Look it's probably obvious that I am not accounting expert. But how does everyone else manage it then? Why do we seem to be an exception that can't spend anything and lose millions and millions and have to sell high and buy cheap but others just get on fine? What other clubs in L1 would generate upwards of 7 million in sales and spend what 200k to replace those players? I don't think any others would. Orient, Blackpool and Stockport are all sides this season alone that have sold good players for good fees and have seen most if not all of those received fees put straight back into the playing side with new good replacements, and in most cases now look much stronger as a result. But yet we can't and so we have to sell for big fees and rely on cheap ones who are miles behind the level of the ones we've sold? I don't get it. If they'v let it get that bad then they need to sell up. I'm also not trying to come across as being an arse or anything. I just genuinely don't understand, I cannot compute how it's like this for us yet others are seemingly fine.
Football clubs are reliant on their owners. What you're asking for are richer owners. Owners who have no qualms throwing money away to appease 10,000 fans or so. Only a couple of teams can get promoted every year. There are only so many of the super rich happy to literally throw away hundreds of millions of pounds. You never know, someone might come along happy to do that. But they would be buying a club haemorrhaging money, that doesn't own it's own ground and has very little in terms of assets. It could happen, but given out now minor shareholders and a club just down the A61, you just don't know what you're getting.
The level of wages in the EFL is frightening, the championship costs are ridiculous, if we ever got back it would look a tall order to stay, we just don't have those riches I'm afraid. There's alot of clubs running up some eye-watering losses, Sheff Weds won't be the last to be on its knees.
TBF in 46 years watching Barnsley we've always sold our better players and replaced them with youth or "broken types of players" that needed fixing, infact if you look at some of our biggest transfer spends Hristov, Sheron, Hulme, Benson they've all flattered to decieve, other than a few seasons 97-2000 we've cobbled teams together. Folk are p***ed off at the minute I get it, probably because the realisation that the expectation levels might have to change for a season or 2.
The club needs to change its narrative and be honest then. I don't want us to be stuck in L1, but I feel I am a fairly reasonable person and with the side we have and how we've operated for the last few seasons, it seems clear we'll be here in this league a bit longer and play the long game. But yet the club still bang on about promotion is the aim, we have a top 4 squad etc. which then brings extra criticism when it doesn't arrive
I think last season are biggest issue was fitness, the last quarter of our games how many of the 78 goals did we conceded. I just hope we get a half decent striker in before the end of August and a cb must be priority surely.
I demand a definition for the term "flatter to deceive" as I don't think we've had a comprehensive one.
I think it’s too easy to say we weren’t fit tbh, and wasn’t Hourihane part of our staff all season when we weren’t supposed to be fit, why didn’t he raise the point until this season?.....I ain’t saying we were fittest side last year and we were certainly a poor one late on in games. There is more problems to our defence than just fitness in my eyes.
I feel the same, I just don't get it. Sadly I think it boils down to Neerav just isn't very good at running a business and specifically knows nowt about football. He may well be very likeable but it seems his wealth is family wealth, he's not the mastermind behind his position. I can't think of any other reason why we pour cash down the drain so readily year after year.
You might think and believe that now but I doubt that if the club did come out and say ‘we’re not going to bother trying for promotion this year, or the next, the plan is to stick around in L1 for the next few seasons’ you’d be happy and praise their refreshing honesty. I don’t think we’d shift many season tickets either. I can hear the cries of ‘what’s the point then’ from everyone already, and who could blame them? No owner is going to volunteer that information and they’d be stupid to.
I've long felt that a Championship Club going bust would be good for the health of the game. Sadly they won't go out of business because there'd be some fool willing to speculate and take them over. Unfortunately it is smaller Clubs like Bury that go to the wall without a saviour. I fully agree with you when you say that if we were to go up it would be too much of a financial stretch for our current owners.
No they obviously wouldn't say that. But at the same time, they also can't keep banging on about having a top 4 side and so on, higher than average budgets etc. When we don't
We do though. In terms of money spent and investment in the squad we should be up at the top 4. Remember that budget for the year will include money the owners are willing to invest and that likely does put us towards the top of the league in terms of budget (even with every club making massive losses that owners are subsidising). They’re spending millions every year on new players transfer fees and higher wages to try and make us a top 4 squad. It’s not paid off but it’s not because of lack of budget or spending, it’s because of the players they’re spending the money on not working out. Some of that you could say they should have spent it better but at the end of the day nobody had a crystal ball.
Definitely not in last few seasons. I know some of that is down to major anomalies with Brum etc but we've not been spending loads on fees etc. recently. DKD was a good investment, but bar that we haven't spent many fees since relegation. Especially not compared to what we have brought in fee wise.
It’s a year behind just from the nature of how it’s reported but in 2023/24 we were 4th in terms of wages. and 5th in terms of Transfer fees spent. 8th in terms of revenue.
That's revenue but not showing what we've been spending. The board haven't been spending much on signings etc. Compared to other sides over last few years
As DWLC has pointed out it's down to rich owners with a willingness to spend. A very good friend is a football Accountant and advisor, he has worked for a number of clubs, and big names, managers/owners/ directors in football... mainly Championship and lower Premiership. The saying amongst his peers is...." how to make yourself a millionaire....be a billionaire and buy a football club"
