Mladen Radio Sheff

First off I am glad he’s talking to the media & at least trying to front up.

His first response is to say that we needed a left wing back because of Cadden departing. He was wrong, we needed two left backs because Dodgson departed part way through the previous season & wasn’t replaced.

A big problem this season has been our issues at left wing back. Gent did improve before his injury but for a big chunk of the first half of the season he looked nowhere near ready. They tried to rectify this in January by signing Farrugia, a winger / forward who they’re trying to convert into a wing back. Another one that looks (understandably) very questionable defensively.

I don’t believe his comments about Hourihane’s Barnsley side impressing in the home games before the Bolton one. There’s not really much to expand on there other than to say I find it hard to believe he found them impressive. If he genuinely did then it makes me question his footballing judgement even more.

My biggest issue with him has never been that he got signings wrong. My issue was that he didn’t know what we needed. The first is forgivable. The second isn’t in my opinion.

I’m not claiming to be an expert & I'm not claiming others on here to be experts either but we could all see what we needed last summer.

We were crying out for pace & we were desperate for strikers & left wing backs or left backs if we were to switch to a back four yet we didn’t bring in any pace, we didn’t sign a natural striker & we started the season with only one left wing back.

All have cost us this season.

Like I say above you can get signings wrong. They can have bad luck with injuries or have issues off the pitch that stop them from settling in or they might just be a bad fit but you have to be able to identify the type of players you need.

You can’t have a situation where loads of your budget is getting spent on central midfielders that can’t all feature when you have obvious deficiencies in other areas.

There should never be a situation where us online seem to know more about what the club needs than the supposed experts running the club who’s full time job it is & who have all the data they need to know what we need.

He’s a very lucky boy that he’s getting another transfer window & I really hope he gets it right because we all need him to.

 

Not another French signing

 

He had two windows to sign a striker and didn't he tried to convince the fan base that the players he did sign played in the positions we needed to strengthen and was found out to be lying within a couple of hours by people just checking on the web. The man's out of his depth he's a data analyst masquerading as a director of football and making a piss poor job of it. The only positive statement for Barnsley FC he could have made in that interview is Ive ****** things up so I quit.

 

I'm glad you can sense that too. It feels like a big summer coming up and I'm excited to see how it develops.

I've been as critical as the next person on here at times this season. I might not call for people's heads or hurl abuse like some do, but of course I think mistakes were made and the campaign was disappointing for all involved. But I'm not going to spend all summer criticising folk for things that have been and gone.
It appears there's going to be a reset, they've appointed a bloke I wanted and so I'd rather use the next few months to feel optimistic about the future. If that ends up being misplaced then so be it. I'll whinge at that point if I have to.

If folk can afford a season ticket, I hope they get one. I appreciate there'll be people who maybe feel disenfranchised, upset, whatever. And I'm never going to tell folk what to do with their time or money. But I hope the majority stick with it. Because I love the club and want the best for it.

 

The voice of reason. As always.

 

Having listened to Mladen's interview now, it all felt like a naughty school kid being asked to explain his behavior. I don't think we've learnt anything new and he gave the answers expected regarding recruitment (it was a tough window, other clubs have bigger budgets etc).

I think the more pressing question which needed to be answered was around the players we actually signed in January. We've repeatedly been told over the last 10 years or so by one CEO or another, that we identify a position which needs to be filled and then draw up a list of targets for that area. Why then, when primarily for me a centre half would have been handy, and a centre forward the next priority, did we sign effectively 4 wingers, when at the time we didn't play a system which accommodated them? Why, barring injuries, have none of them really been given any sort of opportunity (Lembikisa to a lesser extent).

Hopefully Mladen was just answering what was put in front of him, and in reality Conor is going to be given more autonomy. It's a big gamble giving such an inexperienced coach so much responsibility though.

The only encouraging sign really, is that Mladen recognised that we have several young players on the fringes of the first team already, and recruitment this summer will likely focus on more experienced or seasoned players.

 

This with brass knobs on

 

"Sometimes, people say my name (outside the club) in a positive way, and sometimes they say my name in a negative way. It's just how it is"

Errm, don't read the BBS then Mladen

 

A positive way? I suspect there's a counter argument to that statement. I'm sure there's some ambivalence, but outright positivity?

"The January transfer window was an unmitigated success, that there Sormaz is a transfer market genius and no mistake." That sort of thing?

 

Listened earlier, it is a decent interview, but it's walking the walk that matters ultimately, not just talking the talk. I'm reserving further judgement until at least the first game when I can see whether in my opinion, Conor has as good a squad to work with as is realistic given our financial limitations.

 

Right ...own up,who's been saying his name in a positive statement...

 

I've gotten to the point where multiple sets of people over the last 5 years have said things which I thought rang hollow.

The owners, previous and current have said things which very few people agree with and as a result, if the current owners or an employee of the current owners state anything, I'll wait to see it delivered upon before i believe it.

We've had two shocking transfer windows, our squad look unfit and lacking in either quality, character or both and our squad is bloated but weak, in depth especially.

The board are obviously sticking with Sormaz but if he fails in the summer, his position must be untenable. This window is huge. He's got to reduce the cost of the squad, balance it allowing kids to come through while seemingly adapting it to a new formation the untried inexperienced new head coach wants. All while looking to sell some of our better quality players to generate a transfer budget.

