You are nothing if not consistent, I’ll give you that. You do, though, tend to overlook some of the points made by others, for example, about the current size of the squad, and the way scarce resources are being used. I have termed it ‘casino management’ in that there appears to be a speculative approach that completely ignores the concept of team building, in the hope that one or more of their punts will land on the right number. This means that the whole focus is on trading (in players and Head Coaches) rather than on being competitive in what is, after all, a sport. Your point about having little to fall back on if things go wrong would perhaps be more valid if they didn’t appear to waste so much in the pursuit of whatever their ‘business model’ is. As someone who is not renewing despite having been a season ticket holder for donkey’s years, I am desperately hoping that they realise sooner, rather than later, that they are in the wrong business and try to find a way out. I would then happily settle for life in the lower divisions, hopefully in the knowledge that we are no longer someone’s business experiment.
We had a very large squad, and yet, at times during this season, we have struggled to field a first team squad. I accept that we have been unlucky with injuries, but nevertheless, that was the situation for many of our games. Neither are we the only club that sell their best players. With 3 results not yet in, we were only 9th on the list of Championship sides for player sales. You are right that it is a sport, and that we are in the business of winning football matches, but there is a big problem if you look at that in isolation. If the club runs out of cash, and it cannot get finance from elsewhere, it goes bust. It might be winning football matches, but it still goes bust if the money runs out. Where I do agree is that successive coaches have changed to the system that they prefer too quickly, and without consideration as to whether the players they have available fit into their preferred system. I disagree that Conway tells the coach which system to use, because he does not have to. He simply appoints a coach who is known to play a different system, and the coach sticks to his system because he believes in it, and in spite of poor results. On Saturday we saw yet another coach using a system that was unsuited to the players available. Do not get me wrong, many of the players were not of the required standard, but they were not helped by the system.
You have possibly been going to Oakwell for even more years than me. Can you recall a time when we had so many players out on loan? So many players in the U-23's who played little or no part until late on in the season (we used to call them the Reserves)? And then had to supplement all this by doing something that Conway said we wouldn't do - bring players in on loan. Yes, we have had injuries (probably down, at least in part, to last Summer's fiasco), but I would still argue that the underlying problem is the scattergun approach to recruitment, based on speculative future value rather than team-building. In terms of player sales, my last company before retirement designed and supplied products for the gift industry. Sometimes we got it spot on and the products sold like the proverbial hot cakes; but just as often they turned out to be flops. Such was the speculative nature of the market we were serving. I would argue that the lack of player sales is perhaps not due to the owners batting away acceptable offers (or even ones that they found unacceptable), but that we are overestimating the saleability of our 'star' players. Hopefully I'll be proved wrong when the funds start flooding in this Summer
Just a quick note on my comments here. As SBRed48 has quite rightly commented, the link posted by animallittle3 was from Tykes Mad, not Tykes Chat. I'm more than happy to correct my error. I blame my increased old age and lack of sanity. You just can't get the staff these days.
I think that you have a point about player sales this summer. I think that we will find it very difficult to get the prices we want. However, last summer, the team had finished 5th, and the players were considered differently, at least by the fans. Nevertheless, there were no acceptable offers. Conway put this down to our style of play. I think it is much more likely to be the lack of funds in the Championship after such a bad year financially. We certainly had no-one who I thought could make the step to the Premier League. This season, we have seen why no club fancied those players. To play in the Championship a player must have pace, and he must pass accurately. Goals are scored by getting from one end to the other very quickly, and those two attributes are the ones required by most fluid systems. For example, the 4-2-3-1 brought to the club by Asbaghi would have been fine if our players had those attributes. Unfortunately, they don't, and Asbaghi failed to recognise that fact until it was too late. The young players that we brought to the club and sent out on loan would be on low wages. Those wages would be covered by their loan agreements, and they are worth the risk because they are developing whilst they are out on loan, but they are still tied to us by their contracts. Obviously, that is not true of the more senior players that we have loaned out, but as I say, every club makes mistakes, and whereas some clubs have the cash to shrug off those mistakes, Barnsley does not. But what happens if we play safe. What happens if we bring in only older players who have proved their worth at other clubs. Well, assuming they are still under contract, their transfer fee reflects their increased worth. Whether they are tied to a contract or not, their pay is much higher than the risky, young alternative. However, as their contract comes towards its end (say after 4 years), the older player is into his 30's and has no resale value. The risky young player could have improved, or he could have got worse, but whichever it is, there is a chance that we can cash in on his increase in value as he now become too expensive (in pay costs) for us to keep, because we cannot afford a competitive wage for a talented player of his age. There are no riskless strategies for clubs like ours. You either risk that the player will not improve, or you risk paying a much larger sum to the older player who does not influence team performance, and cannot be sold. Being a football club owner is a way of losing a lot of money very quickly, unless you refuse to be drawn into funding losses, and that is what PMG are refusing to do.
