I was surprised and disappointed when Lee Johnson walked away after the Fleetwood semi-final before the hangovers had even cleared. That he did - with at least one Wembley appearance pending - poses questions in my mind about how much he had to do with the switch to 4-4-2 and the recruitment of Hammill, Long and White. But who could have iamgined it would go that well under Hecky? Similarly, when Pearson, Harris and Wabara left and also when Josh Scowen got injured I thought our number was up. Then along come Hammill, Ash, Josh Brownhill, Long and White. And the rest is history. So if Adam goes (and at 28 with a young family, who could blame him?) and if others also leave I think we have to trust that the club will replace them adequately with the systems we now have in place. This crazy season we've just had seems to make forecasting anything pointless. There must be a chance that we might go on another losing run until we acclimatise, but it looks like if we keep the faith they'll get it right. COYCR!
A couple of months or so ago, I attended the Supporters' Trust AGM at Staincross WMC. The speakers were Patrick Cryne, Ben Mansford and Paul Heckingbottom. It was the first time I'd heard Hecky speak publicly and he came across very well. He admitted that there may well be outgoings this Summer, irrespective of what division we were in. However, potential incomings had already been marked out and plans were in place for these targets. In fact, both he and Ben had held talks with a player the previous day. Another point he made was that no player under contract with us would be allowed to leave, unless it was beneficial to Barnsley and no one would be leaving on the cheap. We've brought in some excellent players to our club since relegation and I have every confidence that the men in charge will bring in more this Summer.
It's clear that the managers are not the only ones recruiting; it's not just their choices. But that's a good thing because quality signings were made under Wilson and Johnson. So the fact that the same basis will be used whichever manager we have gives me plenty of confidence regarding our recruitment
