Well done the Board

Over their tenure our board have taken plenty of stick , most of it justified, but say it as you see it & I think they must take credit for the way they have handled things this season , especially with the managers situation & both the transfer windows . It was widely predicted that there would be the usual january sales with a great many fans predicting that our captain would be gone & potential sales of some of our rising stars would follow but Val made it clear he wanted backing & thats exactly what has happened , he has held on to the players he wanted to & strengthened with three additions in a very difficult situation , so I say well done to the suits at Oakwell you have shown some ambition , something which has been in short supply for a very long time .

 

Yes agreed been a good window long may it continue

 

Hopefully learned from their mistakes, get the off field stuff tidied up too and here's to a much brighter future at Oakwell.

 

The outgoings have been managed and key players are still here. Though lets also recognise the current pandemic and indebted championship clubs struggling for cashflow is a huge help too, just as its a hinderance in trying to clear the deadwood.

Some might criticise if Mowatt leaves on a free in the summer, but that just makes sense in the circumstances. My biggest future concern is trying to claw back as much of the monies we spent on Schmidt and Thomas as possible when the time comes to jettison them.

 

Agreed. Done well in difficult times.

 

i think Mowatt was more valuable playing 20 games for us than leaving for 500k. The board have really done well on this and who knows, he might still sign a new contract

 

Agreed, I'm absolutely delighted with the business done this month and keeping our best players. I don't think anyone can argue against that, especially under the difficult situation with the pandemic and having no supporters for nearly a year now.

Well done everyone at Barnsley FC

 

Can point to the pandemic for lack of sales, but could have sold mowatt for around 750k this window, and the reason interest in Styles wasn’t followed up by any bids wasnt purely down to the interested clubs. We also didn’t sell any first 11 players last Jan either.

Slowly but surely unpicking the damage of August 2019. Next summer will be a challenge, likely to lose mowatt and we’ll need to bring in a transfer fee for someone. But if we can still be a championship club by the end of next season, we’ll have the salaries of Frieser, Ritz and Miller to allocate elsewhere

 

Precisely, though I'd be surprised if we can match wages on a championship captain free agent.

 

Pleased Mowatt is still here but he needs to be made to understand that if he won't sign a contract now we need to be making provisions for being without him next season. So, as soon as we're almost safe I'd have him out of the team and Styles, Palmer, Kane etc being played in centre mid.

 

Exactly, getting nominal insulting fees for Mowatt and in the prior window, Woodrow is pointless, so very easy to turn down. And i suspect the £4m ish for Brown and Struber assisted cashflow to be able to do so.

And championship clubs are finding it much harder to find the moderate fee levels that have historically been accepted.

Agree that next summer is a key stage, especially if fans are allowed back in. We could then see the resolve tested for Styles and Woodrow, maybe even Brittain and we'll then know if our club captain is still here or not.

 

..and credit to you too Red CB for pointing out credit where credit is due!!

Too often this place is a credit free zone. You've brought some sunshine into the bleak mid-winter.

 

Surely we play our best team. To me he's contracted till the summer so should play until then if he's our best player and captain. The others need to fight to get their place and show their worth in the way he has.

 

Well I really don't think we're going up or down this season, Helen. For me the second half of this season is all about getting a team ready to have a go next season. I've no problem with Mowatt hedging his bets, I'd do the same but at the same time he can hardly complain about us getting ready to cope without him if he won't commit to being here.
I'd say it's highly likely he'll go. We don't want to be starting to experiment with a key area of the team on day one next August.

 

Think we have done pretty well though we may miss the influence of James it gives an opportunity for someone to claim the place.

The situation with CV19 certainly slowed the market which helped us but credit where it’s due.

 

not sure on this one.I see your point but we could play Palmer say for Mowatt and he gets injured in pre season training. I'm paying for a season ticket to see our best players play, right up to the end of the season.

 

If the resolve is tested, all I'd want to see is some better evidence of what the fee allows, like selling Brown meant less need to sell anybody else. I think it's fair that we will likely have to sell one player every year to balance the books, just as long as we don't sell 3 or 4.

As for Mowatt, while I think the chances of him still being here are less than 50%, I still think it's far from a foregone conclusion. A number of clubs that were looking at him last month have already moved onto, and signed new targets. He might get offered a signing on fee, but clubs will also have cash earmarked for other targets, so not sure he'll be doubling his wages unless a recent prem club comes in. If a club comes in with an offer that's a bit higher than we're offering, he has to consider if it's worth the risk. If he does go, then it's essential we don't sell Styles, and would need to identify which player could be sold without doing too much harm. If Kitching's any good, then we may listen to offers for Andersen. If Carlsberg did transfer windows, we'd get offers for Thomas, Simoes, Schmidt, Miller, Ritzmaier, Frieser and possibly even Odour and Halme, whilst bringing a few in.

 

If clubs have fans in next season, I can see some clubs just splurging again, and given even our top end of wages is middle of the road to lower end for other clubs, I don't think its difficult to say we'd be outbid by many championship clubs who are willing to make losses (not that i think thats right) or generally get proper market value.

The suggestion is though he likes to be settled and he is. But either way, he's absolutely doing the right thing and running his contract down to give him the best options for his future.

If Styles continues as he is doing and adds a bit more composure to his ratting, I don't think he'll be here very much longer.

And despite having a lack of affinity for Carlsberg, i'd stomach a cheeky half if it enabled a good part of that exodus without huge losses crystallised.

 

Has this board gone soft or have some of them realised its not easy running a football club and decisions have to be made to the benefit of the club. This applies to all clubs.

 

Fair point. I think we'll be starting from scratch next season though. Let's hope Styles can hit the ground running in central midfield.