Khaled mentioned this at one of the open forums. Far too much of the budget on players not in the squad and playing elsewhere - something he would like to avoid replicating moving forward.
I accept it’s a cheap shot, but nowhere do you mention the concept of building a team. Perhaps that’s inevitable given the demise of the old-fashioned team manager (at our club anyway). If there is really no alternative I honestly, and with great sadness, will permanently opt out.
On the contrary. I am all for building a team. I simply recognise the difficulty of doing so when there is no cash, and no way to attract the money that you need to make the process come to fruition. I am sorry that you have decided to turn your back on the team. I understand that you feel let down, but supporting Barnsley FC is very rarely the easiest, or most sensible of choices. You do it because of hope, not expectation. I hope that the club will still be here until I start supporting that great football team in the sky. I will move on very reluctantly.
Why do you think fans, who have many decades of support ,are now choosing to stop putting cash in to the club? Not one of us supports Barnsley for success and glamour so what has changed?
It is a pastime, is it not? Others are available, and potentially more rewarding ones. When it feels that the people in control are acting against the interests of what you would want to see for the club it is time to move on to other things. The worst thing that can be said about these owners is that many of us have ceased to care.
I think he was genuinely articulating sorrow for Old Gimmer, the team and the whole situation. Don't agree with Red Rain as I believe he refuses to acknowledge that there is another way even though it has been articulated to him many times, but I don't believe he was being anything other than sincere with the comment you highlighted.
I have actually followed the club for 56 years with both hope and expectation. The expectation that the club will put sporting competitiveness above making money, and the hope that my loyalty will be repaid by the occasional bit of joy. Until recently that is. To be clear, I’ve not turned my back on the club, rather the current owners have turned their back on me. They go and I’ll be back like a shot.
I don't think he intended it in any derogatory way but I think that kind of language is quite insulting whether it's intended or not. People have thought long and hard about whether to renew or now and for many it will have been a difficult decision. The last thing they need is to be told they've turned their back on the team regardless of how it's meant.
Well, people are disappointed and angry. The team finished 5th last season. Many hoped that we would build upon that success. Clearly, we have failed to do so. They feel disillusioned because the club raised their hopes, only to dash them again, and more. No-one is arguing that it has been a bad season, but this is my 57th, and I know now not to expect much. Unfortunately, I have been proved right.
I have 57 years invested, but these owners are not going to get rid of me. I watched the team during the John McSeveney time, and that was worse than anything served up this season. As I say, I expect nothing and I am grateful for anything I get.
I never expected much, but i expected abit more than what we got and how the fans and the club in general have been treated by the owners is neglect.
@Red Rain - You made me think back to the comment that our owners made when they purchased the club about using their expertise and contacts to grow commercial income. I can't recall whether you (or @Archerfield) commented on commercial income when appraising the latest accounts. Was there any evidence of progress in that respect?
I know you like statistical analysis. John McSeveny’s time in charge saw a much better points return than this year with 36 points from 46 games as opposed to the current 30. The performances may have been better this time around but the results are worse.
It is hard to be sure. On the face of it Sponsorship and Advertising fell from £715k to £648k last season. However, the stadium was empty and I have no idea what effect that had on receipts.
