Neil Collins time at BFC

Started a new thread because I don't want to be on the same hymn sheet singing sack him.
He was appointed BFC coach about 4 weeks before the new season.Thats a short time to gather and build a solid team to achieve promotion.Some of our previous season top players had gone back to there clubs and some who were expected to sign chose not to.We then sold Kitching and although hes the type of player you need in a battle I can't recall anybody saying the club did the wrong thing by holding out for a fee no one thought the board was capable of.
Collins had all this to contend with and on top of all this the Ceo left for pastures new.
If we take away all the emotion of being a Barnsley fan can we honestly ,hand on heart say that Collins or anybody else could have done a better job.?
As for this season once we're in the playoffs its open to any of the 4 to win it thats better odds than the start of the season.
If we win promotion Collins starts with a blank canvas and I'm sure we'll strengthen to create a team capable of holding our own.If we fail to get promotion Collins for me also starts with a blank canvas to build a team capable of getting promotion next season but from a stronger stand point.He'll have more time to assess who he needs and doesn't need but this time he as the backing and help of a new DOF and a new CEO.
I think to put it in Bossmans terms ,he stays for me.

 

He stays for me, but sorry to keep banging on and boring it to death but give him free hand on formations and give him options.
Cadden and Williams contracts are up I hope to god we don't try and bring in some more sub standard wing backs, let's move away from recruiting back 5's etc

We've 3 decent CB's in Pines, Earl and Mael bring in 1 more CB and make them fight for 2 spots, we've 2 midfielders who if played central in Phillips and connell are more than capable at this level.
The front line is where our biggest problem lies

 

What have you seen in any performance this season that has suggested to you that with better recruitment Collins will build a successful team?

What in his patterns of play, using players in midfield and forward areas of the field that pretty much any other club in the division would love to have at their disposal, left you with that impression?

And - Collins aside - what on earth has led you to your assertion ‘I’m sure we’ll strengthen to create a team capable of holding our own’?

I couldn’t have any confidence at all in that. The last time we earned promotion from league one, we started the championship campaign with a much changed, and pretty much universally accepted as weaker, squad.

 

Even if Collins isn't the answer, better recruitment gives him no excuses and makes us a better prospect for the next manager

 

Agreed. I saw the difference between ours and Charltons top scorers today, and there is a gulf in ability between the two.

 

Great post.

One thing I’m certain is Neill Collins will still be managing Barnsley next season regardless of how we finish this season.

The Cassandra’s - many of whom moan constantly about changing managers - have better get used to this.

 

In my opinion we will finish in the top 6 but won’t get promoted through the playoffs. That means Collins will still be here come August.

Will be a big summer given the number of first team players out of contract or returning to their parent club. Let’s hope we can find some gems and some defensive ones at that because all season we have looked so suspect at the back. It looked a bit better with Pines in there but I do think as a unit, we are shocking defensively.

 

What worries me is that everyone who defends Collins and wants to keep him regardless next season devote a lot of attention to reeling off excuses for us being poor, insipid, dreadful to watch and leaking goals like a sieve but nobody ever really says what he's done good. What they believe from seeing this season that Collins has added to the club.

If he was here on a season long loan like players occasionally are would anyone who is praising him this season want us to sign him next season?

 

If we don’t go up I think we should replace. Players have not improved they have gone backwards. We fail to adapt to circumstances or have any method of changing the way we approach games. Most damning for a former defender he has not been able to get reasonable defenders into any organised shape.

Next season this division will be far stronger and we will on all probability be much weaker.

 

How can you say that with so much conviction and certainty? Football never surprises me, unless you've had assurances from our board.

 

Your right Brian, but I'm sure this will turn into the usual argument again.
How much say (if any), does Collins have with transfers, with both sales and buys. He's been dealt a difficult hand and yet, we've been in the top 5-6 almost all of the season.
If we haven't got any quality to bring off the sub's bench, or any to bring back from a loan, then once again that's hardly his fault is it.
Its been said that he doesn't show any positivity or enthusiasm, so that must destroy what the players have as well. Can any of us say we know that for sure though, because for me, there's only one person to blame for Cole for example. And that's Devante himself!.

 

Edit: Double post!.

 

Cloud cuckoo land I'm afraid

 

Yes, Collins will still be here next season regardless, but he only has a two year contract, and I can't see an extension coming. Apart from Mad Mel (Machin), can anyone else remember if a manager just left at the end of their deal, as I can only remember managers either being sacked or poached.

 

Best away record ever? Stability? Professionalism?

 

Whether Collins is still here or if we bring Jurgen Klopp in, if we don’t go up this season, next season is going to be a struggle. Some of our better players are on loan and several key players are out of contract and look like they will be leaving. We therefore have to replace 2/3 of our team and we have no money. Please don’t say “what about the Mads/Kitching money”! Look at the accounts. Look at the accounts from the past couple of seasons. There is a big loss again this year. The past two years the owners have put in £4m extra per year. That is not going to go on forever. Any money still to come in from the instalments on sales won’t even cover the shortfall.

Yes, with Williams, Cadden, Kane and Cole, we’ll free up some wages. But that money will go on, you guessed it, wages. It doesn’t leave much for signing on fees, let alone transfer fees. Our two leading scorers will be gone. Our goalkeeper will be gone. Our captain will be gone. One of our main central midfielders will be gone. All big shoes to fill. With no money.

My guess is that the replacements will come from 4 areas - hoping to get lucky with a few loans, a couple of very cheap free transfers, the players currently out on loan, and our U21s. We have some talented players in our U21s, but they all seem very small/skinny. League One is an unforgiving league. If any of them do come through and hold down a regular place it will be a bonus, but not many players from our U21s have made a successful move to the first team over the past 10-15 years.

