondly remembered
im not disagreeing with anything you've wrote! that wasn't my point however i suspect you knew that too
Mark Robins loved a curry and was actually told he was no longer welcome at Tankersley Manor as he was always sh1tting the bed... ok, I admit, I fabricated this one. I don’t actually have any dirt on Robins...unlike his bedsheets.
and fabricated sheets are a bugger to wash too ;-) end of the day both the folk in question sound like complete tools, at least johnson all but admitted it by saying he turned up pissed, he may find it funny (and i haven't seen the clip yet) but he cheated us fans out of money whilst here.
Long after Robins left the club I became acquainted with John Breckin who was Robins’ assistant. Based upon his comments, I would say that the problem relationship was between Patrick Cryne and Robins.
That is t how I read it. I read it as he was forced out by Davey, alienated to such an extent that he didn't consider himself part of the first team so he enjoyed his Christmas because Davey had isolated him. Got a call out of the blue telling him he was playing so played but was drunk and didn't feel guilty because it was caused by Davey's management of him.
Mark Robins was told we had to change from the previous season when we relied on expensive loan players.The aim was to sign players who when they left could make the club money to reinvest instead of loan players getting paid then moving on for nothing.Mark didn't agree to this.
Are you referring to Hignett about to be named Barnsley manager and the club having an 11th hour change of heart and sticking with Flitcroft?
Sacked him, appointed Keith hill and signed Drinkwater, park, Addison, Higginbotham, Collins, tonge, button and nouble on loan in the first season alone.