I'd be concerned for the most talented sporting director, let alone one who has failed twice and hid like a coward after the last transfer window.

 

Good to see he's come out of hibernation and spoke to the fans, albeit via Radio Sheffield.

It's a little bit too soundbite(y) and high level for my taste, but I understand time was limited and there are many questions to be answered and answered in more detail; what boxes? what stakeholders?

At the start, he alludes to his role being a different way of working in this country, and I feel part of his job is to explain what that is to the ultimate stakeholders, the fans. He's not doing this at the moment, and I believe it would be good for him, and not the Chairman, to do this as part of better communication with the supporters. I hope the club recognises this, though I fear his only approach will be to close ranks (again) and just hope for a better season.

Personally, I'm still not a fan, but I'm willing to, and as difficult as it seems, draw a line under the last year and hope his recruitment and communication improve. For a start, it's good to see that he already appears to have a better rapport with Conor than Darrell and I hope this, together with this interview, is the start of an improved relationship with the fans and ultimately improvement in the club.

Maybe now, the club will release the FAB minutes from the Q&A with him in February.

 

I’ve just got round to listening, didn’t have chance yesterday.

I must just be pessimistic and negative, but I don’t see it how a lot of you do sadly - to me that was twelve minutes of saying the right things without always saying very much - with a bit of good old fashioned bulls*hit thrown in.

He started on the people involved in recruitment and mentioned that the head coach will be - and always has been - heavily involved, and that final say is with Neerav. (Translated to me as ‘it wasn’t me gov’, passing the buck).

I was no fan of Darrell Clarke, but I am not accepting for one second that he asked for or wanted what he was given in January. We don’t and didn’t play with wingers - that’s all he got. He was (allegedly) a bit lazy. He was and is limited as a coach, yeah. But he isn’t that bloody stupid. I’m not having that.

There was no contrition of any type or even any acceptance of doing anything wrong. The windows weren’t mismanaged, they brought in what they could… it didn’t help that the interviewer gave him a get out of jail free card talking about competitive budgets and this year being different (the connotation being Birmingham and Wrexham throwing money at it) - Wrexham aren’t forced to be promoted yet so they need to be careful suggesting the budget will naturally be more competitive this coming season. Charlton aren’t going to lay down for them tomorrow.

I was happy to hear they are looking to make better use of our own kids rather than develop somebody else’s though. Flavell, Bland and Jalo mentioned - and the returns of Vimal and Shepherd too.

Nothing he said suggested we wouldn’t be selling - the chairman has already said we will be. They will get what they deem good value - but I suspect we will see the sales of two or three starters this summer and sadly I think DKD may be one of them. He’s got a move to Sunderland or Middlesbrough written all over him. Maybe a decent SPL team.

They’re bound to have looked.

I’m no more enthused after listening than before. I hope I’m wrong.

I’ve not been for a bit due to one or two health and family reasons - but I’ll be utilising my season ticket tomorrow. I hope to see some promise in the field and to hear some in the stands. We shall see.

I haven’t renewed yet, as my son is due to turn eighteen at the start of next season and may struggle to attend with his other commitments, I don’t currently plan to. That can change though. I don’t think it would take much to reignite the flame.

For now it’s barely a glowing cinder.

 

Personally I can't see why some folk on here are cutting Sormaz slack and sympathising with him. The guy has been a total disaster. If Spectamur Agendo means anything at all when applied to individuals he would be on trial at the International Court. The prospect of this guy sorting a massive preseason out and ensuring that a bloated squad is reduced whilst ensuring the coach has what he needs fills me with apprehension.
If, miracle upon miracle, Sormaz does any good work in the summer I'll be the first to say 'well done' but in no way am I being seduced by a one-off interview which is vague as it is clear. Two coaches have been sacked while Sormaz has retained his post and hidden behind those very sackings. At the moment I dont trust anything the guy says, vague or clear. I'll be Spectamur agendoing him again by September......

 

If that's true, would we not have been better off not signing the likes of Rodriguez and Lewis who have barely featured, maybe kept Cosgrove and saved the money for the summer.

 

Red Mist, Juddy G, Acido Tyke et al - Is there something about being a supporter of your home town football club you don't get ? 'Carping on' with 20/20 hindsight is easy as is saying "he could have done this" & "they should have done that". I just don't know what you expect Sormaz to say. I suspect there is nothing he could say that would placate some people, they just put it all down to BS. My mother used to say "If you can't say something good it's best to say nowt". Silence sometimes speaks louder. The situation no matter how you view it is what it is. We won't change it. Not buying a season ticket will not improve things.One thing Sormaz said was expenditure tends to be reflected in the table. Another indicator, payroll, can reflect the same. BFC are 16th in the payroll list and 12th in the league table. So are we punching above our weight ? Also the largest proportion of the wage bill is on defenders which seems a bit odd. Red Mist is keen to offer advice, so my advice is , if you are a genuine supporter of BFC then get over your anger and frustration, buy a season ticket and support Barnsley FC. Because I'm in my twighlight years I've seen more ups and downs at the club than most. I love my football club and I'll continue support it until I shuffle off.

 

Out of intrigue, what's your source for this stat?