Of the players we have out on loan, maybe Lopata or Shepherd might come in and do something, but I’m not expecting great things. And neither of the strikers seem to have done anything out on loan, so they’ll probably join Watters, Marsh and Cosgrove as 2-4 goal per season strikers.

Loanees, who knows. Roberts was brilliant pre-injury and is a big reason we are where we are, but if you look in the physio’s room I’m convinced you’ll find his dead body next to an empty pod. McAtee had a slow start, but has turned into a good player for us. The rest of this season’s loanees…meh! We could really do with a decent loanee keeper and a decent loanee goalscorer next season though, which is a big ask. And the free transfers, once again, will be a complete gamble.

So how do we raise money to try to bring better quality players in? I can only see two ways - Connell and Jalo. Connell has been poor this season, compared to how well he played last year, but if he picks up between now and May we may get his value up to where we valued him at last season. FourFourTwo have just published a list of the best 50 EFL players. Cole and Kane were in, at 25 and 27 respectively. Elliott Lee was in. Connell was not. His star has fallen.

Jalo might be our best hope for a few million. Clubs like to buy potential, and as we’ve barely played him this season that’s all he is, potential. But there’s interest in Italy and there must be interest in Portugal, although I imagine there are only a couple of teams in Portugal who could pay anything like a decent fee for him. But to build a team we may have to sell one or two of those. I don’t see any other player bringing much in at all, unless Luton forget they loaned us McAtee and get the cheque book out to take him back?

So whichever way you look at it, it’s very likely we will have a worse, if not much worse side next season, if we don’t go up. The other worry, as Jimmy Viz mentioned above, is that this season has been a very weak League One, but whichever two teams come down with Rotherham there will be three teams stronger coming down than the three teams going up. Then we will have whoever doesn’t go up out of Peterborough, Bolton, Oxford and Lincoln. Lincoln could well be one of the strongest teams in the league next season, if they can keep their manager and team together. You have to fancy a resurgent Wigan too, and it remains to be seen what happens with Reading. Leyton Orient are getting stronger, Charlton are currently punching well below their weight, and then, in Stockport and Wrexham there are two teams looking like coming up that will expect to be at the top end next year.

Last summer many weren’t expecting a good season this season. But it quickly became evident that the league was quite weak and that we had a better squad than we expected. 16 goal Cosgrove should have been a good signing. Roberts and McAtee were great signings. And we had enough defenders at the club that a decent coach should have been able to do something with, instead of getting 41 games in and it still being shambolic. On top of this the belief was that we had the best midfield in the division. So whilst we’re somehow 5th, despite never really getting into first gear, and look likely to reach the play offs, I can’t help feeling this was a great chance to get promoted and may be the best chance for some time. I have no doubt that with, say, Ismael in charge we would be all but up already, Duff too. But for whatever reason we’re not, although we still have a shout. A long shot maybe, given our form, but we have a shout. Going up this season, for all the reasons above, could hardly be more important. It’s the difference between being able to build a team that may be good enough to stay in the Championship, or at least to build a team strong enough to go back up if we come down, and the thing we’ve been dreading, if half-expecting for a few years now, that we are going to be settling in for a lengthy stay in League One at some point. For if we struggle to build a decent team for next season, owing to a lack of resources, how is that ever gonna change if we keep finishing mid-table League One, short of growing a new John Stones in the Academy. In fact, a stay of a few years in League One might even put the Academy in jeopardy.

Collins needs to be bolder going into the last few games and the play offs. He shouldn’t be afraid of dropping players who, for whatever reason, are not giving their all, or have one foot out of the door. Play the players who have a vested interest in the club going up. If out of contract players have no intention of staying or, as I suspect, have moves already lined up, kick them up into the stands and play players who want to be here. He needs to stop being so defensive and go out and attack. With Lincoln yet to play Oxford, one more win might be all we need. Our last game of the season is at home to a team already relegated, but we may well know well before that. Win at Stevenage and against Reading and we’re there. We can even qualify by winning just one of them, if Oxford and Lincoln both lose on Saturday. We would have a few games that are basically free hits, a chance for him to prepare for the play-offs. If Collins is going to have a career with Barnsley he needs to earn it over the next month. It is vital that we don’t finish the season with anything left in the dressing room (apart from any player who’s not pulling their weight!). If he gets us up, fantastic, it’s the most important promotion since Danny Wilson’s, but if he doesn’t get us promoted we need to see that he and the team gave it their all. That isn’t happening at the moment and, truth be told, it’s rarely looked like that all season. We have a chance on Tuesday to all but claim a play-off place. The team he puts out need to show that they want it and that their manager is demanding it of them. Anything less won’t do.

 

Stays for me as well. I do think if we start slowly next season in League 1, which could be a real possibility with the turnover we’re due to have, he could find himself under real pressure. Anything that suggests we could be close to not being good enough for top six, he’ll be gone.

 

He only stays if we get promoted, if we fail to either make the play offs or fail in the play offs and he is still here, I will be asking for a refund on my season ticket.

 

Agree that front line is our biggest problem. We’ll need 2 strikers capable of scoring regularly and finding those is a massive problem. Unless we’re expecting Shaw and Dallas to do the job…..
Not sure I agree that we need only one CH. Pines is still unproven and after starting well Earl has gone backwards to the point where he looks a liability at times. As for MDG, I’ve never got why folk rate him so highly either. He’s another who always has a mistake in him.