We'd have strolled into that top 6 had we kept hold of Conor etc till EOS

Barnsley have always been a feeder club
We could have hit the Jackpot and all that Premier money
The new plan backfired and the Board were too short sighted to realise the worth some of these new recruits could become
Too late now all gone in the past
This team now is not promotion material, and if it was the beginning of the season we would have all being Worried
The Bigger problem is yet to arrive! Who will take the club on from Mr Cryne.
We are not an attractive proposition because we are a Town Club and our gates are not large enough.
Hence no profit in it. We will need another die hard Reds fan like Mr Cryne to come in
Hope Hecky can wave his magic wand again because we will need it

 

I think a lot of these posts miss the main issue. Although I'm in the camp that says we should have held on to the four players in January, and I do think we would have made the play offs, the main issue is not whether we would have or not. The thing for me is that the Clubs actions (inaction) at one stroke completely destroyed the ethos, unity and sense of purpose that had been in place for the previous 12 months. Absolutely shat all over it. I think that was unfortunate in that not only did it show a lack of ambition for what could be achieved on the field, but it showed a scant regard for the support off it.
The results are plain to see.

Still, I'll be renewing the ST and I hope Hecky gets the support of the Club over the Summer that he richly deserves.

 

I agree mate, but people talk as if selling the club is the be and end all, that will take us forward, which would be great, but nothings guaranteed.

Others talk about this season's January in terms of it already ruining next season even though we've still 7 games, a transfer window, money to spend and a pre season between now and then.

What ifs work both ways matey.

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Like Bournemouth and Burnley you mean?

 

Yer mean we arnt as attractive as clubs like Bournemouth, Watford and Burnley - and more recently, clubs like Wigan and Blackburn ???

Is that what yer saying ???

 

Serious Russian money involved at Bournemouth.

 

Not only that, but is there any profit to be made from football anywhere?

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So a third division club with 4,000 gates and a 9,000 capacity stadium managed to attract serious Russian money. Why can't we?

 

Losing out on up to £8 million in transfer fees wouldn't have mattered????

Many of here would've been apoplectic if we had lost Hourihane, Winnall, Bree, Watkins and Scowen for nothing and I dare say some would have said we should have cashed in in January

Also the chance to get replacements in would have been significantly reduced with the play-offs: uncertainty over which league we'd be in and the final is end of May so not loads of time. Whereas now at least we can sign players from early May

Obviously I'd have loved them all to stay but realistically I don't see what more the club could have done

 

Probably mainly due to location. I wish we had a billionaire investing in us, but given that no one has come forward that shows that people willing to do so are few and far between, unfortunately

 

What's so good about their location?

 

I would have been more concerned if we had let these players leave in the summer for nothing.The transfer system always brings up situations like the one we had, do we stick or twist.I have the top respect for our custodian Mr Cryne and if he and his board thought it was in the long term interest of the club I'm fine with that.Going on to next season why do people waffle on about being in trouble and being worse off than this season.I for one don't know what to expect but I'm looking forward to finding out.If some body had said to me 14 months ago next season you'll be mixing shoulders and beating teams like Derby,Norwich and Aston Villa I'd have snatched there hands off.Best wishes to Mr Cryne and family stay strong.

 

Ever so humble sir that we should be playing in Division 2 where we have played more than any team. Ever so humble sir that we should reach the mighty heights of mid table. Fantastic that we go 3 months without winning a home game. Brilliant that we have won one game since flogging half our team. Those with low expectations and dreams seem the real negatives to me. Thinking survival in the second division is some sort of great achievement got us relegated last time. We have just had a Keith Hillseason MK 2. No lessons were learnt. The result is exactly the same.

 

It's in the south - main reason. Potentially better attraction to tourists, higher property prices etc.

But the fact of the matter is someone bought them and didn't buy us, still no one's come forward. There are clearly reasons why. We can't force someone to buy the club

 

And it's ever so positive to criticise the club when we lose a few games, is it Master? It would be nice to know the thinking behind the club's actions in January but in the absence of such an insight some of us choose to look for the positives. It's quite an assumption to think that not rushing to berate the club management at every opportunity implies low expectations, or that dreaming of the club becoming secure and self sufficient, rather than plaything of a foreign billionaire makes us lesser fans.
And not getting promoted to the Premier league in our first year back in the Championship, although frustrating when we came so near to the playoffs, can't really be such a failure, can it?

 

i didn't want to the original post to be negative or doom mongering - just airing the fact that how things have panned out I am sure we could have been sitting in the playoffs now or very close to it hence i'm gutted. We'd have battered SWFC for one thats for sure! I think we were still the better side on Saturday, even with a depleted squad.

Its now all about the close season.

 

There is absolutely no guarantee we would have. We were outside the top 6 with him in the team.

I've no doubt we'd have been a couple of wins better off, but to say we'd have been top 6 with him in the team is pure guesswork.

Our poor run of form has coincided with our toughest run of games.

He's gone, it's time we moved on.

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Sadly you're on the money.

I think a lot of what went down in January has to do with Linton Brown's departure. The primary objective is to appoint a decent CEO. The club appears to be lacking direction at present. I'm certain the summer won't be a repeat of January, so long as the right people are in place behind the scenes.

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I'm not criticising the club. Very difficult to know whether to twist or stick. Not a decision I would have liked to have made. The negative attitude of some fans Is a very different matter. I don't berate the club. This season has been ok. Not a fantastic season. Avoiding relegation isn't a 'success'. It has been a season of consolidation. Yes it could have been more and yes it could have been less. To pretend it's been a great achievement though is stretching things. Mel Machin managed to stay in the division for years on a budget of a bag of chips and a pint of snakebite. There is middle ground but those tugging their fore locks for playing the likes of Norwich ( a team we have been pretty much on a par with historically) are just as frustrating as those who criticise all aspects of the club.

For the record I believe in self sufficiency, living within your means etc doesn't mean that I think survival is success or that a season where we finish in the bottom half of the table is a success. It isn't. It's ok. Narrowly avoiding relegation season after season demoralised the fanbase, depressed the club and cost a fortune last time and it's an attitude that some fans want to slip back into.

 

The nearest football league club to Bournemouth is over 30 miles (Southampton) - and only Southampton and Portsmouth are within 60 miles. That's a big catchment area - it might not have a high population density but does have some serious money (most expensive property in the country is at Sandbanks!). We've got 3 local rivals that are traditionally more successful than us within that catchment area (Leeds, Pigs, Blunts), not to mention the likes of Huddersfield, Rotherham, Bradford and Doncaster who could all claim to be similar sizes at various points of our history.

For an analogy, buying Bournemouth is like opening the first Tesco in the area. Buying us is like opening a new Morrisons, when there is already a Tesco, Sainsburys, Waitrose and Asda.